QLM Label Makers has installed three new Mark Andy flexo label presses at its Brisbane headquarters and added new finishing technology to its HP Indigo digital platform in Melbourne.
The $2.5 million equipment upgrade, which adds to an existing Mark Andy P5 in the Brisbane facility, is aimed at boosting productivity and efficiency, says QLM Group CEO, Simon Pugh.
“This investment provides us with presses that are a common width, allowing us to alternate jobs and get better efficiencies,” he says. “What we have now is the flexibility to switch jobs between presses and this has delivered improved lead times.”
QLM’s decision to go with a complete Mark Andy suite of flexo presses for its Brisbane manufacturing facility was necessary to compete in a very competitive market, according to Andrew Siwicki, QLM’s Australian general manager.
“We wanted a platform that would propel us to be in the higher section of what can be achieved in the industry," Siwicki says. "The market is highly competitive and to compete your machinery needs to be current, efficient and relevant. For us, that relevance was switching to common width presses, which has allowed us to get more consistency and efficiency.”
QLM’s HP Indigo-based manufacturing platform in Melbourne has also received several equipment upgrades, including an in-line coating unit for one of its HP Indigo Label Presses and an in-line digital finishing system with embellishments including foil, raised-screen varnish, embossing and die-cutting.
Siwicki says QLM has always invested heavily in print technology and people to ensure the company continues to be ‘one step ahead.’ The investment strategy of QLM reflects its commitment to increasing productivity and reducing down-time, he says.
QLM Label Makers is an Australian-owned company with headquarters in Brisbane. It employs 92 locally and has a total of 560 staff across 7 plants in 6 countries around Asia Pacific.