Andrew Southern seen here at drupa with the new HP Indigo WS6800 press
Windmill Tapes & Labels has installed an HP Indigo WS6800 digital label press after signing a deal at drupa. Financed through a loan from Barclays bank, the new press will increase capacity by 50% according to the Stockport-based company.
The family-owned company employs 50 people and supplies flexographic and digitally printed labels, and printed tapes, to a wide range of sectors including food and beverages, cosmetics and toiletries, pharmaceuticals, security and automotive. Having completely rebuilt its factory, the company, which is run by managing director Andrew Southern and his brother, sales director Ian Southern, moved into a new purpose-built facility in 2014, and today has some 30 presses operating.
The new WS6800 will be feeding two ABG Digicon 2 finishing lines and is set to grow the company’s digital department considerably. Windmill Tapes & Labels first entered the digital arena after acquiring Commercial Label Products in 2010 and further added to its equipment with a WS6600 in 2013. Today, this side of the business accounts for 35% of turnover.
‘The 6800 press matches our existing 6600 machine for speed, but has the added benefit of an inline spectrometer for easier colour matching on press rather than in the studio,’ said Andrew Southern. ‘The 6800 replaces our old ws4050 and runs at twice the speed. Our aim is to increase run lengths and throughput in digital as we continue to migrate short run length work from our flexo presses.’
