Print finisher Jared Fairall operates the Autobond Mini TP H76 laminator

As a specialist supplier to the design and print trade, IBS Cards has been serving customers throughout Australia and New Zealand for the last ten years. From its premises in Nerang on Queensland’s Gold Coast, the company offers quality colour business cards, promotional DLs and postcards printed on either 310gsm or 420 gsm stock, with a matt or gloss celloglazing finish available on the latter.

Earlier this year IBS Cards found that its old celloglazing machine could no longer keep up with the work coming in. “Our previous machine was also quite haphazard when feeding sheets, and this led to many delays in production and wastage of film,” says director Mark O’Donnell. In its search for a new machine that would not only reduce downtime but also permit more rapid throughput and faster turnaround, IBS came across the Autobond Mini TP H76 laminating machine, marketed in Australia by Graph Pak.

Mark O’Donnell recalls: “Graph Pak's machine was significantly faster in its metres per minute rate, plus it offered a duplex option. Matt celloglazing on both sides of a business card is becoming increasingly popular and these cards had to be put through our previous machine twice. Autobond's duplex solution allows us to do both sides at once. With the increase in speed of their machine we have seen our output more than double since installing the Autobond.”

For IBS Cards the Heidelberg feeder, which enables continuous operation, solved all of its feeding problems. The rising pile, back separation stream feeder handles a wide range of stock from 90gsm - 650gsm and can be used with matt or gloss polypropylene or acetate. The processor-controlled Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 feedhead receives digital data from a sophisticated encoder on the laminating roller, resulting in an accurate underlap of the grip edge of the sheet at high speed. The feeder is equipped with a mill skid plate, allowing a full pallet of print to be loaded directly from the printing press.

”The installation ran smoothly and Tom Ralph’s team was on hand to deal with all eventualities. We were up and running exactly when they said we would be,” notes a satisfied Mark O’Donnell.