Why we started cutting to size
Most pressrooms still take blankets and packing off a roll or a large sheet and trim them on the bench before a changeover. That works until a blanket goes on 2 mm out of square, or one sheet in a packing stack turns out thicker than the rest.
As we set out in our note on the role of packing sheets, packing is how pressure gets set, not filler. A short sheet leaves a soft edge. A blanket cut slightly skew shows up as uneven solids, and the crew ends up chasing register for the first few hundred sheets.
“Half the blanket complaints we get called out for are not really about the blanket. They come down to how it was cut and fitted. A hand cut with a long steel rule is never quite the same twice, especially late in a night shift. The machine cuts it the same way every time.”
Willem van der Merwe, Technical Support Lead
What we now supply pre-cut
You give us the press model, the cylinder size and the blanket or packing you run. We save that as a cutting file on your account, so every later order comes out the same size, square and clean, with the clamping edge where it belongs.
- Conventional blankets for everyday commercial sheetfed work.
- Packaging blankets for board and carton runs.
- UV blankets for presses running UV and hybrid inks.
- Underpacking sheets in measured thicknesses, cut as matched sets so the whole stack agrees.
The machine behind it
The cutter is an AM.CO.ZA FlatCUT 1300 × 2500 mm oscillating blade cutter with a camera, servo motors and a vacuum table that holds the rubber flat while it cuts. Its oscillating blade module goes through compressible blanket rubber without dragging or tearing the fabric plies, and it handles thin calibrated packing just as cleanly. A creasing wheel module covers the occasional board job.
The process makes no heat and no dust, which matters in a building where we also store plates and chemistry.
How AM.CO.ZA got the order
We weighed up a few ways of cutting before deciding. Three things settled it.
Service before the sales pitch. Before anyone mentioned machine size, the AM.CO.ZA team asked what we cut, how thick it runs and how many changeovers our customers do in a week. They then suggested the table that suits standard sheetfed blanket formats rather than the biggest in their flatbed cutter range.
A fair price for the build. It is a solid machine with a proper vacuum table and a sensible spec, and we paid for nothing we will not use.
Help close by. The AM.CO.ZA Johannesburg branch is near enough for support and spares. Our operators completed the FlatCUT basic usage course before the first production run, and the AM.CO.ZA guide was useful reading beforehand.
“I wanted a supplier who picks up the phone when something stops. Our team was cutting real orders soon after the install, and dispatch carried on as normal.”
Thandiwe Khumalo, Operations Coordinator
What it means in your pressroom
- Quicker changeovers. The blanket arrives ready to bar and mount, with no trimming on the press floor.
- Matched packing sets. Every sheet in a set comes from the same batch at the same size, so your blanket and packing setup starts from a known point.
- Repeat orders without re-measuring. Your sizes stay on file, which fits the way we prepare repeat orders.
- Less waste. Fewer blankets spoiled by a bad hand cut, and fewer offcuts lying around.
“Printers carry pressure on every job, from deadlines to paper costs. If we can take one more variable off the press floor, we should. Cutting blankets properly is a small thing that adds up to a lot over a month.”
Mandla Johannes Mokoena, Managing Director
Not sure when to change?
If you are unsure whether a blanket is due, read when to change blankets or book a blanket assessment. For sheetfed offset and packaging printers, we can suggest a blanket and packing combination that suits the press.
Order pre-cut
Send us your press model and cylinder details, and we will set up your cutting file. See ordering help or contact LithoPrinting Plates to get started.
