Iain Bullock, Renz UK managing director; Lee Sherburn Renz service manager; Tony Michiels, owner/founder Argos Solutions; Grant Bewey, general manager, Funky Pigeon Fulfilment Centre
Personalised greetings card specialist Funky Pigeon has chosen to streamline production with the UK’s first Argos F400 “Cold Lamp” UV Coater equipped with remote diagnostics.
The company’s first system at its fulfilment centre in Guernsey caught fire so strong safety features were important for the replacement. ‘The Argos came in on our price budget and we are really pleased with it,’ said Grant Bewey, general manager. ‘We have four HP Indigos and while this one runs nearline we are hoping to add two more to run inline. That way we can create a highly flexible process.’
Funky Pigeon’s Argos F400 “Cold Lamp” UV Coater is the first in the UK to be equipped with remote diagnostics. The flat coating system can run at up to 45m/min or 6,000sph (A3) and can handle a maximum paper width of 400mm.
‘We work quite remotely and so cannot afford to have any downtime,’ explained Mr Bewey. ‘This machine looked to be very reliable. The remote diagnostics capability also offered peace of mind.’
The company purchased the Argos system from Renz after a trip to Belgium to see the coater put through its paces. ‘It offered a low cost per page,’ reported Mr Bewey. ‘It uses less coating that other systems. […] Wash up is also minimal which saves a lot of time.’
The coater was installed at Funky Pigeon in under two hours. ‘We have had no problems with it,’ stated Mr Bewey. ‘It gives a better quality of coating and uses less coater which makes it cost effective. Also, because it is a cold coater, there are no temperature changes for the substrate to react to. As a result, curling is eliminated which improves the final quality,’ he concluded.
Funky Pigeon’s total investment, including feeder, vacuum conveyor and jogger was £69,995.
