BINDERY matters
Gämmerler to Build Manufacturing Plant
HANOVER PARK, IL—Material handling and inline finishing equipment manufacturer Gämmerler plans to build a 80,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Palmetto, FL. Scheduled to open in April 2006, company officials say that the new facility will house the latest in automation equipment, provide roughly 35 percent of annual global production capacity and significantly improve Gämmerler's operational efficiency.
"The decision to build the new plant was based on an increase in demand for Gämmerler's products in North America and a desire for a more flexible and efficient international manufacturing platform," says Gämmerler CEO Gunter Gämmerler. "The Palmetto plant will complement our existing production facilities, improving our international manufacturing portfolio while allowing us to more efficiently meet the needs of the North American market."
The new facility will include 70,000 square feet of production space, 10,000 square feet of office space and will also serve as the company's North American headquarters.
Palmetto was chosen as the site for several reasons, including a generous tax refund incentive award provided by the State of Florida and Manatee County, assistance for which was provided by the Economic Development Council, Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
To ensure customer deliveries during the transition between the Hanover Park and Palmetto plants, both facilities will run concurrently for up to three months after the Palmetto plant begins operations. The Hanover Park office is scheduled to close by June of 2006.
Diecutter Debuts at Bobst Open House
OSELAND, NJ—During simultaneous global open houses held recently both here and in Switzerland, the Bobst Group debuted its newest Autoplaten diecutter, the mid-range SPanthera 106-LER. In addition, guests were able to see live demonstrations of Bobst's new Angle Lock blanking system, its newly developed InTouch Web-based customer connection for parts ordering and tracking, as well as nearly half a dozen other diecutters and folder-gluers that were on display and operating inside Bobst's expansive demo center.
The SPanthera is configured with the ORSIS feeder (Optical Register Sheet Infeed Synchronization), which minimizes the number of stoppages of the machine caused by mis-feeding; the Quick-Lock die/stripping/blanking tool mounting system; the CUBE II control system and more.
The SPanthera 106-LER combines diecutting, stripping and blanking into one machine and one inline operation. The 9,000 sph diecutter can accept materials from light papers (0.004˝) through 0.03˝ solid fiber and 0.08˝ micro-flute corrugated board. The machine running in the demo center has been sold to the Color Spectrum Network, Marietta, GA.
Bobst's new Angle Lock is a complete blanking system, from dedicated tool design software to high precision, reusable hardware. Its modular design allows blanking tools to be fabricated quickly. Unlike conventional systems, the modularity of the system reportedly provides reusability of more than 85 percent of the tooling components. Consequently, the wood and grid are the only components that are dedicated to the job.
With a release date planned for this month, Bobst's InTouch direct customer connection provides 24/7 Internet access for ordering and tracking Bobst parts. Users can track their parts ordering history by machine or by facility and receive instant parts quotes.
Students Get Books From Trade Show
PHILADELPHIA—Visitors to the "Books for Kids" booth at last month's On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing show were able to see how bound books can be created in one pass through a fully integrated book production system. Plus, local children benefited, as the books created on the show floor were donated to area schools.
Throughout the show, Muller Martini, partnering with Océ, Lasermax Roll Systems, MBO America, Palamides and Weyerhaeuser Paper, produced up to 10,000 books at the exhibit.
Featured at the show were components of Muller Martini's SigmaLine OnDemand platform. Included in the all-inline system was the Muller Martini SigmaBinder; SigmaTower; and Esprit three-knife trimmer.
Merger Creates Mega Supplier
NORTHBROOK, IL—Fortune Brands and General Binding Corp. (GBC) announced that Fortune Brands will spin off to shareholders its ACCO World Corp. office products unit, and that ACCO will merge with GBC to create the world's largest supplier of branded office products with combined revenues of nearly $2 billion.
The new company, to be called Acco Brands Corp., will combine ACCO's Swingline, Wilson Jones, Kensington, Day-Timer and Rexel brands with GBC's GBC and Quartet brands. Upon completion of the simultaneous spin-off and merger, which is expected this summer, shareholders of both Fortune Brands and GBC will receive shares in the newly created company.
quick cuts
COLUMBUS, SC—Brown's Bindery has installed a Rollem PB-15 computerized drill for perfect and mechanical binding. William Burritt, bindery supervisor, is shown here with the new machine.
Vincent Iacobelli, bindery manager at National Publishing, a Courier Corp. subsidiary in Philadelphia, has been named the 2005 Binding, Finishing and Distribution Operations Manager of the Year by the R&E Council of NAPL.
Aladdin Laminating, a 22,000-square-foot plant located in New York City, has changed its name to Aladdin Finishing to reflect its transition from a film laminator to a full-service finishing operation.
