Finishing & Screen Printing
Diana is Simply the best, says Nottingham carton producer
Monday 03. November 2008 - Simply Cartons has signed a deal to purchase two Heidelberg Diana Pro folder gluers to replace three of its four Vega lines.
“To change supplier, particularly when our staff are so familiar with the Vega equipment, is a big decision but its the right one,” says Craig Mather, managing director of the Nottingham company which he bought with sales director Guy Gisborne two and a half years ago.
“We wanted to fundamentally transform our gluing capability and our rigorous trials with numerous manufacturers proved that the Heidelberg Diana Pro was the most efficient and productive machine with the highest quality of engineering. In all of the investments made since we bought the business, we have been very methodical in our analysis. We highlight the areas where we can improve and then select the equipment that will give us the highest performance, maximum efficiency whilst enabling us to maintain a tight control on fixed cost.”
The company says that being able to control the whole machine, including the gluing system, through one interface is a huge advantage. The machines will both be equipped with Leary glue line systems with full QC including glue line detection, bar code reading all linked to an ejection system. The Diana Pros are highly specified and each will be run on three shifts, five days per week as standard.
“Compared to our existing equipment, we have proven that the Diana Pros will hugely reduce make ready times on new jobs and that efficiencies will be increased even further when utilising the full memory function on repeat jobs. Our aim with this investment is to vastly increase our throughput, continue to improve our flexibility without increasing our costs” says Mr Mather.
The ability to radically improve make ready times is imperative bearing in mind the number of jobs per day that Simply Cartons handles. “The market continues to require us to reduce run lengths and improve response times. We need to have incredible flexibility in order to service our customer needs, a philosophy that has contributed greatly to our success to date. With the Diana Pros we can radically increase output and response in order for us to be able to continue to support our customers to the highest possible level for the foreseeable future,” says Mr Mather.
Simply Cartons generated £12m last year, primarily producing work for the food, cosmetics, confectionery, pharmaceutical and premium spirits industries. It holds ISO, BRC, FSC, PEFC and PS9000 pharmaceutical accreditations.
“Business remains seasonal and we continue to gear our overheads around our quieter months whilst still retaining the ability to produce all of the requirements of our busiest months. We firmly believe that the business is perfectly positioned to recognise, evaluate and adapt to the challenges surrounding, not only the print and packaging industry, but also the challenges facing our customers.”