Finishing — Caught in a Bind?

Porter has also seen automation inroads with folding machines, but he questions the cost-effectiveness. Production speed may be increased slightly, but not to a level that would offset the cost of automation, since setup times for a folder aren't lengthy in the first place, he argues.

More beneficial, Porter contends, is an improvement for tacking—something that will handle product from the end of the folder. Most folders, he adds, run faster than the operator can remove product from the end of them.