Founded in 1980, Windmill Tapes and Labels has expanded its finishing capacity with a Digicon Series 3 converting line from AB Graphic to complement its HP Indigo presses.
Managing director Andrew Southern said, ‘We see this acquisition complementing the current label production facility and are confident it will enable us to keep our customers satisfied in terms of quicker lead times and overall quality.’
He continued, ‘We can see more and more demand for variety and unique labelling. This is chiefly driven by the retail industry and the demand for eye catching, point of sale product placement in the supermarkets and online.
‘This demand led us to invest again in label finishing. High print quality is now a given and customers want to see other features such as embellishments, foiling, spot varnishes and laminates to provide their products with USPs that make them stand out from the crowd.’
The specification of the Digicon 3 sees an added semi-rotary screen-printing unit, along with two print stations and a turn bar. ‘The screen-printing unit enables us to provide relief (up to 250 microns) to our labels for applications such as tactile triangles, Braille and spot embellishments. The turn bar delam/relam unit means we can print on the reverse or adhesive side of labels,’ said Mr Southern.
In addition, the company opted for time-saving automation modules that reduce costly set up times. ‘Set-up times on the Digicon Series 3 are much quicker these days thanks to the easy die loading and auto knife settings. As run lengths become shorter, this is important, so we can keep speed with both the HP WS6600 and 6800 digital presses. Our operators find the Digicon easy to operate and ABG give us first class support both online (linked in to the machine) and through training programmes,’ concluded Mr Southern.
