Col-Tec’s smart collator aimed at point of sale sector

Print Solutions

Col-Tec has developed a highly versatile collation and fulfilment solution for printers of large format point of sale and retail graphics.

Known as a ‘smart collator’, the machine comes equipped with Intelligent Data Collating (IDC) software, which unlike typical collating applications where the set is repeated numerous times, allows for many different patterns and combinations of sets to follow each other. This means that a promotion for a major retail chain for example, with a large number of outlets all requiring variable sets, can now be collated at the touch of a button thereby negating the need for large numbers of temporary staff to manually sort into sets.

Col-Tec’s Paul Bailey said, ‘Our smart collator technology is very versatile; it is ideally suited to either those printers producing high volume, variable data sets of point of sale for multi-store promotions, as well as those collating lots of sets in small amounts where the set up of a typical automatic collator would be both impractical and inefficient.

‘In essence, this technology can deliver collated sets on-demand, meaning that no two sets need necessarily be the same. They can be either store or client specific, no matter how small the quantities and any number of jobs can be collated continuously without interruption. And as each store or client requirement is collated, a label and/or dispatch note can be printed and added to the set or sets ready for packaging and dispatch.’

Tyne and Wear based Simpson Group has recently invested in a Col-Tec smart collator. Incorporating eight hoppers – with an option to convert to 16 half size hoppers – the collator takes a maximum size of 1524 x 1016 mm and a minimum of A4, making it perfect for the group’s large format work and traceability requirements. This particular smart collator can operate at speeds of up to 1500 sets per hour and is virtually unlimited in the type of substrates it can handle.

Simpson Group’s training and development director, Sarah Tishler, said: ‘As part of our business strategy review for the financial year just ended, we undertook a process of considering what investment would make the greatest impact on the efficiency of the business. As our despatch department relies heavily on its labour force to conduct the bulk of its packing and collation work, installing a smart collator from Col-Tec was the right option for us.

‘The investment in this new machinery helps us improve packing efficiency whilst also saving on temporary labour costs; it will also assist us with our future growth plan when it comes to taking on more business.’