Bindery and finishing specialists in Canada want more automation, more flexibility and greater control over their equipment, and they’re getting it. But they’re only going so far, and are resisting the urge to invest heavily in centralized computer control of folders, trimmers, cutters, stitchers or perfect binders in the same way that they have with prepress and printing.
New features for finishing typically mean automatic presets, automated feeding, or flexible digital controls like Muller Martini’s Commander control system: it's JDF/CIP4 capable, but so far, no one is using that function.
McCallum Printing Group in Edmonton opened its doors in January of 2004, starting up with new prepress, printing and finishing equipment from Heidelberg. Everything is connected through the Heidelberg Prinect system, using PDF workflow. Makeready is "incredibly fast," says pressroom manager Reg Stanton. Platemaking and press setup can all be controlled from one workstation, and the company can even set up a series of plates to be burned from PDF files overnight, unattended.
For print finishing, McCallum bought new folders, cutters and a saddle-stitcher, as well as Heidelberg's Compustitch, Compucut and Compufold software modules as part of Prinect. But more than two years later, the company hasn't started to use these systems, yet.
"We use the automatic setup on our cutter, but we're not using JDF," Stanton explains. The reason is that, while the software is standardized and not all that expensive, using it to set up finishing equipment automatically requires investment in a lot of expensive servo-using accessories. "On a 20 by 26-inch folder, it nearly doubles the price," he says.
"If we had operators who didn't know how to set up a folder, it might make sense to invest in that kind of equipment. But to use JDF now, we'd have to buy a brand new folder and invest in a lot of automation equipment," Stanton explains. Their new Stahl KH folder is automated to the extent that it can load skids right off the press; included automation components shorten changeover and makeready, but fully implementing JDF at this stage "just doesn't make economic sense, yet," Stanton says.
But many printers are starting to see the benefits of automating their print finishing operations. "In any bindery, there are one or two guys who set up all the folders and the other equipment," says Ken Harbin of Prism Graphic Equipment of Mississauga, ON. But with automated systems, he points out, "all you have to know is what the fold looks like and how to press a icon!"
Digital printing specialists are more interested in all kinds of automation than conventional lithographic printers ó after all, the goal of the digital printer is a totally automated system from computer to finished product with as little human intervention as possible. This kind of business can be more profitable than conventional printing, and, as Harbin points out, "all the major litho printers are realizing that they have to add digital printing capabilities."
IBIS
Digital printers are very interested in automation in the bindery, says Don Piontek, U.S. sales manager with IBIS Bindery Systems, a U.K.-based manufacturer of the Smart-binder, a perfect binding system designed specifically for digital presses.
The Smartbinder SB2 is a perfect binding or saddle-stitching system that runs either online or offline. "It's faster than the iGen 3 digital press," Piontek says. It can collate, stitch and three-side trim five 11 x 17-inch signatures, or sheets, per second, or 300 feet per minute.
Customers run the range of digital printers: in-plant operations in insurance companies and other financial firms, health-care providers in the U.S., and manufacturers who produce a lot of manuals. RR Donnelley's Moore-Wallace division has 10 Smartbinders used in financial printing.
"The trend is to shorter runs, such as offset paperback printers who want to produce books quickly and have no inventory," says Piontek. "They print the books on a digital press and bind them instantly; with digital printing, there's no need to print more copies than you need."
Offset printers who do variable printing are also interested in the Smartbinder for different reasons, says Piontek. "It works for companies who don't have a wide diversity of types of jobs, the kind of situation where data flows through the plant.
"Printers have large programming staffs for variable printing," says Piontek. However, on the plant floor, many printers are looking for ways to reduce staff, and automated systems like the Smartbinder allow them to do that. "They require very little training to use, and there is a lack, overall, of qualified people to run high-end bindery equipment."
Heidelberg
Heidelberg has made JDF available throughout its product line from prepress to print finishing, even though, in Canada at least, the industry hasn't invested heavily in using the job definition format at the print finishing stage.
Prinect is Heidelberg's JDF/CIP4-compliant, PDF-based workflow automation system that potentially can move all printing jobs from conception through prepress, printing and finishing. Prinect FCS 100 is the subset for binding and finishing. It allows job planning, calculates machine programs, transfers programs to machines and records production data for MIS analysis.
