Managing director Michael MacCarthy said: “We are hoping the new 115 N Plus will save time with knife changes and allow us to benefit from programmatic features we haven’t had before.
“The fact that Polar guillotine parts are guaranteed to be available for 25 years was also a convincing argument,” he said of the device, which cost £52,000 and replaced a Polar 115 CE.
With a maximum box-work format of 1,120mm in length, the 1,150mm-width guillotine will tackle boards of 500 to 2,000 microns and papers of up to around 135gsm.
“Another plus is the blades are stainless steel rather than tungsten. We are only cutting paper and board; stainless steel is better and about half the price of tungsten.”
W MacCarthy & Sons has been in family hands since 1880 and today its 16 staff produce boxes in typical runs of 50 to 5,000, generating a turnover of about £500,000.
“Having had Polar cutters in the past we were a convinced user,” said MacCarthy, who sold the 1979 Polar 115 CE on to a secondhand dealer for a "reasonable price".
He said the new kit would pay for itself within four or five years. W MacCarthy & Sons runs hand-fed platens, stitching and folding machines, corner cutters and box-wrapping equipment.
