UK customer delighted with Edale FL-350
Almost 10 years to the date that Douglas Storrie Labels installed its first Edale 5 colour Alpha the company has purchased its first Edale FL-350 press.
Over the past few years of global financial difficulty, Douglas Storrie sales have increased and a major investment made into new equipment. In September 2011 the first Edale FL-350 8 colour servo press was installed, primarily for the production of self-adhesive labels, tickets and tags but with a view to venture into other fields which the press allows: flexible packaging. According to managing director Nigel Storrie: “it was necessary to invest in expanding production capacities because business with new customers has grown significantly”.
Douglas Storrie decided to work closely with Edale to develop the FL-350 to ensure they created a press which would produce labels, tickets and packaging alongside servo technology to give them the top quality finish that was expected by their customers combined with high running speeds, fast changeover and reduced cost which gives the company the edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace. ?Douglas Storrie, having brought the prototype model, tested the machine with the intention of co-developing the press with Edale; feedback from a real production environment was invaluable in fine tuning the machine and enabled Edale to work on numerous developments to enhance the machines drive system. After a trial period of putting the machine through its paces, Douglas Storrie is ‘delighted with the performance of new investment’.
“The press was installed in September 2011,” continues Storrie. “We felt the press could benefit from a few further developments to get it to an even higher standard. Edale worked with us to tweak the finer details which we felt would turn this from a good press to a great press – we now believe we have got one of the best presses on the market and at a very good competitive price”.
Off the back of these positive changes a second machine has been sold and installed into another UK company which produces medical products and has now brought its print and packaging in-house.
“We have been very impressed with the operator friendly features the FL350 boasts,” says Stuart Robinson, works/production manager of Douglas Storrie. “We are seeing a large increase in the amount of work we are getting out the door and I believe this is all down to the pit stop changeover, ease of setting the machine up with minimum waste, fast running speeds and pre-register system. The FL-350 is printing the highest quality work we’ve ever seen and matching print samples from other print processes which we have not previously been able to achieve. It also gives us the ability and flexibility to print a wide range of substrates and thicknesses enabling us to target different areas of the packaging market.
The Edale FL-350 press brings more machine choice to market with the flexibility of a broader substrate range and with more options.
“Overall the FL350 is a highly versatile machine with many innovative features that we believe will help shape our business over the next year,” concludes Robinson. “We are glad we stayed with a flexo machine at this time instead of venturing down the digital route.”?You are invited to see the FL-350 operating at Douglas Storrie’s Open Day which is being held on 15 August 2012 with a British Day by the Seaside theme. Douglas Storrie will be running three machine demonstrations: a label, film and flexible packaging job at 10.30, 12.30 and 14.30. To register your interest please contact: marketing@edale.com or call +44 (0)1489 569230.