BINDERY matters

"In book manufacturing, getting the end-effector right is the key," says Scott Simons, vice president of operations for Maple Press. "This equipment must perform multiple, precise functions, so it usually must be custom-designed."

Pages for each book are printed and bound, then stacked with other books by an automated stacking machine, which created 6˝ to 13˝ stacks. The stacks were then palletized by hand. To automate the palletizing process, Maple Press selected equipment from Westfalia Technologies .