World's Longest-Established Guillotine Manufacturer Leads The Technological Revolution

When Spicer Hallfield decided to upgrade its aging Perfecta Seypa guillotine there was only one serious contender for its replacement – the UK’s first Perfecta 132 TVC from Graphic Arts Equipment.

Martin Abraham, Factory Manager of the £10m turnover Aylesbury operation which produces photo albums and frames, says: “We have always had Perfectas here. They are great machines. We bought our Seypa in 1970 and it was remodified so many times, even though it was still perfectly servicable, it really was time to re-invest.”

The 132cm TVC model of the popular Perfecta range is CIP4 and JDF compatible. It features 15” colour touchscreen technology to show both the sheet division and the cutting process and is capable of storing 8,000 cut positions with comments on 400 programs. The intuitive computer calculates optimum cutting sequences which are displayed graphically to further aid the operator. The maintenance-free knife drive mechanism has precision gears and a slotless cutting bed to provide better handling of stock when feeding, turning and aligning the job to be cut.

For additional safety, Perfecta has incorporated two identical microcomputers that independently monitor and test all the guillotine’s functions. A mechanical overrun protection for the knife ensures that if the guillotine overruns the machine will stop. This means that the guillotine blade cannot strike on without the operator's command.

This was one of the key attractions for Mr Abraham who says: “From a health and safety point of view the Perfecta is the best you can get. I can sit here with the knowledge that I have a machine that is not going to injure any member of staff.”

The new addition is making an impact with a number of time and cost savings, as Mr Abraham explains: “It is a definite revolution. We can now run work quicker and run more jobs. We are getting a quarter of a day a week extra out of the machine and that is very beneficial to us. The quality is also 100% and in our game that is crucial because just about everything we manufacture has to go through the guillotine at some point.

“The operator’s life has been made much simpler because now they just have to key in a code and the set up is automatic. At the click of a button the work is on. We have one dedicated operator who runs it but, because it is so easy to set up, if  he is off other members of staff can use it. “

With the link with past Perfectas Mr Abraham was no stranger to GAE. He says: “We definitely wanted a Perfecta because the ones we have had for years have always performed well. GAE also offered us a great package which includes maintenance and regular H&S checks – so we have accuracy, productivity and security – with all the latest worflow technology built in, this really is a future-proof system.”