Me & My...

Alan Rees, operations director at Gilmour & Dean, hopes the Atlas will help him attract business as a punching and finishing sub-contractor

What does the machine do?
The machine cuts strips of labels for punching and banding. It is fully automated and allows bundles of 500 to 1,000 labels to be cut, punched and banded in one operation.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
It was well tested in the market place and covered 99% of the labels that we currently produce. In the factory demonstration it punched some very complex labels and exceeded our expectations in throughput and quality.

Did you look at any other similar machines?
There were three possible suppliers of this type of machine. Busch and Polar were the other manufacturers under consideration. We felt that the Atlas was a better developed product and was better established in the marketplace.

Why did you make the purchase?
We needed to increase productivity and boost capacity, particularly with the higher volumes of low-cost labels.

What features do you particularly like?
The makeready times have been improved allowing smaller batches to be produced on this type of machine. The Blumer factory also has a close working relationship with Stamfag Cutting Dies. The combined effect is a high-performance machine using top quality dies and rapid lock and load changeover techniques.

Is there anything that you dislike?
The price of spares.

Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t?
Nothing obvious. It could be developed to monitor the punching force/wear on the cutter.

How fast is it?
The maximum speed is 14 strokes per minute.

How reliable is it?
The machine has been pretty reliable to date. There have been a few teething problems with electronic sensors.

How easy is it to use?
Very easy, once trained. The training takes approximately two weeks. We usually run the machine with two people (a setter and an operator) – it can be run by one person, at a pinch, but throughput suffers.

How much time or money has it saved?
It has saved time – and cost – both when cutting and for punching/banding. Typically we have seen a 40-50% reduction in cutting time and a three- to four-fold increase in our punching throughput.

Has it won you any new work?
Not yet, but it has allowed us to handle bigger label volumes. We hope to attract business as a punching/finishing sub-contractor.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
Definitely. It has been one of our best investments.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
No. The installation and training ran smoothly.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
Anybody involved in wet-glue label manufacturing. But there are specialist machines available for other materials such as plastics.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?
We would need a significant jump in our current production demand.

CONCLUSION
User’s verdict    
Speed *****
Quality *****
Reliability ****
Value for money *****

Supplier’s response     
Bob Sugg, technical manager at Freidheim International, says: The 1110 LS is the most effective and cost-efficient machine on the market. It’s pretty much the industry standard among label printers now. Gilmour and Dean’s work on whiskey labels requires very high quality finishing, which this machine can deliver. It also allows for rapid change on settings.

Price from £200,000
Contact Freidheim International 01442 206111