William Smith Group 1832 has expanded its finishing capacity with the installation of a new Zünd S3 digital cutting machine, bringing its total number of Zünd cutters to four.
One of the four Zund cutters at William Smith
The latest investment follows a period of growth for the company and is intended to support increasing demand across its signage operation, including traffic signs, chevron kits and road safety products where accuracy is critical.
The business first installed a Zünd S3 in December 2024 and says the increase in production capacity led directly to the decision to invest in a second machine of the same model.
“The improvements in capacity we saw went through the roof. When it came to upgrading from our existing KN models, the process pointed us straight to another S3,” said Rob Siswick, production and warehouse manager at William Smith Group 1832.
The Zünd S3 is a compact flatbed cutter designed around a modular tooling system, allowing users to switch between different substrates and applications without lengthy setup times. At William Smith, the two S3 systems now operate alongside two other Zünd cutters as part of the company’s wider production workflow.
“Having two S3s is going to have a direct impact on our customers. We’ll be passing on those efficiencies and accuracies, and that is what it is all about,” said Mr Siswick.
According to the company, the new cutter will support production involving reflective films, composites and other specialist materials commonly used in road and highway signage applications.
William Smith’s relationship with Zünd spans two decades, with after-sales support cited as a key factor behind the continued investment.
“Customer service and after-sales support have been absolutely amazing, right through from the engineers to the training team. We can’t fault them at all,” said Mr Siswick.
The latest installation also increases capacity at the company’s new production facility.
Lindsay Hutchinson, head of marketing at William Smith Group 1832, added: “Our Zünd machines do a lot of heavy lifting for us. As the business has grown, the demand on the cutting side has grown with it, and this fourth machine means we can take on more work without any drop in the quality our customers expect.”
