Finishing & Screen Printing
Kingfisher swoops on Stitchmaster ST 350
Thursday 31. January 2008 - Kingfisher Print in Totnes will take delivery of a Stitchmaster ST350 saddle-stitcher next month. The companys turnover has risen by £1m to £2.75m in the five years since it bought its last stitcher, a Muller Martini Presto.
“We needed to increase throughput and efficiency,” says Ross Bellotti, managing director of Kingfisher Print. “The ST 350 is a very fast machine and with the skills shortage we are always looking for equipment that can help us produce more effectively. The operator who will run this machine was impressed that you need only one tool for most adjustments and the demonstration showed that the saddle-stitcher could run very comfortably at high speeds.”
The ST 350 is specified with six stations and a cover feeder as well as stacker. It will run ten hours a day on national accounts held by Kingfisher Print. These include high end estate agency brochures, monthly and bi-monthly magazines and general commercial work.
“A lot of printing companies base their whole business around the press but I think the bindery is one of the most important departments,” says Mr Bellotti. “There is no leeway there. If work is late, its late. So you have to be really efficient with no margin for error and we present work to finishing as they want it to help them achieve that responsiveness.”
In addition to the saddle-stitcher the company has added ImageControl spectrophotometry to its Heidelberg pressroom and a Stahlfolder Ti 52 buckle model with a continuous feeder which is ideal for longer runs and a six plate first unit.