Druckfarben invests in specialist blanket service

Print Solutions

Druckfarben continues to expand its manufacturing, warehousing and distribution capabilities in line with customer requirements. In August this year it relocated its blanket department to a bigger site in Corby Northamptonshire with additional investment in a new CAD blanket converting machine and new staff.

Grant Penfield, managing director at Druckfarben, explained: ‘We have a well established heritage of supplying and converting blankets and investment in quality products and the latest converting equipment was a necessary step to better service customers and significantly increase capacity.’

Druckfarben stocks the IMC Perfect Dot blanket range as well as other well known manufacturer brands for speciality applications including special gauge, two piece can and pot print blankets. In addition, it is an official stockist of the market leading TyreF coating blanket range.

The company has purchased a new 8.5 metre CAD cutter that is fully automated, storing customer information and details to give a better and more accurate service. Druckfarben also recalibrated its two barring presses to give increased pressure when applying barring strips. The Northamptonshire site is now able to cut and bar up to 500 blankets a day with the capacity to produce more if required.

For specialist printing on foil, metal decorating, two piece can and plastic cup/pot printing Druckfarben has added a lamination service in-house, with bespoke cutting for this market sector. For the TyreF Coating Blanket, the new CAD cutter is able to sculpt and cut complex patterns that would not be possible by hand.

‘Our new facility allows us to cut and convert in a more accurate way, giving better consistency and quality control of blanket production. In addition we have significantly improved production speed and capacity through automation. However, we have also recognised the need for specialist services that require much more human intervention,’ stated Grant.

Druckfarben’s investment also includes the appointment of a new team of experts both in the conversion facility and also two new blanket technical specialists to help support packaging printers across the UK. Lee McLelland, blanket conversion manager, joined Druckfarben earlier this year and has over 12 years of experience in blanket conversion and new technology.

‘Customers can be confident that they are buying products from a reputable manufacturer of press related products and consumables, who when it comes to selecting blanket material chooses their partners with the same high standards that they apply to their own manufacturing,’ concluded Grant. ‘Druckfarben prides itself upon ensuring customers get high performance blankets that have been converted and packaged to the very highest standards possible.’