Since moving to new premises, Graffix Digital of Chesham, Buckinghamshire has installed an Ideal 5560 hydraulic guillotine from Ashgate Automation, together with a Kasfold Sprint 3000 bookletmaker and TR 2 trimmer.

The company offers a diverse range of print, promotional, fulfilment and distribution services and specialises in short run manuals, brochures and booklets printed on a Canon ImagePress C850 digital press. The need for a new guillotine arose when an inherited machine at the new premises didn’t meet requirements, as managing director Michael Boyle explained:

‘We used to have a three-phase Polar 76 guillotine which we left behind on the understanding that there would be a perfectly adequate single-phase machine in the new building. This did not prove to be the case, so we looked at what was available on the market,’ he said.

‘As our print runs can be as few as 40 to 50 copies, machine speed was not the issue. We needed an easy setup which would enable us to produce quality products quickly in house. Jobs often have to be turned round the same day,’ he added. ‘We had built up a good relationship with Ashgate having bought several pieces of equipment from them over the years so we asked their advice. We wanted to bring as much work in-house as possible.’

Ashgate recommended the Ideal 5560, a programmable guillotine with a 56cm cutting length. Mr Boyle noted that while it was not the cheapest, it gave the precision cutting, intuitive controls and digital functions that Graffix needed. ‘Set up is fast and easy. Business cards and other repeat work fly through it and most importantly it is much more accurate than the previous guillotine,’ he confirmed.

Graffix also decided to replace its old bookletmaker with the Kasfold Sprint 3000 and TR2 trimmer, again following Ashgate’s recommendation. The Sprint 3000 produces A4, A5 and A6 finished booklets and Mr Boyle said it is much faster and more accurate than the previous machine, enabling work to be kept in-house.