Finishing & Screen Printing
Diamond cuts itself a niche in high speed web finishing
Monday 18. August 2008 - Diamond Hi Speed is a new dedicated finishing operation serving the high volume magazine and catalogue work of printers nationwide. Part of the Diamond Print Services Group, it has opened this month at its own dedicated production unit in Hoddesdon.
Heidelberg has delivered a full Polar 137XT Flowline and TH 82 buckle folder to the 26,000 sq ft facility. This new operation will be in addition to the companys two other finishing sites, giving a combined floorspace of 65,000 sq ft. In total the three operations employ 88 staff.
“To date we have focused on general finishing and book binding including PUR, thread sewing and case binding but this £2.5m venture takes us into web section work,” says Mark Armitage,group managing director.
“We have two Polars already and they make guillotining heavy sections and covers very easy. We have lifting, jogging and stacking on all our guillotines enabling us to get so much more out of one person without causing them any undue physical strain.”
Because much of the work Diamond Hi Speed will be handling is prefolded the company selected a buckle folder workhorse (the Stahlfolder TH 82) which can easily mop up 6pp and 8pp cover work and 4pp and 8pp sections.
The company has also invested in a perfect binder with PUR capability and inline inserting and mailing facilities.
Hoddesdon will start out on a single shift basis but with 24 hour cover to meet customer requirements. It hopes to quickly move to Continentals and eventually will marry up with the two other sites which work 24 hour days.