Laminators The Missing Link

Bringing laminating in-house increases quality, improves productivity and lowers costs.

IN THE print-on-demand equation, laminators are often the forgotten quotient, says Alan Parkhill, vice president of sales and marketing at Banner American. While many in-plants have been quick to embrace digital printing, most have not taken the next step and purchased the finishing and laminating equipment needed to ensure that their operation is truly print-on-demand.

"It's not print-on-demand if you send out your laminating work to a trade shop," says Parkhill.

When an in-plant farms out its laminating work it loses control, not only over the quality of the job, but the timing as well, explains Parkhill. But, by bringing laminators in-house, in-plants can gain back control over quality, offer immediate turnaround and cut their costs.

This is a good time to invest in laminating equipment, contends Parkhill. Not only is there a range of laminators in the market, an increasing number of them are targeted toward first-time buyers.

Laminators are also now more affordable and easier to use, adds Bill Gaspelin, the director of sales and marketing for Protect-All.

"Laminating equipment has gotten more responsive in terms of temperature control," explains Gaspelin. "Today's equipment offers even-heat and even-pressure control. This creates a much more successful application of heat to within a few degrees."

Today's variety of products means in-plant managers must take a closer look at how laminating equipment will fit into their operations before they make their first purchase. Protect-All President Tony Trajkovich recommends that in-plant managers keep the following tips in mind when purchasing a laminator:

• Purchase a laminator that fits the work you produce.

• If you run a variety of jobs look for a flexible, adaptable laminator.

• Discern the size of your jobs. If you run small quantities, you may not require a high-speed laminator.

• Gauge the laminator's ease of use. Most likely, you will not have one person dedicated to running the laminator, so operator-friendly laminating equipment is essential.

• Evaluate the vendor's ability to train and service the equipment.

Below are some of the latest models:

For Thin-gauge Films

Foliant Series laminators from Banner American provide quality single-side lamination of book covers, brochures, magazine covers, and more. Foliant laminators work with a variety of thin-gauge (1-2 mil) films. A laminated finish is ensured by a chrome-coated working roller regulated by exact thermal control. All Foliant Series laminators come with a loading conveyor belt for easy manual feeding and can be connected to an optional separator for automatic separation of laminated sheets.

Protect Your Prints

Coda's new CodaPro-64 laminator comes in three models: The CodaPro-HE (heat encapsulate) has heated top and bottom rollers for use with thermal and cold laminates. The CodaPro-HA (heat assist) has a warm top roller for pressure-sensitive laminates. The CodaPro-PS (pressure sensitive) is a cold roller laminator. Features include: self locking supply and take-up shafts, a swing-up feed table for easy film loading, LED electronic pressure settings and locking web tensioning controls for thin laminates. The HE model has a quartz "Quick Start" heating element that maintains heat evenly on the 64˝ wide rollers.

Motorized Rewind

D&K's Dual-Kote is a start-up laminator that comes with a motorized rewind, allowing the operator to wind the roll up and cut at a later, more convenient time. This compact laminator features a decurling bar, which makes one- and two-sided lamination, as well as encapsulation possible. The Dual-Kote is ideal for short runs and on-demand printing.

Runs A Variety Of Films

GBC Film Group's Titan 165 is designed for the ink-jet printing market. It is capable of running thermal films, pressure-sensitive overlaminating films and mounting films. The Titan can run prints as wide as 62˝, and can run films of a variety of thickness and finishes, including gloss, lustre and textured.

Pouch Laminator

The Ledco XL44, from Graphic Laminating, is a large-format pouch laminator. It mounts and laminates materials up to 1-1⁄2˝ thick and up to 44˝ wide. The adaptability of the XL44 increases productivity by enabling operators to switch from one substrate, film or board to another without time-consuming setup or teardown. The unit has preset pressure and speed controls and enclosed laminating rollers to conserve energy and provide a safe working environment. Incremental roller opening adjustments from 0˝ to 1-1⁄2˝ accommodate almost any substrate up to 1-1⁄2˝ thick.

Large-diameter Heated Rollers

For high-speed jobs, Protect-All has introduced the new QuickSilver laminator. With large-diameter heated rollers, it is engineered to run a variety of substrates, from very thin to some of the heaviest products on the market today. Engineered by Laminating Solutions Machinery in Italy, this 30˝ machine has been added to Protect-All's current line of feeders and cutters to provide a fast, economical and integrated laminating system to the two-sided market.

An Ideal First Laminator

When high-quality, low volume, professional output is required, the SEAL Image 44 Ultra is an ideal first laminator. It is a cost-effective finishing solution for both ink-jet and photographic media. Capable of mounting, laminating and encapsulating up to 42˝ wide prints, this top-heated laminator is simple to use with easy material-loading and control features. With its compact design, the SEAL 44 Ultra is suitable for businesses looking to introduce image finishing to their range of services or for complementing existing laminating facilities.

Two Mighty Laminators

Spiral Binding Co. offers the MightyLam and the FutureLam laminators. The MightyLam provides 27˝ of laminating capacity and can laminate from .0015˝ to .010˝ gauge film, and mount materials up to 3⁄16˝ thick. The FutureLam is a professional, high-performance hot or cold roll laminator for pouches or film with a variety of settings. This machine provides uniform lamination and can accommodate a laminating width up to 13.8˝, a maximum pouch thickness of 10 mil, and a laminating thickness of 3mm.

-by Caroline Miller