When you are looking to scale your production or replace a tired piece of machinery, the knee-jerk reaction is usually to look straight at the factory-new catalog. New is great, but in today’s market, smart shop owners are looking at another highly lucrative route: premium refurbished equipment. Choosing refurbished isn’t about cutting corners; it’s about maximizing your return on investment. Here is a look at how we approach used machinery at Atlantic Graphic Systems, and why a refurbished build might just be the smartest investment you make this year.
The AGS Refurbishing Standard: It’s More Than a Wipe Down
Anyone can buy a used machine, dust it off, and list it online. That is just a used machine. Refurbished means something entirely different in our shop. When a machine comes to AGS, our factory-certified service team takes it under their wing for a rigorous transformation. We start with a full tear-down and inspection, deep-cleaning the entire internal architecture of the machine. Then comes critical part replacement. We don’t wait for things to break on your floor; high-wear items like belts, bearings, rollers, and knives are systematically replaced with brand-new, genuine parts. Finally, we run rigorous testing sequences using real-world print jobs to ensure the timing, registration, and throughput meet original factory specs. You aren’t just buying a piece of hardware; you’re buying the hours of expert calibration our service team put into it.
See It In Action: Recent Highlights from the Shop
We don’t just want you to take our word for it—we want you to see the precision for yourself. We recently finished refurbishing and testing two absolute workhorses of the binding and finishing world. We caught some quick video clips of our team putting them through their paces so you can see exactly how they perform.
The first is the Horizon AFC-566 Folder. This is a phenomenal, highly automated 6-buckle folder known for fast setups and razor-sharp accuracy. You can watch it run seamlessly after its full AGS tune-up here:
The second is the Horizon HT-30 Three-Knife Trimmer. If you want to eliminate a manual bottleneck in your book production, the HT-30 is legendary. It operates with a single-knife design that automatically rotates and trims three sides of a book. See it automated and running smooth in this clip:
Save Money on New Equipment Upgrades
The biggest, most obvious benefit to all of this is the financial runway it gives your business. By investing in a certified refurbished Horizon finishing line, you save a massive percentage of the capital you would have spent on a brand-new machine. That is money you can immediately reinvest back into your shop-whether that means upgrading your wide-format printers, stocking up on high-margin consumables like ink and laminate, or expanding your team. You get new-machine reliability without the new-machine price tag.
Getting It to Your Floor: Delivery & Setup
We don’t just ship a heavy crate to your loading dock and wish you luck. Because we deal extensively in Horizon finishing equipment, we have delivery and installation down to a science. Whether you need a complex rig into a tight space or a straightforward drop-off, our team coordinates the logistics, handles the heavy lifting, and ensures the machine is safely positioned and leveled on your production floor. From there, our techs can get you calibrated and ready to press print.
