diecutting  appointments 
Showcard diecutting and mounting specialists, Larsen and Best who have won a Pride in Print award every year of the past nine that they’ve entered, attribute their success to the level of experience within the company. General manager, Kevin Wills, says the West Auckland-based print finishing company has been around for more than 35 years, and two of the original founder’s sons, Tony and production manager Kim Larsen are still on board.

The late Roy Best, who bought out his former partner Eric Larsen when he retired some years ago, died in 2001, but the company is still owned by his widow Fujiko and son Alistair.
Kevin says that the family-owned firm has a very low staff turnover, and a total of 180 years experience in the industry. Apart from himself and a recently employed truck driver, the shortest serving member of staff has been with the firm for seven years, a credit to the late Roy who was respected and liked in the industry, he says.

"Kim Larsen is particularly sought out for his advice because he knows the technical side of the industry inside out," he says.

The company has a free consultation service available to printers and designers, and Kevin says they encourage people to consult them at the concept stage of any project.

"Often there are technical aspects of a job which need to be worked through before they are printed, mounted and diecut, and if there are any potential problems we can sought them out at this stage of the process," he says.

"We work hard to ensure that we are able to produce the very best possible job for our clients," he adds.

While the company specialises in showcard mounting, it is also a gluing specialist finishing customer surveys, application forms, special envelopes and money bands with re-moistenable glue. It also uses contact glue and screen gluing.

In its die-cutting operation, Larsen and Best cuts most substrates including solid fibre board, corrugated board, corflute, PVC, Polyprop and magnetic sheets from A5 to Double Quad Crown.

The company manufactures and stocks its own struts ranging in size from 100mm to 1600mm and offers double wing struts in some sizes. It also makes struts to order.

Another specialist skill offered is case binding, suitable for up-market agency jobs.