J Thompson streamlines digital arm with IFS buy

Print Solutions

J Thomson Colour Printers has chosen a Horizon CRF-362 creaser folder from Intelligent Finishing Systems to support the success of its digital print arm and help increase company wide sales.

The Glasgow operation with offices in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Perth, has a broad client base from across a wide range of market sectors including education, retail, tourism and finance.

B1 litho work is produced on a 12 colour perfecting Heidelberg XL and a six colour XL. It set up its digital print arm eight years ago. It runs an HP 7600 and an HP 7800.

Digital production manager Gordon Macdonald said, ‘Our digital arm has grown steadily and we wanted to improve throughput. Being able to future proof the business was important too. We needed to be sure it would be able to support our needs for the years ahead. The investment had to be right for now but also right for our business in the years ahead.’

He continued, ‘We looked at what was available and the Horizon looked best value overall. It is user friendly and fast to set up. It has made a huge difference. The guys operating it are really happy and it has hit the ground running. We used to have a lot of hand finishing. So before we would have completed a couple of hundred sheets in an afternoon, now we can handle three to four thousand. It saves a significant number of hours per week and we expect to achieve return on investment in 12 months.’

The Horizon CRF-362 also aids flexibility in the bindery. Gordon added, ‘As the creaser is highly automated we have trained all our operators to use it. Anyone can jump on and off. This means jobs can be completed in a much more timely way which is vital in digital print when short run work has to be in and out very quickly. The operators are also freed up to do other things.’