It was almost 10 years to the date that Douglas Storrie Labels Limited installed its first Edale five colour Alpha, when the company bought the first ever Edale FL-350 press. This move follows the tradition established by founder Douglas Storrie, who was famously proud of his British company with its British machinery, offering great quality products and services to the British market.

Over the last few years of global financial difficulty, Douglas Storrie sales have increased and a major investment was made into new equipment. In September 2011, the first ever FL-350 eight colour servo press was installed, primarily for the production of self-adhesive labels, tickets and tags, but also with a view to venture into other markets, namely flexible packaging. According to managing director, Nigel Storrie, ‘It was necessary to invest in expanding production capacities because business with new customers has grown significantly.’

Improving the press

After considering its many options, and weighing up which press would meet its criteria, the company took a calculated risk in taking the FL-350, thereby bringing a brand new machine to the UK market, developed and manufactured by one of the UK’s leading web fed flexographic printing and converting equipment manufacturer. Douglas Storrie worked closely with the press manufacturer in developing the new machine in order to ensure that it would produce the kind of top quality finish labels, tickets and packaging that is expected by its customers. Combined with high running speeds, fast changeover and reduced cost, the press gives the printer a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Having bought the prototype model, the company were testing the machine with the intention of co-developing it further with Edale. Feedback from a real production environment was invaluable in the fine tuning of the machine and it enabled Edale to work on numerous developments to enhance the machine’s drive system. After a trial period of putting the machine through its paces, the printer is now ‘delighted with the performance of new investment’.

Nigel Storrie continued, ‘The press was installed in September 2011, but we felt the press could benefit from further developments to get it to an even higher standard’. It was easy broaching the subject with the manufacturer as communication between the two companies was a daily occurrence whether through the sales, design, engineering or customer service teams. ‘Edale worked with us to tweak the finer details which we felt would turn this from a good press to a great press. We now believe we have got one of the best presses on the market, and at a very competitive price.’

James Boughton, managing director of Edale, commented, ‘With Edale you get a personal service, with a dedicated customer service team and troubleshooting help desk. We listen to what the market is saying, but more importantly, what our customers want and look to provide a solution, just as we did with Douglas Storrie.

Versatile machine

Off the back of these positive changes, a second machine has also been sold and installed into another UK company, which produces medical products and has now brought its print and packaging processes in-house.

Stuart Robinson, works/production manager of Douglas Storrie, said, ‘We have been very impressed with the operator friendly features the FL-350 boasts. We are seeing a large increase in the amount of work we are getting out the door and I believe this is all down to the pit stop changeover, ease of setting the machine up with minimum waste, fast running speeds and pre-register system. The press is printing the highest quality work we’ve ever seen and matching print samples from other print processes, which we have not previously been able to achieve. It also gives us the ability and flexibility to print a wide range of substrates and thicknesses enabling us to target different areas of the packaging market.’

He concluded, ‘Overall the FL-350 is a highly versatile machine with many innovative features that we believe will help shape our business over the next year. We are glad we stayed with a flexo machine at this time instead of venturing down the digital route.’

The new and improved FL-350 press can be seen in action at Douglas Storrie’s Open Day on August 15, 2012, where there will be demonstrations showing three different jobs.