Finishing — Caught in a Bind?

"Part of the problem, from the bindery end, is that there's not as many ways to do some of the [finishing] tasks," Porter says. "It's not as productive to automate [folding and cutting] equipment as it is in a pressroom."

Porter sees a more concerted effort to improve material handling, such as employing electric lifts, automatic joggers, and automatic loading and unloading equipment, to boost productivity. He also sees a push to automate cutting, including efforts to adopt CIP3 protocols, where job engineering is programmed. He doesn't necessarily see this as a viable option, however, because paper is not a stable substrate and does not retain its original size after going through the printing process.