K.E.P. Print Group installs LAMINA LITHO LAMINATOR / BLACKLINE HIGH PILE (summer 2017)

K.E.P. Print Group installs 16.20 Lamina Litho Laminator

 SUMMER 2017 - To keep up with the high workload due to business growth, KEP Print Group, Ltd. has installed a high-speed Lamina Blackline 1620 FA 1600/800 to replace their eight-year old Lamina 1620 FA 800/500.

Faced with increasing sales and a laminating machine that was running at maximum output, Managing Director Mark Plowman knew he needed to invest in a faster laminating machine. “We were running our old Lamina in 24-hour shifts to keep up with the demand,” Plowman explained. “The new machine runs nearly four times faster and has shorter make-ready times, so our previous 24-hour workload can be done in one shift.”

The Tamworth-based commercial print company, located 14 miles northeast of Birmingham, started in 1979 as a small family business with one press and operated out of a garage. Their growth was exponential, and today KEP employs 120 people and works with some of the UK’s biggest brands. KEP specializes in commercial print work, including point-of-sale, and operates an in-house cardboard engineering department, making the print company a one-stop-shop for all retail print needs.

The new Lamina Blackline 1620 is a high-speed fully automatic sheet-to-sheet laminating and mounting machine and produces high-end corporate retail packaging and POS advertising display materials.

Among the Blackline’s advantages compared to their old laminator includes more accurate registration, a speed of up to 5000 sheets/hour (versus the previous machine’s 3000s/h top speed), and a higher capacity feeder, allowing full pallet quantities to be loaded into the machine.

“With the higher capacity, we spend less time loading the machine,” stated Plowman. “It also uses the latest computer technology which reduces our set up times for each job and leads to a higher quality end product for the consumer. We’re excited to pass on quicker turnaround times and the best products to our customers.”