Brisbane-based trade celloglazer and book binder Auscote is joining embellishment specialists Avon Graphics with the two businesses to operate together in larger premises with an expanded product range expected in the next six to 12 months.
Auscote, owned by Murray and Deb Whitting, has provided laminating and binding services to the printing trade for the last 30 years and offers complementary capabilities to the foil stamping and embossing services offered by Avon Graphics.
Avon Graphics managing director Tate Hone told Sprinter that having Auscote join Avon Graphics will provide a one-stop-shop for finishing in the Brisbane market leading to faster turnaround times and an easier process for printers.
“Auscote is joining the Avon Graphics Group which is part of the necessary consolidation as the industry continues to change so we are coming together under one roof to create a one stop shop for the Brisbane market,” Hone told Sprinter.
“We are complementary. At the moment Avon Graphics in Brisbane foil stamp and emboss and Auscote laminate and book bind essentially. There are some other services like strutting and mounting so they are very complementary and it is a lot easier for our shared customers and potentially new ones to place one purchase order and have less risk.
“There is less risk, one point of purchase and we will be looking to expand our offerings over the next six to 12 months as well.”
All Auscote staff will move to the new factory over the coming month taking Avon Graphics’ Brisbane staff numbers to 15 with 120 nationally.
Murray Whitting said joining Avon Graphics made sense as both operations provide different services and have worked together for many years.
“It makes good sense for us because we are both trade services. We both do slightly different things and once we are together we will complement each other and be a one-stop shop,” Whitting told Sprinter.
“We are doing binding at the moment where the printer will print the cover, it will come to us for cello and then it will go down for foiling or embossing and then it will go somewhere else for screen UV and then back to us and we will finally bind the book.
“This will be much easier for the printer because it will just be one order, one company, one delivery, one process and it gives us much better control over the job meaning we can turn it over much faster for the customer.”
Whitting said the business will be adding new equipment in the coming months including a PUR binder and a UV machine.
The new factory will be located in the Brisbane suburb of Geebung in close proximity to where Auscote and Avon Graphics are currently based.
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