Online print pioneer David Kegen and his business partner Jayden Farrell credit Currie Group as being a major factor driving the rapid expansion of CMYK Colour Online’s commercial printing and book-binding business.
Kegen and Farrell have again turned to Currie Group for their latest piece of equipment, a Horizon HT-30 Robotic Three Knife Trimmer that’s due to arrive at CMYK Colour’s Melbourne factory next week.
The HT-30 trims three sides of a book with a single knife, thanks to a pressure clamp that holds and rotates books for sequential top, fore-edge, and bottom trimming.
“We chose the HT-30 because it will further speed up and improve production in the trimming side. On a large job, equipment like this trimmer can save many, many hours and that’s what we’re always looking for.
"The HT-30 trimmer complements our Horizon BQ-470 four-clamp PUR perfect binder bought from Currie Group a few months ago. The perfect binder gives us versatility in mid-range soft back book production with higher production speeds and instant make readies for short runs,” says Kegen. “We do anything from very small-run books for family purposes right up to large run, big multinational annual reports and all sorts of year books.”
The company’s machinery line-up also includes a Horizon HOF-400 on line to Horizon StitchLiner 5500 booklet maker, 2 x Horizon CRF-362s Creaser/ Folder and Perf units and a Foliant Taurus 530SF Laminator – all from Currie Group.
“As with any sophisticated equipment, there is a learning curve and Currie Group has been fantastic in helping us with that learning curve. Nothing is too much trouble for them and they are also great with staff training. Vince Pignataro at Currie Group is always ready to help and he is really outstanding in the way he looks after us.”
Pignataro says the new Horizon HT-30 trimmer will add speed to the company’s booklet operation. “Currently they’re having to wait for the curing and this machine simplifies the process and allows them to trim three edges pretty much instantaneously without touching the spine.”
The Currie Group account manager says CMYK Colour Online has enjoyed continuous growth by investing in the latest technology. “They’ve been building up every year since I first met them five or six years ago. They were a much smaller operation then but they’ve grown significantly and have now moved into a massive building and there’s more growth to come.”
Kegen, one of the first commercial printers in Australia to move to an online-only business model, says CMYK Colour has grown every year for the past eleven years.
“We’ve never taken a step backward and one of the biggest problems we have is actually controlling our growth,” says Kegen. “Over the last two and a half years, every piece of our equipment has been replaced or upgraded. We can always take more work and the plan is to continue to grow but we’re also aware of the dangers of rampant growth.
“As well as book binding, the other area where our business is expanding is selling to the trade. We’ve been doing trade work for years but we’re getting more and more trade customers now and that can include franchises, graphic designers and smaller printing companies who don’t have high-end digital or high-end offset equipment.”
Combining the latest in colour digital printing and offset technology, CMYK Colour Online prints magazines, books, booklets, flyers, brochures, pamphlets, CMYK cards, business cards, magnets, posters (digital or offset), plastic business cards, letterheads, stickers, carbonless books, notepads, envelopes, fridge magnets, presentation folders, postcards, calendars, bookmarks, loyalty cards and more.