Slimline stamping machine makes its mark
Tanning technology provider Equitan had a new version of its QSU hide stamping machine on display at Tanning Tech in Milan in September.
With traceability one of the hottest topics under discussion in the global leather industry at the moment, Equitan decided that tanners would benefit from a version of the machine that would continue to offer clear numerical identification of hides, but using smaller characters.
Founder Antonio Antoniazzi has calculated that the average character stamped onto hides by Equitan’s standard machine, the QSU4, measures 13 millimetres. But he has created the new QSU SL (the last two letters stand for ‘slimline’) to reduce the average character size to 10 millimetres.
He explained that this will allow tanners to apply numerical stamps that will take up less space on each hide, and that it will also allow them to place the stamps closer to the edge of the hide, thereby making an increase in available cutting areas possible. This increase may be small on an individual hide, but over a whole production run could make a worthwhile difference, Mr Antoniazzi said. He also pointed out that the new version uses less energy.
