Finishing & Screen Printing
Mauritius Printer Starts 2011 With an Autobond Mini 76 T
Monday 14. February 2011 - After 14 years of reliable productivity, Mauritius commercial printer Precigraph decided to upgrade its water-based, manual-fed Autobond laminator with an automated model. The new Mini 76 T, installed in January, was sold by Autobond's distributor in Mauritius, Robert Le Maire Intergraph, and has already had a significant impact on Precigraph's ability to produce first class laminating.
“We’ve had very good service both from the original laminator and Autobond over the years, but when you are considering purchasing new equipment it still makes sense to find out what else is on the market,” says technical director Francois de Labauve d’Arifat, whose grandfather started the family business in 1974. Today, the company has customers as far away as South Africa.
“It was quickly apparent that no other manufacturer’s laminator could match Autobond’s Mini range in terms of speed and the pressure that could be applied between the nip rollers, which is crucial to achieving first class lamination. The jobs we print that require laminating include book jackets, which obviously need to last for years, so you have to be confident that the film will not peel off over a period of time.”
Within the first few weeks of its operation the new Mini 76 T has been used to laminate a wide range of print, from general commercial work and book covers to labels and packaging. The format size of the Mini 76 T matches the output of Precigraph’s multi-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster presses.
“The installation and training provided by Autobond was extremely thorough and the demonstrator was very comprehensive in explaining the many different parts of the new laminator. We’ve had two staff trained as operators and they’ve had no problems at all in using the Mini 76 T since the departure of the demonstrator. Indeed, we’ve not had to contact Autobond once since the laminator was commissioned. The automatic feeder and sheeter certainly help to make the Mini 76 T much faster than the previous model and a great deal easier to operate,” says Mr d’Arifat.
The Mini 76 T is a B2 landscape/B1 portrait laminator, Autobond’s best selling format, and is fitted with a Heidelberg Stahl suction drum feeder. The laminator can handle print from A4 up to 76 x 105 cm in size and from 90 gsm to 650 gsm in weight. Film is mounted on a quick-change airshaft, one of many features, along with a high level of automation, that make Autobond laminators very straightforward to use.
During 2010 the UK manufacturer launched a redesigned version of the Mini range, which incorporates the feeder, laminator and sheeter within one 22 mm thick steel side plate. This has resulted in an extremely small footprint, with that of the Mini 76 T being only 2.5m x 1.5m.