Express Print & Mail secures Autobond laminator

Sunshine Coast commercial printer Express Print & Mail (EPA) is adding an Autobond Mini 76 TPH laminator to its arsenal.

The Autobond will replace older laminating equipment, says EPA, and will dramatically increase the company’s efficiency.

Matt Chadwick, operations manager, EPA says, “We have got two laminating machines at the moment, we picked up the second when we took over another business a few years back. They are old and inefficient, running at 15m per minute.

“With the new Autobond laminator, we expect to run it at 45-50m per minute. Between what we saw at drupa, and talking to other guys that own the machine, I feel like we are in pretty safe hands with buying it. Efficiency is definitely the key driver in this.”

Operating outside of Brisbane, on the Sunshine Coast, Chadwick says the business has to be self sufficient, as they do not outsource finishing for jobs.

“We are a general commercial printer. Digital, offset, and wide-format. Being based on the coast, an hour out of Brisbane, we have to be more self-efficient than the people in Brisbane, who can rely on trade finishers.

“We are a mid-sized business, 35 staff, family owned, run by Mum and I.

Wendy Chadwick started it up back in 2006, under a different business name, while Matt joined in 2012, when the company was rebranded and re-structured.

“As ‘Express Print and Mail’ we’ve been operating for about four years” says Matt Chadwick.

Tom Ralph, managing director, Graph-Pak, supplied the machine, as part of the Graph-Pak’s PacPrint presales. He says the Autobond machines are popular, having already sold 70 in Australia.

“It comes with an additional post heating system giving the operator greater ability to get stronger adhesion over heavily inked print and digital. It is a fast A1 machine, rated to 60m/p/m. Effectively it can lay down 120m per minute of laminating film over print, thus giving a massive return on investment to the owner,” says Ralph.

It is not the only new piece of equipment for Express, as the company installed a five-colour Heidelberg XL 75 earlier this year.

Ralph says part of the Autobond’s popularity is the ability to add to it.

“There is an ability to upgrade it in the future, to go inline with spot UV and foil over the top of the spot UV. Autobond could add an optional unit that you could bolt right on to it.

“It is why people spend that bit of extra money.”

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. All fields are required

Advertisement

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Advertisement