Plastic money calls time on years of heritage

Plans announced by the Bank of England on December 18, to introduce plastic banknotes, will bring an end to Britain's century long heritage of cotton paper notes, says Stephen Egerton of KJB Print UK. 2016 will see the £5 Winston Churchill note printed on polymer, with the £10 Jane Austin note following a year later. The culmination of three years of research, the new notes offer increased cleanliness and security as well as longer life and a reduced carbon footprint, although it's texture and cost has raised concerns among the public.  

Despite being the UK's first widespread use of polymer, the technology itself is not new. Polymer banknotes are already well established in countries including Australia, Canada, Brunei, Brazil, New Zealand and Romania.

Originally developed in 1967, the technology has advanced significantly. Surface adhesion, vibrant ink bonding, paper thickness and durability are all characteristics that have made polymer a forerunner in paper currency replacements.

Proponents of the technology praise the durability of polymer banknotes. They are water and tear resistant, making them easier to clean, thus reducing the transfer of bacterial contamination from one person to the next. The Bank of England's thorough testing has shown that although machine washable, they will melt if ironed or microwaved.

Lasting three to four times longer than the current paper notes, polymer notes need replacing less often, reducing their carbon footprint in the long term.

The increased difficulty in counterfeiting was a major reason behind the Bank of England's decision. Security features include a see through plastic window on the note, embossed lettering and the use of unique layered inks requiring multiple machines to manufacture.

However, the new notes have not been received well, everywhere. Critics say that not only does the texture make the notes difficult to count and fold, but that unnecessary infrastructure costs will be incurred as well as changes being required to many ATM machines due to the ten percent smaller size of the notes.

An alternative has been proposed, which offers an even longer lifespan whilst retaining the durability, cleanliness and security measures of polymer. Ecolast, a new product supplied by KJB Print UK, is a highly engineered printable media made of bright white polyester. Optimised for all banknote security, the smooth matt surface enables vibrancy and high levels of ink bonding.

"Ecolast would offer durability in excess of the three to four times advantage over paper quoted for polymer," said Stephen Egerton, commercial director at KJB. "I would envisage a seven to ten times improvement over the basic life expectancy of paper. This has significant cost benefits, as Ecolast is cheaper to manufacture than polymer notes. Rather than make notes smaller, Ecolast’s thickness can be varied to differentiate note denominations.

"Ecolast is a specialised product that is already used within many sectors, due to its durability and its waterproof and tear resistant properties and ability to cleanse/sterilise. Bank Notes, are an ideal application,” he concluded.

Stephen Egerton is available for media interviews on the subject of the introduction of plastic bank notes – if you would like to discuss the subject with him, contact Zafar Jamati on 01785 225416.

New cutting-edge technology for KJB

~ £1.5M investment underway at Staffordshire printer ~

Cannock commercial and digital printer KJB has signed a contract to install a range of cutting-edge printers, binders and laminators, as well as other finishing equipment, in its Cannock headquarters. The contract will result in improved customer service and is part of a planned ‘insourcing’ investment process that will see new jobs created at the Staffordshire based, family firm. 

The investment is just a part of the £1.5 million KJB has devoted to improving the technology at its disposal in the last two years. With more equipment coming in the next few weeks, KJB plans to continually increase the speed and quality of the service and product range it provides to its customers.  

“We’ve undergone a major business transformation, following heavy investment in digital printing,” explained Stephen Egerton of KJB. “We now have 2,000 customers across the UK and print for all business sectors from large blue chips, supermarkets, the media and training sector and major energy providers to small businesses. We can now produce a range of tailored and bespoke products ‘in house’ that were traditionally classed as ‘specialised’”

Part of the investment is the Duplo DC645i, which is an automated high quality creasing, cutting and slitting in the same pass. The DC645i can finish documents up to 650 x 370mm and means KJB will be to offer a host of improved printing services for everything from menus, flyers and inserts to cards and brochures.

With a  speed of 26 sheets per minute and ability to handle a range of paper stock and paper weights, the new machine means businesses in the Midlands now have access to much improved print quality with even faster turnaround times.

KJB is also installing an AutoBond Laminator, one of the largest laminators available in the West Midlands, able to laminate at around 45m of paper per minute.

Perfect for leaflets and menus, the machine can laminate printed products of up to 736mm by 520mm in portrait format.

To help fulfil large volume bound orders quickly, KJB has invested in a new Renz Wiro Binder, capable of binding up to 300 books per hour or up to 400 calendars.

The company is also taking delivery of a PUR binder, manufactured by Duplo. This piece of technology utilises a glue binding technique, called  PUR binding, which uses a ‘super glue’ to create books with a similar appearance to a paperback book. This technology is significantly stronger than traditionally bound books, giving the product an enhanced life expectancy and superior quality and is ideal for producing annual accounts for shareholders.

Milling the book blocks on the spine allows the pages to absorb adhesive more effectively. A more malleable and cost effective method compared to other binding practices. The combination of the two binding machines allows KJB to produce the appropriate, cost effective, solution possible for its customers.

“We have also replaced some of our other finishing equipment that were becoming obsolete,” concluded Egerton. “These range from a collator, which has served the company well for a decade, to the addition of a new stitcher, shrink wrap tunnel and touch screen guillotine which is four times faster than the old one. All of the equipment will enhance our lithographical services and grow our digitally printed product range.

Then early in 2014, we then plan to further upgrade our digital press department, with the addition of a new Xerox machine.”