Using accurate job data allows Prinect FCS 100 to set up machines automatically, reducing makeready and boosting productivity.
Prinect's print finishing modules include Compucut and FCS 100. Compucut creates cutting programs for Polar cutters. Compucut generates all the settings from CIP4/JDF files, and loads them into the cutter, boosting productivity by allowing the cutter to operate without interruption. The program also provides a visual display and complete documentation of production and job profiles.
Individual software modules control different machines: Production Data Management PDM software takes production data from folders and saddle-stitchers to the Prinect FCS 100. Compufold Workflow CFW calculates programs for folders and loads settings into the machines, reducing makeready and changeover time. The Compustitch Workflow CSW takes job data from the Prinect Signa Station and calculates settings for the Stitchmaster ST 400 saddle-stitcher, reducing changeover and setup times and avoiding errors.
The new Stitchmaster ST 400 saddlestitcher can accept JDF data; servo motors adjust the mobile feeders to the job formats, and presets can adjust the other settings in the lines. This makes it a very flexible machine with a quick set-up; combine that with a cycle rate of 14,000 per hour, and the ST 400 is suitable for long and short runs.
MAN Roland
MAN Roland's Wohlenberg and Baumann finishing lines have made advances in automation, ease of set up and use and flexibility.
Baumann flow line products are modular, and can be used in-line or off-line. Modularity allows users to configure solutions to their own needs. Pile-hoists, joggers and automatic loaders feature automatic and easy set-up.
Wohlenberg guillotine-style paper cutters are electronically controlled, and support CIP3; full CIP4 and JDF support are pending.
The new Wohlenberg City 4000 perfect binding system, including the Sprinter 7009 gathering machine, the City 4000 perfect binder, conveyer system and Wohlenberg 44FS56 three-knife trimmer can work as a single in-line system, or as separate modules. Automatic feeding stations, digital control panel, central adjustment for the transport channel, speedometer allow easier operation, and it can be set to run up and run down automatically. Production speed is up to 4000 books per hour in a range of formats, page counts, and product thicknesses.
Muller Martini
Muller Martini has responded to the drive to shorter runs and digital printing with its SigmaLine modular book-on-demand software production system.
Sigmaline was designed to reduce makeready times. It recognizes a critical difference in production between digital, on-demand printing and offset printing, a difference that has a fundamental effect on binderies: a digital book is printed in sequence, from the first page to the last, or in some workflows in reverse order, rather than in signatures. SigmaLine software is built to capture data from the PDF file or the JDF format, and set up print finishing from folding to trimming to binding. Muller Martini says books from A6 to A4 format can be produced at up to 1,000 copies per hour.
Muller Martini's new Corona soft-cover adhesive binder system features the new Commander digital control system. With a 15-inch touchscreen monitor mounted on a pivoting support arm for ergonomic placement, it simplifies operation through visual controls. The Commander system also connects to an electronic book measurement system and to a management information system (MIS) that's CIP4/JDF compliant.
The Commander stores complete job-binding information, from book size and hang-out to glue temperature and production speed, and also accepts job data through a USB interface.
The touchscreen presents status of each active station in a graphical display, and allows operators to view production, control and maintain data and correct or change any of the settings.
Muller-Martini's new Frontero front-cut trimmer offers a lot of flexibility. It can handle products with spines up to 19 5/16 inches long and landscape sizes up to A4 for two-up production. Operating at up to 6,000 cycles per hour, it produces gatefolded brochures up to 1 7/16 inches thick in a single pass. Swing cuts enable high-quality trimming: suckers retract the cutter, a bar presses the book block, and then the knife cuts the front; then the suckers release the cover into its original position. Because the upper and lower sucker bars can be switched on and off separately, it can also trim products with only one flap on the front or rear cover, increasing flexibility again.
The Bolero adhesive binder is a mid-range product able to produce books with spines up to 20 1/16 inches (510 mm) at up to 8,000 cycles per hour. This makes it suitable for books, magazines and catalogs, as well as book blocks for casebound books. Book thicknesses can range from clamp openings of 2 mm (1/16 in) up to 80 mm (3 inches).
It can use one-shot or two-shot hot melt glue, cold glue, combined primer two-shot processes or polyurethan (PUR). The Muller Martini VPN spine nozzle for PUR adhesive enables a thin, consistent glue application for flatter laying of an open book. A volumetric glue conveyance and glue circulation system saves on glue and costs, maintaining glue viscosity.
