Paterson, NJ – Within a two week span and more than 7,000 miles of travel, Bruce Peterson and the team at Colter & Peterson (www.papercutters.com) took on the challenge last month of exhibiting at both the SGIA Expo in Las Vegas and Graph Expo, held this year in Orlando. Early results indicate the tradeshow parlay was an unqualified success, with orders for new equipment accepted at both events and ongoing positive discussions with prospects. 

Printers and converters looking for unique finishing equipment at the SGIA Expo found it at the C&P booth with the SABER® brand of paper cutters. And Graph Expo attendees responded to a new and highly affordable 28” small format paper cutter that C&P introduced, in addition to a new Microcut® Cutter Control system.

“I’m very pleased with the results from both shows. We had two really strong days at SGIA and left Las Vegas with a new SABER order, good conversations with customers and many hot prospects,” said Peterson, President and CEO of North America’s largest independent distributor of paper cutters and paper handling equipment. 

“At Graph Expo, attendance appeared to be smaller than last year but we had a great response to our new Prism® 73E and 73H paper cutters. We sold two of the hydraulic small format machines, took an order for a 54” SABER unit and sold the 36” Prism cutter we had in our booth. There also was a lot of interest in the 20” format that we will be addressing in the near future.”

Peterson said his company approached the SGIA Expo anticipating large format attendees would continue a trend of seeking extended size cutting machines. Since last year’s show, C&P has installed SABER XXL and X15 Plus models up to 141” in size. Those discussions continued and he expects some of those conversations to conclude with purchase orders. 

By combining a SABER paper cutter with the cost-saving benefits and increased productivity of Microcut, bigger is better since it allows those printers to do the type of work others can’t duplicate. SABER units have the ability and strength to accurately cut piles of work all at the same time, compared to other machines that can only trim sheets one at a time. This includes materials such as board, styrene, vinyl and corrugated, besides paper.

At Graph Expo, Peterson mentioned how the affordability of the new Prism 73E and 73H caught the eye of many attendees. Priced under $20,000 and geared for lighter duty applications, these versatile machines offer impeccable reliability with state-of-the-art design features including high speed steel knives that deliver precise, accurate cuts. A high grinding reserve extends the life of the blade and reduces overall knife costs, and a unique clamping system provides a variety of pressure adjustments (including low minimum pressure) that doesn’t exist on other paper cutters. 

Peterson said the 36” Prism machine in the booth has already been installed in a New Jersey print shop. He also was pleased with how well the new Microcut Cutter Control system was received. Graph Expo visitors quickly realized the value it represents to retrofit their old paper cutters with a new control system that can fit any brand cutter between 30-112 inches in size. In addition to improving productivity by retaining and recalling cut information, the automated program improves the overall work environment by bringing those paper cutters up to modern electrical and safety standards.