When Danscot Print, Perth, relocated to smart new out of town premises it decided the time was right to upgrade its finishing department – choosing new Horizon and Perfecta equipment supplied by Graphic Arts Equipment.

The £2m annual turnover group took the opportunity to boost the print division’s bindery with the addition of a Perfecta 76 guillotine and a ten-station Vac-100 PowerCollator with SPF/FC-20A automated book production line that collates 10,000 sets/hr and finishes 4,000 books/hr. Around the same time a Ryobi 522 two-colour press was installed to improve press capacity.

Managing Director Mary Doig explains: “The investment coincided with the move which gave us more space for the new equipment. The new layout meant an improvement in throughput and has increased productivity. Together with the new press this has meant a significant increase in the amount of work we are doing now.”

As for the collator she says: “For us the purchase was an upgrade of the equipment we had been using for several years. We are now working with suction feed rather than friction feed which is perfect for the increase in colour litho work we are doing. Work is going through it faster.

Printer George Goodbrand added: “With the friction feed model before we were not able to run gloss paper and any glossy booklets we had needed to be handfed. But the new Horizon can do all that. We are doing more gloss paper work now as a result. We are also putting a lot more work through it as it is a much faster machine.”

Danscot has been using GAE machinery since it saw some equipment on a stand at Ipex in the 1980s. Ms Doig adds: “We did look at other equipment manufacturers in the marketplace but we decided to go with some we knew already. The fact that we had been operating that range of collating equipment for a few years gave us a little bit more confidence in GAE rather than going elsewhere.”

The Danscot commercial printing unit moved from 1,500 sq ft town centre premises to a new 12,000 sq ft site that also houses its parent company’s wholesale cash and carry stationery and office furniture supplies business.