Automation features in the 3693 gathering machine and cover feeder include a barcode control system, resulting in very short makereadies. Muller Martini's new barcode-based Asir 3 control system verifies that books have the right covers.
The Bolero also runs the Commander controller system, which allows job parameters to be entered on a touchscreen or imported through a network in JDF format. Parameters can even be adjusted individually while the job is running.
The new Diamant 30 short-run hardcover perfect binder is designed for the shorter runs that clients demand today. Muller Martini's AMRYS (Automatic MakeReady System) can change over the machine without manual intervention, and even allows fine adjustments during the production run.
To speed makeready, operators can input job sizes and other parameters while the previous job is running, or call up data for repeat jobs from memory using the Commander's touchscreen.
The Esprit three-knife trimmer is designed for high quality output in the lower performance range of 2000 cycles per hour. The smallest three-knife trimmer from Muller Martini, the Esprit is also equipped with the AMRYS automatic makeready system and a touchscreen controls. Maximum trimming thickness is 80 mm, and the system is suitable for a range of products from book blocks to brochures to catalogs and magazines, in small quantities.
Standard Finishing Systems
Standard Finishing Systems has brought JDF to the bindery with its Horizon i2i Bindery Control System. The system can create a saddle-stitching or a perfect-binding job from JDF data, and set up parameters for JDF-compliant folders like the Horizon AFC-744, trimmers, binders like the Horizon CABS4000 perfect-binder and three-knife trimmer, and stitchers, such as Standard's StitchLine 5500. The software also sends production data back to the MIS system for reporting and monitoring.
i2i uses bar-coded job tickets for automated set-up. The software can also save and recall settings for recurring jobs, and includes a scheduling planner and analytic software. It monitors job status and work-in-progress from a central console; it can also be integrated into management information systems (MIS), making data visible to customer service, estimating, production planning, and management.
On the hardware side, Standard's new Horizon HT-30 three-knife trimmer has automated job set-up and quick changeovers, whether it's used with JDF or not. The Horizon HOF-30 high-speed sheet feeder is designed for digital printing, and also features digital control and automation. The Horizon VAC-60 deep-pile suction feed collator is a long-run system equipped with up to six towers and deep bins. A touch-screen control console for operation, programming and monitoring. A graphical interface displays system functions and any errors; a standard remote control system controls all primary locations.
As digital printing is increasingly important in the total graphic arts market, Horizon International collaborated with Xerox to develop a new booklet-making and finishing system, the ColorWords 8000, which works in-line exclusively with the Xerox DocuColor 6060, 7000 and 8000 color printers. The ColorWorks system does booklet-making, scoring, bleed trimming, folding, stitching and stacking.
Based on Standard Horizon's popular ColorWorks 2000 system, the 8000 model runs faster, at 80 pages per minute, applies up to four score lines per sheet, and features a colour touchscreen control.
Kolbus
Kolbus found quick success with a number of new products introduced at DRUPA in 2004 and at Ipex earlier this year. The Publica perfect binding line, which runs at up to 18,000 cycles per hour, is fully automated. The KM 411.E perfect binder features a high level of automation, particularly with the ZU 841.E gathering machine and the HD 153.P three-knife trimmer. This allows for shorter cycle invervals and higher productivity. The entire conveyor system and the data entry are all done from the three-knife trimmer.
Systems Technology (formerly Baldwin-Stobb)
Not all bindery advances are in JDF automation; improvements in reliability, speed and cost are just as important. Systems Technology, Inc. (STI), formerly known as Baldwin-Stobb, brought out its Model 825 compensating stacker for the small newspaper and the small-to-mid size insert printer market. It's smaller than the high-speed STIC-2500, and less expensive as well. Ease and low cost of operation are making it popular.
What's next for finishing?
The Canadian graphic arts industry lags behind the U.S. when it comes to automation of print finishing. However, as Prism Graphic Equipment's Ken Harbin points out, interest is starting to pick up, particularly among the digital printers and digital divisions of the larger conventional printing firms. This includes JDF and CIP4 capability in finishing.
"When it comes to prepress and the pressroom, there's never any question about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in new, automated technology," Harbin says. Today, businesses are starting to bring that mindset to finishing their customers' print jobs more efficiently, productively and profitably.
