Finishing & Screen Printing

Avocet invests in meeting its increased efficiency needs

Tuesday 13. September 2016 - Avocet Scales & Labels’ CEO Philip Mercer, never anticipated that the efficiencies of a Mark Andy Performance Series P3 UV-based press would create backlogs, especially during the company’s very busy October/November period. ‘Investing in a new Rotoflex VSI 330e high-speed inspection, slitting and rewinding machine has helped us reduce our label printing backlog, stop the bottlenecking, and boost our efficiencies. Its full inspection capabilities have also increased our production quality.’

Paul Bouwer, from supplier SArepco, explains that Philip saw the Rotoflex VSI 330e machine running at Africa Print Expo 2015 and immediately noticed the difference in speed and productivity between this new machine and older versions. ‘This fully servo-driven machine is highly automated, runs at speeds of up to 305m/minute, and has fast cycle times because of its quick acceleration and deceleration capabilities. All these factors result in productivity gains of 40-50% and convinced Philip to buy the machine at the show. It was delivered to the Johannesburg factory soon after and commissioned within a day.’

Factory manager, Elias Mashaba, who has been in the print industry for 23 years, is very satisfied with the results. ‘The machine’s eDrive web inspection and finishing technologies ensure that there’s nothing for the operator to adjust on the panel, taking human calculations out of the equation,’ Elias emphasises. ‘Our factory consists solely of Mark Andy and Rotoflex equipment because of their quality, 100% accuracy, and ease to set up and run, which provide good roll quality and efficiencies.

Reducing waste
‘They also allow us to maintain waste percentages of 2-3% – never exceeding 5% – because we diagnose problems and create solutions within a short timeframe. If there’s wastage from any machine caused by a faulty part, for instance, I call SArepco to come replace it as soon as possible. The company always provides good after sales service, and supplies genuine parts.’

Philip adds: ‘This is important as we ultimately need to manufacture and supply consistent, premium-grade finished labels – every time, on time – to our demanding FMCG customers and, with the new high-speed inspection, slitting and rewinding machine, we’re achieving these goals and more.’

www.rotoflex.com
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