Impressed with the performance of Schur equipment

When Newsquest Oxfordshire decided to expand their facilities, a key decision was taken to extend the building and fully evaluate production equipment right the way through the operation: pre-press, printing and mailroom.

At the time of selection the mailroom and palletising supplier - Schur equipment was not widespread in the UK, and this gave rise to some initial concerns. Following visits to users in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, along with a visit to the Danish factory, confidence was growing in the supplier and the quality of the product. “The visit to the factory revealed a very competent organisation and a highly sophisticated manufacturing facility,” said Geoff Harvey, Print Manager at Newsquest Oxfordshire. The visits also confirmed the suitability of the equipment. “It was well built, but simple and compact. The quality of the product shone through on all of our visits,” added Mr Harvey.

Key points in favour of Schur Following such persuasive arguments from Mr Harvey, Schur were selected, and the installation process began. The order included: two A780 pick-up stations, four A600 stackers, two TGG3160 conveyors, four packaging lines with bundle booking and loading bay systems, and two AP2001 high-speed palletiser systems with a PSW 2001A stretch film wrapper.

“There were three key points in favour of Schur Packaging Systems,” said Mr Harvey. “Firstly, the Golden Gripper line. The gripper line is quite simply the critical part of the whole mailroom – if it doesn’t do the job, nothing else works either! The Schur Packaging Systems product was simple and straightforward, and worked. The second important issue was the availability of a good quality, reliable palletiser within the product line-up. Third was the association between MAN Roland and Schur Packaging Systems. Having decided on the Geoman press, the mailroom equipment had to dovetail in neatly with that solution. Schur’s software and control system had been proven to work with MAN Roland presses, and that track record was good news to us.”

A successful two and a half yearsThe installation process went smoothly. “It was a success from start to finish,” said Mr Harvey. “The whole installation finished two months ahead of schedule, and everything worked as required. We really couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

“Two and a half years on, we now produce in excess of 2 million newspapers per week, running 24 hour days for six days per week. Since the installation, the Schur mailroom equipment has been almost 100% reliable – working from memory, I think we had one motor go once, and we have replaced a few belts, but that is just normal wear and tear!” reflects Geoff Harvey, on the subject of his Schur Packaging Systems equipment.

For more information about Schur please visit www.schur.com

Geoff Harvey, Print Manager at Newsquest Oxfordshire