April 2018

Jaymar Packaging celebrates its 40th anniversary

Founded in 1977 in Wardle, and relocated to Crewe, England in 1988, family owned Jaymar Packaging Ltd recorded its best sales year in 2017 - its 40th year of trading. With ambitious plans for the future based on the installation of a raft of new equipment and a nationwide portfolio of customers from the automotive, gift pack, pharmaceutical and DIY markets, the company is looking to build on its reputation for quality boxes, according to Director, Craig Street. "Our turnover hit £4.26m last year and we're looking to build on that in 2018. In particular, we see great potential in added value cartons, which our technology can produce, and we're keen to increase our volume of trade work which we handle on a 100% confidential basis," he said.

The value-added element began with the addition of IST interdeck UV curing on the company's second Manroland 700 series, which was installed in 2016. A six-colour press with coater, it complements the company's other Manroland 700, a five-colour and coater that has been a productive workhorse for the company, according to Production Director, Gary Marsh. He explained, "We find the Roland 700 series machines perfect for our variety of work, because they handle a cross section of boards consistently, with minimal adjustment. We frequently run 750-micron, and 900 is not unknown here, so the presses need to be strong. The addition of UV on the six-colour press opened new markets for us, especially with pharma cartons, but also gift packs that require printing on foil for extra impact." Although Jaymar is well set-up for longer run work, typical run lengths now are between 5,000 and 10,000 sheets, so Marsh is appreciative of today's technology that allows for quick and easy makeready and fast job turnaround.

According to Street, Jaymar works in a real-world climate where, although price is important, accuracy and quality are more critical. "We have a reputation for ‘right-first-time' here, and have built our equipment around that business practice." In addition to the two offset presses, Jaymar has three die cutters and four folder gluers. "The extra capability of the second Roland highlighted a bottleneck in our finishing department back in 2016, so it became the next area for investment," he added.

Three of the folder gluers are Bobst machines. There's an Ambition 70, a Mistral 110 and a Fuego 110, which is used almost exclusively for four-corner work. The mix of sizes and specifications are a good fit for Jaymar's workload, according to Marsh, and all have proved reliable performers in everyday production. The die cutters are a mix of manufacturers. The oldest machine is a Bobst 1080 and the second is a Varimatrix 1050, manufactured for Heidelberg by SBL. The newest die-cutter, which was installed in December 2017 is a Brausse Levanta 1050E.

Brausse, which is part of the Bobst Group, was Jaymar's choice for the combination of its all-round capability and price. The company works a double-day shift pattern, five days per week, so while the power to handle heavy boards at speed was essential, Jaymar was not looking for a machine to cope with 24/7 production, according to Street. "We particularly like its smooth action for stripping and the ease and speed with which it can be made-ready. It's already giving us more than 1000 extra sheets/ hour on the floor and we've only had it two months!" he commented.

The Levanta 1050E can handle sheet sizes from 400 x 360mm up to 1050 x 750mm and stock from 80gsm to 2000gsm, or corrugated up to 4mm. It has a 300-tonne pressure and a top speed of 8,000 sheets/hour with its non-stop feeder and delivery. Also included in the specification are motorised pressure adjustment and a tab inserting facility for batch counting. According to Marsh, operation of the new die-cutter was easy to learn and the company's operators required only one shift of tuition before they were confident in running it. The tooling is also compatible with the Varimatrix and quick to change over, making the investment extra valuable. Even now, so soon after installation, Street believes the new Brausse will drive demand for another folder gluer in 2018.