Whittington Moor expands capacity with Horizon spend

(L-R) Gamble with finisher Russ White and finishing manager John Taylor
(L-R) Gamble with finisher Russ White and finishing manager John Taylor

Commercial printer Whittington Moor Printing has installed a Horizon StitchLiner MK III to increase its production capacity and enhance its service delivery.

The machine, which was supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS), was installed at the end of September.

“We had our previous StitchLiner for six years and it has been great. We chose the StitchLiner MKIII as an upgrade because we know and trust the Horizon technology,” said managing director Paul Gamble.

“We knew it was the best available on the market today. It is so much easier finishing from a flat sheet, and we were very happy with the performance and reliability of the StitchLiner’s technology.”

He added: “We wanted a system that was going to be more efficient and also enable us to do more of the same but faster. We also wanted greater production flexibility.

“We were running the older StitchLiner 24 hours a day and expect to do the same with this one. We particularly liked the A4 landscape option. We don’t do a lot of that work at the moment, but it does give us another capability.”

The company has also invested in a third ten bin collating tower, which Gamble said has made the business “much more productive”.

“We complete a 56-page product every month and that used to take 12 hours with 20 bins. With 30 bins it was finished in five hours. The extra tower makes such a difference.”

The new StitchLiner runs at 6,000bph. Its fully automated set-up is said to deliver improved production efficiency and functionality, A4 landscape capability, and professional quality.

The device will finish work produced on a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75, three Xerox Versant 3100s, and a Formall Edelmann four-colour reel-to-sheet press.

Gamble also described IFS as “helpful and reliable, which is very important”.

Whittington Moor Printing has been operating for over 80 years. It specialises in high quality bespoke print, distribution, storage, and mailing services. With around 50 staff, the business has an annual turnover of around £4m to £5m.