Friedheim took on the range informally just before lockdown, but has now secured a formal partnership.

According to John Harrison, sales manager at Friedheim’s converting division, the Young Shin range is good fit because it complements the Stock sheetfed laminators and board mounters and Lasercomb digital and laser cutting tables that the business has offered for several years.

“So, we’re already involved in the display and POS markets, and have a strong connections – it’s a good area to be and we still see investment in that area of the market,” he said, adding that the machines' USP was their reliability, simplicity, format and competitive value proposition.

“And the Young Shin seems to satisfy the large-format die-cutting opportunity for those looking to move away from the ‘clamshell’ design, which a lot of companies aren’t comfortable with any more on health and safety grounds.”

The firm will be focusing on the Giant range of semi-automatic die-cutters, which range in formats from 1,300x950mm to 2,500x1,700mm with cutting pressures of up to 500 tonnes and maximum speeds of up to 4,000sph, dependent on format.

The machines can handle a wide range of flutes and cartonboards from 1.5mm to 11mm.

While the South Korean manufacturer also offers smaller-format die-cutters, Harrison said that “we would prefer to focus in on the areas we are more involved with, like POS and large-format corrugated sheet plants.”

The range was formerly sold by Crosland.

“I think Young Shin just wanted to step up really and wanted a distributor that can hold a full range of spare parts, engineers immediately available and, to be fair Crosland, which was known as Young Shin Europe has been very supportive [during the handover].”

According to Harrision there are around 50 Young Shin machines in operation the UK, with several customers running multiple machines.

“Before we got involved I spoke to a lot of the customers and I have to say I got glowing responses from all of them, which was very encouraging.”

Friedheim is planning to retrain some of its 14 engineers, which are spread across the country to support the machines, however Harrison said the engineers were already well placed to offer immediate support.

“The machines are very reliable and are well within the grasp of our experienced engineers,” he said.