West Caldwell, N.J. – The move to doing more work to attract consumers’ attention has altered the large and wide format landscape in recent years. New equipment in the finishing department is changing the approach and scope of how business is done on the back end. One popular choice leading the way to satisfy the bigger, faster and better movement is Colter & Peterson’s SABER® X-15 paper cutter with Microcut® electronics.

The oversize cutting machines, currently ranging from 126 to 141-inches, are busy churning out a variety of work in shops from coast-to-coast. And Colter & Peterson’s list of customers grows every month.

“Not long ago, shops had little choice but to cut work one piece at a time. You can’t speed up cutting material on an XYZ machine, but what took 15 hours you can now do the same amount in 20 minutes with the SABER X-15,” said Bruce Peterson, President of North America’s largest independent distributor of paper cutters and paper handling equipment (www.papercutters.com).

“We have a customer who trims 60 by 120-inch sheets every 17 seconds, so at three cuts per minute they are capable of cutting 180 sheets an hour,” continued Peterson. “They have since upgraded and increased their output capacity to 350 sheets per hour for digital print jobs. If you’re cutting larger or wide format squares and rectangles, you need to look at the SABER X-15.”

Many already have. A Minnesota printer of high-end P-O-P displays for leading brand retailers uses the SABER X-15 to support three digital large format presses pumping out work on 126-inch sheets. With a 141-inch cut range, they have experienced productivity boosts while trimming material such as 20 mil styrene, 4 mm Coroplast and corrugated E-Flute.

A Northern California large format offset and digital printer doing packaging, print, poster and P-O-P work was CAT cutting 126-inch sheets with an Esko I-Cut. Since switching to the SABER X-15, they now can cut every type of material except foam board and have increased the tolerance so they can cut large graphics up to 140-inches. They also save time in pre-press by using Microcut JDF files to handle the layout for the majority of their jobs.

A Tennessee large format printer that does P-O-P and specialty packaging printing uses slightly smaller 90-inch Colter & Peterson cutters to set the table for their larger SABER unit. But perhaps the most versatile performer is SGS (www.sgsintl.com) in Cincinnati. The packaging and marketing production division of SGS Co., which handles strategic brand and adaptive design, integrated shopper marketing and more for Target, Walmart, Loreal, Pepsico and others, first employed the SABER X-15 at high levels before expanding into new areas.

“The SABER X-15 is making our jobs much easier. It is working well and overall, it has been a nice addition,” remarked James Grasso, the Finishing Supervisor at SGS. “It cuts large wall panels that are printed digitally and used as backdrop displays in stores. What once was a very long process - 400 sheets per 8-hour shift – we now cut the same amount in one hour and there are times we use the SABER for two or three consecutive shifts.

“We’ve used it to cut 24-point paper and other substrates, and we cut 60 mil for 48 by 24-inch sheets that we run through our large HP flatbed printer. We also cut all types of substrates, ranging from paper, styrene, and rigid vinyl to Coroplast, magnets and E-Flute Corrugate, on sheet sizes that vary from 37 by 51-inches to 60 by 120-inches,” said Grasso.

“The SABER X-15 trims 100” sheets that we used a smaller guillotine for previously, but had to bust it in half and cut each half separately. As we became more familiar with the machine, we tried some new things and have cut 80 mil on a couple of jobs. This is a process that we used to do on our digital cutters because it was too thick for our smaller guillotines. With the slower movement of the blade on the X-15, it has allowed the blade to go through thicker materials and cut a clean, nice edge.”

Grasso says having a 141-inch paper cutter is a definite advantage, especially with the Microcut automated computer control system.

“Microcut is easy to use and we can do any large format size. The intuitive programming makes setting up jobs a snap and the laser light lets you see your cut mark so you can hit it exactly for what you need. Once the file goes through, we just hit a button and it makes the cut.”

New 141-inch SABER X-15 installations are currently taking place from coast-to-coast. To find out how this paper cutter can help your business, contact Bruce Peterson at 1-800-932-0780.