THINKING BIG
Clarke Rubicon add versatility with largest CCM Premier available
The latest company to install a CCM Premier guillotine from TCS (Terry Cooper Services) is Leicester-based Clarke Rubicon Ltd. Their new machine has a 155cm cutting width, making it the largest from the CCM Premier range which also includes 78cm, 92cm, 115cm and 137cm models. The order also included an Econolift stack lift.
Clarke Rubicon is a specialist corporate presentation packaging company – it converts paper, card and other materials into boxes or pack holders of all shapes and sizes. Examples of this type of product are boxes for DVD or book collection sets, membership packs and a wide range of ‘paper over board’ products. The company also produces short-run packaging for product launches or special events. In Production Director Phil Kendall’s words, “every job we take on is different, we offer a completely bespoke service, so our staff and equipment must be as versatile as possible.”
He continues: “The need for versatility was one of our reasons for buying the CCM Premier 155. It’s a bigger machine than the old Wohlenberg it replaced, and it’s more powerful, enabling not just larger sheet sizes but greater quantities for each cut. It can also handle materials such as polypropylene which opens up potential new areas for us.”
Productivity was also an issue, according to Mr Kendall. “The CCM Premier has one of the fastest backguages we’ve seen and moves from cut to cut very quickly. The ease of set up and the programming ability are crucial when every job is so different and you’re up against tight deadlines. It’s also good to have a machine which actually exceeds current health and safety requirements and is as future-proof as possible.”
Mr Kendall also praises TCS. “We have dealt with Terry Cooper Services for a few years now, they have always been reliable on service, and they have a good set of products, reasonably priced. Our Econolift stack lift is a good example, it does a simple job well, but it costs considerably less than other machines which carry out the same task. That’s why we now have two of them!”
Clarke Rubicon Ltd has a history dating back as far as 1912, and has been under its current management regime since 1997. Around a third of its work comes from the printing trade, and the company deals with some of the industry’s biggest names. It has a core staff of 80, but use of casual labour can mean up to 130 people are working at the company’s 42,000 sq ft factory at busy times of the year. Current annual turnover is around the £4m mark.
