Kent B1 printer chooses Perfecta to ease finishing bottleneck

Principal Colour Ltd of Paddock Wood, near Tonbridge has recently installed a Perfecta 115 TVC guillotine with paper management flowline from UK distributor G.A.E to remove a production bottleneck and increase throughput in the bindery.

According to Production Director Alan Flack, the new state-of-the-art machine made an immediate impact: “I always used to hear the phrase ‘I’m waiting for the guillotine,’ but since we introduced the new Perfecta I don’t hear it any more,” he says. “The main reason it’s so productive is the jogger and paper handling equipment we included with the order, this is invaluable, especially if we are under pressure. It also means the work is less tiresome for the operators.”

Principal Colour was formed in 1996 and has always been a B1 format printer aiming at the high-end colour market, servicing a range of clients including top London design houses and household names in the media and leisure sectors. Its first item of finishing equipment was an earlier version of the Perfecta guillotine, bought mainly to cut 2 million postcards per month for a regular contract. Various other bindery items were added and by 2003 the company’s finishing department was self sufficient, including gather-stitching, folding, cutting and creasing, and more.

“Deadlines are tight, even for the most demanding high quality work,” says Mr Flack. “The reason we have a complete inhouse bindery is to speed up production as well as to reduce outwork costs. We want fast turnround in every area and this is one of the reasons we went for the Perfecta; it is highly programmable and can be made ready very quickly. It’s very well thought out and easy to use. We have also been impressed by the speed and simplicity of the knife change system, which of course means less downtime.”