FE Burman boosts finishing op with Horizon and Uchida investment

London printer FE Burman has recently invested in a Horizon StitchLiner and Uchida Aerocut cutter, creaser and perforator to increase its production quality and streamline its productivity.

The Horizon StitchLiner was bought from Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS).

“We recently invested in a second Indigo 7000 and that has increased demand on the finishing department, particularly for different job sizes,” said managing director Michael Burman.

“We chose the StitchLiner to help us increase the level of quality of the product we were producing in both the final look and the security of personalised work.

“We particularly liked the inline camera that supports the personalised work we complete. The new system means we can deliver the same products, faster, freeing up capacity."

Another benefit, according to Burman, is a flatter final product.

“There is a regular 32-page, 10,000-run DL booklet that is machine enclosed. Not only is production smoother, it also looks better. The combination of these factors made the investment right for us,” he said.

The business carried out a thorough review of the other systems currently available on the market prior to choosing the StitchLiner.

“There were a number of reasons why we went for the StitchLiner. The three-knife trimmer was very robust and heavy duty and the HOF feeder allows you to stitch collated products and that helps with flexibility. It is also easy to use and quick to set up.”

The automated 11,000bph Horizon StitchLiner includes a high-profile icon-based colour touchscreen for set-ups in less than two minutes. Instant job storage and recall also helps with job turnaround and is ideal for short runs.

The Uchida Aerocut cutter, creaser and perforator features a user-friendly colour display for simple and easy job setting, an upper belt air suction system and Uchida Ultra-Crease to prevent toner cracking. It also has registration mark detection and can accurately feed stocks of up to 350gsm.

Burman said: “It has made us more productive and accurate in terms of guillotining business cards.”

Besides its two HP Indigo 7000s, the business also operates a KBA Karat and a B2 five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster.

FE Burman was founded over 50 years ago and has 40 staff. It provides a range of print and support services for blue chip clients including the Guardian Media Group, Savills and Monsoon.