Howard Hunt concludes £1m finishing kit spend

Howard Hunt has invested £1m to upgrade its finishing department, including two UK firsts from Friedheim.

Following the installation of two Buhrs enclosers in June this year, the company has installed two UK firsts from Friedheim: an MBO T1020/6 large-format buckle folder and a Palamides Delta 1005 bander.

Two Heidelberg Stahl-folder TD 94 six-plate folders, with lifting kits, and one fully automatic TH 82 folder were also installed as part of the £45m-turnover company's spend.

According to assistant managing director Lucy Edwards, the 160m/min MBO, will enable Howard Hunt to use the full extent of their presses when printing.

She said: "We are constantly updating our equipment. The 1,020 width is the maximum size of our presses, so it gives us more width than we had previously. We are creating something of a centre of finishing excellence.

"There is less downtime with this machine so it is using less energy, reducing its carbon footprint. We can also produce a better product, which improves the flow of the production process when it comes to putting sheets through the enclosers."

Edwards added that the speed of the folders, which will handle leaflets and direct mail inserts among other products, had extended the company's capacity as it would have more space to handle work.

She also said that the company was looking towards its next investment and that "several business cases were being looked at".

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