Books Bound for Greatness

In addition to investing in binding equipment, finishing complements also are essential to book manufacturers hoping to compete as one-stop manufacturing shops.

Baltimore, Md.-based Victor Graphics, for example, recently made significant updates to its bindery. According to Kerri Edgar, a marketing and sales support representative for the printer, the company upgraded its Muller Martini Acoro A7 Trimmer by adding a three-knife attachment, and purchased new shrink-wrap, lamination and UV-coating equipment—all to gain greater efficiency and fulfill its customers’ needs for more economical products.

This year, the company also will purchase a new casing-in machine to support short-run, case-bound jobs.

Edwards Brothers’ Ann Arbor, Mich., plant installed a Hang drill, according to President & CEO John J. Edwards. “This allows us to drill three holes inline with one of the perfect-binding lines,” he explains. “[It] eliminates additional handling and allows the finished books to go into a carton and then ship.”

At Edwards Brothers’ North Carolina facility, a new Kolbus case-binding solution was installed. “This line will take folded sections and collate, apply endsheets, adhesive-bind the book, then convey it to the case-binding line to apply the dust jackets, and then put the books in a carton,” Edwards notes. “We can basically do in two shifts what we used to do in three.”

On the Digital Front
Some of the latest and greatest bindery technologies have been developed to support industrywide trends toward faster turnarounds, shorter print runs and, more specifically, digital print applications.

To support its digital operations, which includes Océ 7550 and Xerox iGen3 digital printers, Mattoon, Ill.-based United Graphics Inc. recently purchased a Standard Finishing System BQ470 Perfect Binder, according to Stan Freeman, vice president of sales and marketing.

“We have both offset and short-run digital printing workflows,” says Phil Knight, director of sales for Color House Graphics Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich. “On the offset side, we’re primarily upgrading some of our binding equipment. … We’ve purchased a new adhesive-binding machine with an inline trimmer for our digital division,” he adds. “… We are looking at additional material-handling options, too. The primary objective is eliminating labor while improving throughput. Book binding has always been a bit more labor-intensive than print.”