Images_December_2019_Digital Edition

IS BRAND PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 48 images DECEMBER 2019 Luke: Thermotron has established a specialism in the garment industry, with market-leading innovations that have taken it into more than 30 countries around the world. Adelco’s Thermotron offering is aimed at decorators of all sizes. For smaller companies, the entry-level FX23 is a stand- alone automatic folding machine that needs just one operator and is also capable of stacking and gathering up the folded garments and packing them in bags. “This is suited to smaller shops and is mostly for ease and consistency,” Luke explains. For higher-volume garment printers and manufacturers, there is the STP1000 automatic folding machine that can be linked up through a modular system with Thermotron’s PV40 bagging machine, KL60 sealing machine and NT50 stacking machine – in whatever configuration is required. While the FX23 can fold and package up to 2,500 pieces in an eight-hour session, the STP1000 can manage up to 5,500 pieces in the same time. “The advantages of having a machine like that is that you have the speed, at 680 pieces per hour, and consistency but still with a single operator,” Luke says. “The fact that they are modular is another one of its advantages. You can almost create it however you want F ounded in 1972, Adelco has been manufacturing and supplying screen printing equipment for nearly 50 years. Probably best known for its textile dryers, which are used by garment decorators across Britain and beyond, the company also has a long heritage in supplying screen printing presses – carousels and ovals – and was the first distributor of Kornit DTG printers in the UK. A more recent expansion of Adelco’s product line-up took place two years ago when the company introduced a new range of folding and bagging equipment. The move was a natural next step that is in line with current market trends, points out Adelco’s sales director, Luke Smith. “As people’s businesses are growing, they want to automate their production fully and make it as efficient as possible. You can automate from web to print and now it’s coming through to bagging, folding, labelling and dispatch.” Speed and consistency While Adelco manufactures its own dryers and screen printing presses, it chose to partner with Thermotron – a Greek company that also dates back to the ‘70s and is based in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, with a state-of-the- art factory in nearby Chalkidiki – for its folding and bagging equipment. The reason was simple, according to Fast approaching its 50th anniversary, Adelco continues to expand its product lines and introduce new equipment that is in tune with the modern decorator’s needs. We spoke to Luke Smith, sales director, about its Thermotron folding and packing lines and how these machines are helping to further automate print shops’ production processes XXXX it and add bits as and when you are in a position to be able to do it and turn on certain parts of the machine.” Adelco expects demand for folding and bagging machines to keep on growing, Luke adds. “By fully automating your production, it is faster, more consistent and there is less room for human error. I think it’s going to continue to be more and more popular.” Chinese production Adelco continues to thrive by keeping abreast of trends in the garment printing market. Originally set up to make stencilled screens and ancillary products, it was founded by Luke’s grandfather, Alan Smith and two partners, Des and Laurie (the Adelco name is derived from the first letters of the now ex- partners’ forenames). Alan’s sons, Mark and Leigh, subsequently joined the business about 30 years ago. In turn, the third generation of Smiths arrived a decade ago when Leigh’s sons, Luke and Daniel, came on board, eventually working their way up to become sales director and engineering director respectively. With its headquarters in Bordon in north Hampshire, the business now employs over 100 people with 90 of them working in China where Adelco moved its production around 16 years The Thermotron STP1000 folding machine can be combined with the PV40 bagging machine and KL60 sealing machine Automating the print shop