Snap Ringwood installs Horizon creaser folder

A new focus on its niche market has seen Snap Ringwood install a new Horizon CRF-362 creaser folder, supplied by Currie Group.

Coming out of the Covid years, Snap Ringwood owner Tony McKay decided to concentrate on a band of work that suited his business, with quality work, ease of manufacturing, and inhouse production all deemed essential for the company.

He said, “We wanted to focus on the market space that suited our equipment, which is digital, short-run, on-demand, and to service that I decided we needed an inhouse creaser folder.

“We had previously used an off-line scorer, but then combining that with our friction-fed folding machine did pose problems, especially with digital print with its heavy toner coverage, jobs took a long time and needed a lot of attention. The new Horizon CRF-362 is completely different, it is a green button operation, we don’t need a tradesperson to operate it, it races through work without any complications.”

It is the first piece of Horizon equipment installed by McKay, he said, “I knew the brand and its reputation for reliability. When I was looking for a creaser folder the Horizon stood out thanks to its ability to handle a broad range of stock, essentially everything I would put through it. We have a number of jobs with lightweight papers, 80 or 90 or 100gsm, these go through with no problems at all.”

McKay also uses the CRF-362 just for scoring work, for covers and jobs that are going on the saddle stitcher. Snap Ringwood has both a colour and monochrome digital printer, and a range of finishing equipment, including its own laminator and card cutter.

The new Horizon CRF-362 is also the first piece of equipment that the business has had installed by Currie Group. McKay said, “It has been a good experience. The back-up from Currie Group is terrific, and that’s all part of the deal. If we need to ring them, they are there.”

Coming from an offset print background McKay bought the Snap franchise 20 years ago. It services a range of clients, with local businesses, some government work, and some work for national chains.

Covid hit Snap like it hit virtually every printer, but for McKay it was a time to reassess. He said, “Some of the work we were doing was for wafer thin margins. I decided the business would not chase that kind of client any more, we would work on jobs that were worth working on. The new Horizon creaser folder is part of our future. It is so good to be able to press the button and know the job is being completed to the standard we want with no extra input from us.”

Vince Pignataro, Victorian account manager at Currie Group said, “I have known Tony for many years and have always had time to discuss his requirements as l watched his business grow. After a tough two years with lockdowns, Tony reached out to me to assist with what he recognised was a bottleneck in his business.

“He also recognised the shortage of staff, and with the automation that the Horizon CRF-362 gave him, multiple staff were trained in a matter of days. The Horizon CRF-362 achieves many tasks for Snap Ringwood, creasing and folding and perforation all in a single pass.