Rollem History/Background

Sheffield manufacturer Rollem is celebrating its 80th anniversary with the development of several innovative finishing systems for the sheet-fed market.  However, there is nothing new in this.  The company has been involved in bespoke finishing equipment since 1929 and today it is one of the world’s leaders in this field of technology.  Breaking new barriers is an integral part of everyday life.

But with around 85 per cent of its output being sent abroad (approx 50 per cent to the USA and 35 per cent to the rest of the world) the Rollem name might not be the first a printer or finishing house thinks of when considering post press systems, especially if they are simply after a straightforward collator or folder.  Yet Rollem’s product portfolio is vast.

“Rollem systems cover virtually every gamut of finishing requirements,” says managing director Stuart Murphy, who acquired the company in 2006 with fellow director Colin Pears.  “Our solutions range from feeding, numbering, perforating, trimming and scoring to sophisticated lines that may require extremely accurate slitting, gluing, folding and wrapping.”

Rollem’s ability to process stock, from lightweight paper to plastic, to such fine tolerances is one of the reasons the company has been successful in developing finishing lines when other manufacturers have refused to even consider finding a solution.  One example of where the company dominates the market is in playing card finishing systems, because gambling houses require packs of cards to be cut to an accuracy far greater than can be achieved using a conventional guillotine.

“A high percentage of the web and sheet-fed printers around the world that produce playing, trade or game cards use Rollem JetStream, Revolution or SlipStream systems.  These products are also often utilised in the creation of items such as business cards, calendars, product cards or CD inlays, where their productivity, flexibility and accuracy make them extremely cost effective.

“In addition, achieving very low levels of wastage has been a benefit of using Rollem technology for many years, long before this goal became one that everyone had to aim for because of economic and environmental reasons.  For instance, if a digital printer was producing standard business cards on an SRA3 sheet, the double cuts normally required to separate the cards conventionally would require a 6 mm bleed, resulting in only 16 cards being printed per sheet.  The accuracy of a Rollem slitter enables the bleed to be reduced to such an extent that 25 business cards per sheet could be printed.”

Most of Rollem’s systems are based around precisely engineered rotary technology, whether these are for slitting, scoring, perforating or creasing etc.  This results in much higher throughput levels and accuracy than can be achieved with equipment based on platen or fixed knife principles. 

Ongoing research and development forms a key part of the company’s business and a large number of the 36 people employed at the Ecclesfield site are experienced mechanical or software engineers and designers.  Many staff have been with the company for more than 30 years and this level of concentrated knowledge allows Rollem to meet many requests from customers that at first glance seem unsolvable. 

“Most equipment incorporating wheels for slitting, perforating or scoring cannot be used accurately on large sheets because the bar to which they are fitted will bend too much during operation,” says Stuart Murphy.  “However, our equipment is designed to successfully overcome this problem and we can offer unique solutions, for example, to run multiple creases on very heavy stock with great precision on sheets as wide as 62 inches.  Rollem systems can be used as stand alone units or as part of a production line and we have known cases where the implementation of our equipment has reduced manning levels by 75 per cent, as well as eliminating the risk of errors.”

The markets that Rollem serves include digital and commercial sheet-fed printing.  The ability to kiss-cut work and to start and stop wheels at any point on the sheet opens doors in the label and packaging sectors, while the extreme levels of accuracy that can be obtained has made Rollem technology attractive to security printers. 

“The potential applications are almost endless and once a Rollem machine has been set up someone could operate it to run that job with virtually no training.  In situations where a company is producing large sheets containing multiple images, either of consistent or variable data, Rollem systems are unmatched for their ability to handle post press processes. 

‘Situations that most finishing equipment suppliers would avoid are bread and butter to us,’ says Stuart Murphy. 

‘Recently we had a system configured for an African government who wanted to produce ballot papers, printed three-up, individually sequence numbered and then split and glued in-line, to create 50-page booklets with a top and back cover.  For Rollem it was all in a day’s work!’

Where it all began

Rollem was formed in High Green near Sheffield by a man called Joseph Mellor, who simply reversed his surname to create a name for his new company!  It proved to be a clever choice, because ’Rollem’ gives the impression of being devised to indicate the rolling action of modern day printing presses.  Joseph Mellor traded as a brass founder and general engineer, while at the same time he manufactured perforating machines.  A fire in 1942 destroyed the factory and the company moved to its current site, which has been extended significantly over the years as the business has grown and the range of products expanded.  The current owners are Stuart Murphy and Colin Pears.

Stuart Murphy

Managing director Stuart Murphy began his apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer in 1979 with GEC Power Engineering.  Since qualifying he has worked as a design and production engineer and held senior management and consultancy roles in various industries.  He joined Rollem in 1999 as technical director and later became managing director.  In 2006 he acquired joint ownership of the company with Colin Pears.

Colin Pears

Colin Pears joined Rollem from school as a fitter in 1979 and subsequently trained as a mechanical engineer.  He later became involved in product design and in 1998 was made works manager.  He became works director in 2000 and co-owner with Stuart Murphy when they purchased the company from the existing shareholders.