Western Sign Systems meets rising demand with BubbleFree Pro

Trade sign fabrication business Western Sign Systems has revealed how its recent investment in a new BubbleFree Pro 1528 GLED flatbed applicator and laminator from Soyang Hardware has significantly improved the company’s service offering, ensuring it continues to hit deadlines despite an increase in demand for finished signage.

Based in Westbury in Wiltshire, Western Sign Systems is a family-run business that was established in 1999 by husband-and-wife team Nora and Keith Hulin. An approved Spandex Sign Build Centre, the company has gone from strength to strength over the years, providing trade customers with a range of signage such as modular, braille and tactile signs, flat cut lettering, aluminium trays and monolith signs.

Over the past few years, the company has experienced a sharp upturn in demand, with an increasing call for finished signage across its far-reaching trade customer base. Having identified the need to invest in new machinery to respond to this demand from clients, Western turned to Soyang for guidance.

The company was seeking a space-efficient flatbed laminator that could not only handle a range of materials but also fit on the mezzanine level in its 8,000sq ft factory in Westbury. As such, the expert team at Soyang recommended the BubbleFree Pro.

The BubbleFree Pro, with LED bed, can mount and laminate onto any flat surface up to 60mm and is available in three widths – 1,500mm, 1,700mm and 2,200mm – to suit different production requirements. The device allows a single operator to easily mount and laminate a wide range of materials, while at the same time eliminating common lamination issues such as bubbles and creases.

Western Sign Systems selected the smaller, compact model in a black colour – with several other colours also available – which was installed in late 2025. This marked the company’s latest finishing investment from Soyang, with Western having also taken on a new Easymount EM1600SH roll-to-roll laminator from the distributor in late 2024.

With an illuminated application table measuring 2.8m x 1.48m and cutting mat, the BubbleFree Pro 1528 GLED has a maximum working area of 2.35m x 1.45m, and a rubber roller diameter of 132mm.

“The BubbleFree Pro was perfect for us as we have very limited space,” said John Hulin, Director at Western and son of founders Nora and Keith. “While it is a smaller machine, it still has the ability to handle sheets as large as 8ft x 4ft, which was perfect for us and the type of signage we produce.”

John reported it has already had a significant impact on production, with the company primarily using the BubbleFree Pro to support flat panel work including printed signage applications.

“We purchased the machine to keep up with increasing demand and ensure we continued to meet customer deadlines,” he said. “It has done exactly that, and we are pleased with how it has performed during the first few months it has been in place.