Automation at the Stahlfolder TH 56 reduces makeready times from an average of 35 minutes to under 15 minutes.
Galloways has installed a Stahlfolder TH 56, an automated machine chosen only after a thorough review of its business and efficiency.
It continues to analyze the type of work it handles and potential opportunities and to review the materials it runs to ensure it is flexible, productive and meeting the needs of its wide range of customers.
“As a company we felt an automated folder, that could also offer pharmaceutical folding, would enhance the services we offered our existing clients and create opportunities for growth in new areas,” says Matt Galloway, director and sixth generation of the family in the Poynton-based business.
The company has seen makeready times reduced from an average of 35 minutes (and some complex jobs were taking over two hours) to under 15 minutes. Automation has taken a lot of the makeready cost out of the folding process.
In its first month it has handled several small runs but also an unusual 1.2 million gatefold leaflet order when the Stahlfolder TH56 ran at 24,000 per hour for 50 hours. The machine proved speedy and reliable.
“The job simply wouldn’t have been commercially viable with our previous set up and would have strangled the department. However, the new folding machine has given us the ability to produce more efficiently so this was a very good test for the machine,” says Matt Galloway.
Galloways recognizes that customers want work that stands out and that can be down to printing but also finishing and it sees the new folding options as an advantage for the more creative print buyers. That, and the fact customers can rely on a faster turnaround and a quality finish, make this a very sound investment.
Operators from the company were involved in the buying decision from the start. They visited the Heidelberg showroom in Brentford to see the machine and decided that the move from more manual finishing to the more automated kit made sense.
“The printing industry is ever changing and we are determined to have the right foundations in place to handle the demands of our clients and to foster growth over the coming years,” says Matt Galloway. “We are undertaking assessments of the work we produce and analyzing efficiency from prepress through to finishing. By doing this we can make the right buying decisions and ensure we serve our customers well moving forward.”
