Finishing & Screen Printing
Finnish Printer Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Autobond Order
Friday 03. April 2009 - Finnish sheet-fed printer, Offset Kolmio in Hämeenlinna, Finland, celebrated its 40th anniversary recently by ordering a Mini 76 TH laminator from UK manufacturer Autobond. The new machine arrived in February and was in full production only three days after its delivery. The Mini 76 TH has already won additional laminating and print work for the company.
“It is unusual in Finland for a printer to have its own laminating facilities but a large percentage of the work we print consists of book jackets and covers, which we then had to send a long distance to specialist trade finishing houses,” says owner Kimmo Jokinen, whose father started the company. “Much of this work is for one particular customer and, having just entered into a new agreement with this publisher/printer, it made sense for us to invest in our own laminator.
“We have been pleased with the quality of other equipment purchased from UK manufacturers for the graphic arts market and were extremely impressed when we visited Autobonds factory in Derbyshire. The people we met listened very carefully to what our needs were so that we felt they really cared about us, which is a pleasure in business today. In addition, the build quality of the laminator is superb.”
The Mini 76 TH is compact yet can handle stock up to 76 x 102 cm in size and in weights from 90 gsm – 650 gsm. The throughput speed can be up to 60 metres per minute and with the ability to apply a nip pressure of up to six metric tonnes the laminator can be used successfully with work printed litho or digitally. The Mini 76 TH is equipped with a rising pile, back separation Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 feed head, allowing accurate feeding of a wide range of stock.
The level of automated features makes the laminator straightforward to operate, while the broadband-speed remote diagnostics facility enables Autobond engineers to log on to the machine if the operator needs help.
Within the first few weeks of its use at Offset Kolmio the Mini 76 TH laminated more than 100,000 B2 and B1 sheets. Most of the work is printed on the companys four-colour Man Roland 504 LV, which was installed last year, although some printed stock also arrives from customers for lamination. Offset Kolmio is now running the Mini 76 TH with packaging jobs and so far has laminated stock up to 460 gsm.
“Its still very early days for us, but we intend to use the Autobond machine to laminate stock used in the packaging jobs we produce, as well as for book jackets and covers,” says Mr Jokinen. “The laminator has been completely reliable and weve been delighted with its performance. The installation of the Mini 76 TH went very smoothly and the training from Autobond has been thorough. The remote diagnostics facility is a good safeguard, but the only time it has been used so far was when the Autobond engineer changed the operator language on the laminator from English to Finnish, which took only a few moments!
“In addition to the fast running speed, weve found the quick make-ready to be a great aid to productivity. The ability to easily retrofit additional features, such as film embossing, is particularly of interest to us. Offset Kolmio is not a large printer – we employ ten people – but we believe that the volume of laminating we will put through the Mini 76 TH means the machine will pay for itself in less than three years.”