Sydney large format printer Frank Steel Displays says it has dramatically increased production and slashed turnaround times since installing Australia’s biggest diecutter, and is already raking in trade work.
The monster Crest Clamshell 2.5M has a maximum cutting size of 1524 x 2667mm and can cut large format sheets, with materials from paper to plastic and aluminium, straight after printing on the company’s twin Screen Sias 6 Multiforma 165x215cm large format presses.
Director Anthony Steel, the fifth generation owner of the 118-year-old multi-award-winning family business, says the Clamshell has boosted the display company’s production by 50 per cent and halved setup and turnaround times since it was installed in late March.
“It has been running continuously during business hours and hasn’t missed a beat, not a single issue or stoppage and the quality is fantastic – it is everything we hoped for,” he says.
“It only takes about an hour to set up and it’s just one cut and done.”
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Steel says the company hopes to capture the Sydney diecutting trade market while addressing its own needs, and already has several digital printers sending in work.
“Most of our new business from the Clamshell is trade and we are looking to expand that significantly,” he says.
“Traditional plotter style cutting tables can be a bottleneck in production because of their slow cutting speeds. Now printers can do it fast and save the plotter for smaller jobs.
“Our diecutter is good for any job over 50 sheets, just make a diecut tool or get us to make it for you and go – they can save on labour costs and always deliver to clients on time.”
Steel says because the Clamshell has such a big cutting area, it is no longer necessary to either print two smaller sheets and glue them together or cut and fold a large sheet on both rollercutter and diecutter, allowing the display printer to scrap a 2x2m rollercutter and 1700x1300mm diecutter.
“Previously we had to design our point of sale displays to diecut size rather than print size, now we can do it all in one smooth process for any design,” he says.
Steel says this is all part of a plan for a ‘backwards’ switch to digital, starting with bigger finishing equipment and trade printing while the company saves for future press investment and waits for digital presses to be cost effective, which he says will probably take at least two years.
Other recent investments towards this goal include a new Lamina 2200 Gluer straight line with workstation, one of only a few in Australia.
Frank Steel is a ten-time winner of the POPAI OMA Awards.
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