This month’s Product Profile is all about bindery and finishing equipment; more specifically, short-run book binding equipment. In the uncertainty of today’s publishing environment, trending shows that fewer books are being printed on the first run, and in many cases, fewer books are being printed overall. In light of this, many publishers are opting for printing on digital equipment, as opposed to traditional offset equipment. Additionally, the quality of digitally printed books continues to rise and a greater number of printers are offering digital book printing services. According to Xerox, 80 percent of digitally printed books have print runs of less than 500 copies and 25 percent are less than 100 copies. Digital books have an average page extent of approximately 300 pages and therefore usually require perfect binding.
This development creates a whole series of challenges for traditional offset book printers who must adapt to stay competitive in a market that demands smaller runs. Efficient and automated bindery equipment is an integral piece of the profitability puzzle. Typical makeready on older perfect binding equipment, where manual changeovers and workarounds are a reality, may take up to an hour or more and can be upwards of 100 spoiled books. Therefore, more work transitioning from traditional offset to digital printing where makeready is almost non-existent and the whole book manufacturing workflow must be designed to accommodate shorter runs. A key competitive factor in terms of bindery is the ability for equipment to be able to accommodate both offset and digital work. Short-run perfect bindery equipment from Muller Martini, C.P. Bourg, Duplo and Standard will be discussed here.
Muller Martini’s Acoro A7 Perfect Binder is designed to handle both digital book blocks (from an HP T300 digital web press, for example), as well as offset signatures. The Acoro A7 Perfect Binder has impressively short set-up and changeover times thanks to superior automation. Fewer than 10 spoils are required to get the machinery up to production quality. The minimum trim size capable is 4″ × 5.5″ and the maximum trim size capable is 12.625″ × 16.875″. The minimum spine thickness is 0.125″ and the maximum is 2.375″. The Acoro A7 Perfect Binder also has the ability to adhere the book using hot melt glue or PUR glue. The benefit of PUR glue is that it allows a perfect bound book to lie flat without cracking of the spine, which provides an added level of quality and durability to a perfect bound book.
The Bourg Binder BB2000, is a perfect binder designed to maximize efficiency for short-run production. Bourg has a unique “No Tools” set-up feature, which allows for efficient set-up and changeover between projects. Jogging, gluing and cover clamping components of the machine are all electronically controlled. This unique near line perfect binder can bind as few as two sheets to book products up to 2.375″ thick. The minimum trim size is 2″ × 4.3″ and the maximum is 17.7″ × 12.5″. This single operator machine can manufacture up to 350 books per hour. Unique dual heat process within the glue tank ensures optimum glue viscosity, as well as longer glue life. Spine notching is an added feature of this perfect binder for additional glue penetration, and ultimately stronger book products.
Duplo’s DPB-500 PUR Perfect Binder is designed for digitally printed material, as well as offset material on uncoated and coated stocks. The PUR glue system allows for substrate versatility within the machine. Duplo’s DPB-500 PUR system is unique because it is a closed tank system that does not require draining after each session, making it more environmentally friendly, with less downtime and less material waste. The minimum and maximum spine width is from 0.04″ to 2.01″. The minimum trim size possible is 4.72″ × 4.72″ and the maximum trim size is 14.17″ c 12.6″. Up to 525 books can be produced in an hour and common sense touch screen controls allow the operator to view, program and save up to 20 jobs at one time. In addition, the automatic book thickness detection helps enable 35 second changeover between jobs, helping to make this perfect binder a great solution for a short-run book manufacturing environment.
The Standard Horizon BQ-270C is a fully-automated perfect binder that includes an automated book thickness measurement device for quick changeovers and requires minimal operator training. This automation allows for every book to be a different thickness and true print-on-demand manufacturing. There is a colour touch screen control console that requires only one operator to run. The spine width tolerance is 0.04″ to 2″. The minimum book size is 5.4″ × 4.2″ and the maximum book size is 12.5″ × 12.5″. Print on demand books as well as short-run perfect bind jobs are both possible. This machine can produce up to 500 books per hour and is designed to be compact and easy to use for the operator.
At the end of the day, the right perfect binder for short-run book production is the one that will integrate seamlessly into your existing workflow, produce end products to serve your market and get up to production speed quickly…then it’s time to start making back those hard-earned dollars!