Since its inception 14 years ago to provide the Sydney market with a range of trade services including hot roll laminating, celloglazing, encapsulating, ID cards and UV varnish, Rotoflex Coatings' guarantee to its customers has always been "quality finished product on time". "However, with margins in free fall and staffing levels unable to cope with erratic work flow demands, a decision had to be made as to how to maintain the renowned service on which our business ethic was based," said proprietor Bob Minto.

Maintenance had become a major issue, with no local agent for its previous equipment. A new laminator was seen to be a major part of the answer, and on further investigation Bob found that the Autobond TP H76 distributed in Australia by Graph Pak fulfilled his requirements for a quality laminator that allows the company to handle short runs effectively with fast makereadies and low wastage.

As one of Autobond's Mini series, the TP H76 thermal laminator can handle matt or gloss film and product sizes from A4 to A1, while the perfecting option allows sheets to be laminated both sides in one pass. The high speed Heidelberg feeder allows 60 mpm production speeds.

Other features include Siemens electronics and a touch screen control panel, with remote diagnostics facilities, PLC and inverter drives, a digital sheet counter, adjustable anti curl bar, pneumatically adjustable in-feed nip rollers and a pneumatic air clutch to provide a constant tension between the laminator and the sheeter.

"Now that the machine is in full production, it certainly lives up to our expectations. We are producing more with less staff and levelling out the fluctuations with production demands," he stated. "The difficulty of finding people with the skill needed is no longer a factor.

Graph Pak takes care of the Autobond for us and they are always able and willing to help and support us. We also know we can rely on Graph Pak to respect our confidentiality."