Mailmate Print has its sights set on expanding magazine and book production following investment in a Horizon AFC564A cross folder and a Horizon VAC-1000 collating tower from IFS.
Established in 1983, the Jersey full service printer produces a diverse range of print related products, from general commercial print to mailing and clothing. It runs a Sakurai LED UV litho press and Xerox digital print technology.
Neil Faudemer, Managing Director, explains: "We made the investment to support expansion in magazine and book production. We think there is a market opportunity, especially for larger, thicker magazines. We believe there is potential for growth in both printed magazines and books, and the folder and additional tower for our collator will enable us to respond better to that opportunity."
He continues: "We already have Horizon equipment and, because we are an Island operation, we like to do as much as we can in-house. We know we can trust Horizon systems to be reliable. We like the build quality and the technology is impressive.
"When we do time and motion studies, we see the time savings that new equipment enables. These systems, with the latest technology, will cut our production time by between 20% and 30% as a result of the easy set-up and fast changeovers."
The purchase of the new equipment was supported by a grant from the Government of Jersey. Neil says: "This investment keeps work on the Island. It helps us to compete. It benefits the company and the local economy."
The Horizon AFC564A is a high performance, space efficient automated cross knife folder. It is quick to set up via LCD touchscreen prompts, up to 200 jobs can be stored for quick recall, and it runs at a maximum speed of 40,000sph.
The Horizon VAC-1000 10 bin collating tower can run at 9,900 sets per hour. It takes advantage of Horizon's unique feeding technology and handles a wide range of applications at high productivity, with flexible yet powerful programming and user friendly operation.
Neil adds: "Having a good relationship with suppliers is more important today than it has ever been. We have an excellent relationship with Horizon and it has always given us a great service. The support from IFS has been very good. So, too, has the quality of the training, which is important as most of our staff have been here for more than 15 years. The familiarity of the technology helps, especially as we multi-skill our employees. Gone are the days when one person would be responsible for running a particular system."
Pictured: Neil Faudemer, Managing Director, with the Horizon AFC546A cross folder
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