Sydney’s Flash Graphics is the first print house in Australia to take on a SEAL 65 Pro MD laminator, after ordering the unit, which is billed as ‘the most advanced laminator in the world’ from local distributor, Starleaton.
The first Australian sale of the new machine comes eight months after Starleaton sold its first 65 Pro MD into the New Zealand market late last year.
Fredrik Udén, general manager of the Marrickville-based sign and display specialist, Flash Graphics, said that his company has used other SEAL laminators for some years, but the new unit’s speed and more economical floor space prompted the decision to buy the new machine.
“We still do quite a bit of hot laminating; we often print on paper stock where the hot laminating process gives the paper a certain rigidity along with pristine photographic quality for our Tuffline stands” he explained.
“Apart from its vastly increased speed, which copes with the market’s ever decreasing lead times, the new unit has demonstrated fewer fluctuations and a vastly greater degree of control,” said Udén.
According to Ben Eaton (pictured), Starleaton Digital Solutions’ general manager, the new laminating entrant created a sensation when first introduced in the US market late last year.
“For sheer speed, the 65 Pro MD is unbeatable,” said Eaton. “It runs thermal laminate two to three times as fast as similar machines for high productivity laminating shops. Being designed and made in Neschen’s US factory, the build and quality are simply outstanding.”
At 1,651mm wide (65 inches), 65 Pro MD it is 76mm wider than previous SEAL PRO models. A new easy-to-use touchscreen control panel puts all adjustments at the operator’s fingertips – from both sides of the machine, thanks to the swivel-arm mount.
According to Eaton, the bi-directional operation allows hot and cold laminating jobs to be run consecutively without needing to wait for the front rollers to cool down. Precise nip and temperature are displayed on the LCD panel for total control.
For Udén, the new machine has substantially increased the turnaround for a large number of the company’s jobs.
“The jobs which yesterday have a two or three day turnaround will virtually be instantaneous,” he said. “Speed and price will be a given, and the quality has to come with it.”
The sale of the new machine to Flash Graphics comes as Starleaton undergoes a major rebranding, with the company claiming a new logo and refurbished headquarters in Sydney’s Brookvale.
“It’s been ten years since we refreshed our logo and brand, and we decided that a fresh look would take us into the next phase of our business, especially with the new generation of people who are now in the industry,”said Eaton. “We think it has a little more currency in this new market. We’ve done a lot of development inside the company to be the premier supplier of a total solution for digital professionals.
“We’ve spent over 12 months developing a full suite of products that are easy to apply, easy to install, and that deliver a higher profit at the end of each job. We’ve expanded our product range to over 2,000 lines, so we can provide innovative products for specialised jobs, while at the same time carrying all the commodity lines,” he said.