UK • The label company Reflex Labels ordered four machines from JM Heaford, supplier of proofing and mounting solutions for the label and packaging market. Reflex Labels already installed a FTS mounter in 2015.
Reflex has now (August 2017) received delivery of the first two FTS mounters at its site in Barwell, Leicestershire, which specialises in labels and printed laminates for sachets. The remaining machines – one for Mansfield and one for Boston, Lincolnshire – are scheduled to be in operation before the end of August.
The four machines in the new order are identical in specification, while differing from the first FTS installation at the company’s facility in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which included a specialised micro-gap cutter to provide consistent plate joining accuracy for continuous design printing without the need for ITR (in-the-round) sleeves. The FTS uses high-magnification cameras situated below a cushioned table to line up with the register marks through a viewing slot on the table. Once the operator has positioned the plate on the table and verified alignment, the machine takes over the mounting process.
For Reflex, the faster, more accurate mounting systems means that each FTS can service multiple presses at the same time. Paul Sefton, operations manager at Reflex Labels, states: “There’s no risk of production delay while we wait for plates to be mounted. The mounted cylinders can be ready by the press to change from one job to the next with minimal downtime.”