Modern Litho Ensures Continued Growth with High-Speed Heidelberg KH-82 Stahlfolder
KENNESAW, GA—July 31, 2014—Since installing a high-performance, pallet-fed Stahlfolder KH-82 combination folding system from Heidelberg earlier this year, Modern Litho based in Jefferson City, MO, has enjoyed a folding department free of bottlenecks, together with substantially increased speeds in folding signature work. It is the second U.S. installation of Heidelberg’s ultra-fast, ultra-flexible signature-folding machine, as well as the second to be equipped with Heidelberg’s high-speed, PFX pallet feeder, recipient of a 2014 InterTechTM Technology Award from Printing Industries of America.
High-Speed Hand-Off
“The new KH folder is a good match for our eight- and five-color Speedmaster XL 105 presses, giving us the folding capacity to continue to grow,” said Darrell Moore, company president. “The PFX pallet feeder is easier on our employees working a 12-hour shift because it eliminates the need for the manual handling of printed pallets, significantly lowering the risk of repetitive strain injuries to the hands and back.”
Todd Bone, director of production, also added: “The new system takes pallets directly from the press so operators can focus on count accuracy and the quality of the fold. It also has greatly increased our folding capacity, providing more stability and predictability during the folding process.”
Thanks to the addition of an automated third cross-fold unit, the company has been able to re-introduce 32-page signature folding. This saves time folding large books, reduces the number of pockets needed on the perfect binder, and enables one-pass production, cutting overall folding time in half. An operator-friendly, TSH-70 Twinstacker two-level vertical stacking unit detects and removes defective sheets, while promoting mark-free delivery. Modern Litho’s folding speeds have increased from, 8500 to 11,000 sph on 16-page signatures, and from 6000-10,000 for 32-page work.
Fast, Stable, Cost-Effective
The Stahlfolder KH-82 is a signature-folding machine that dependably supports the user in meeting a huge range of production requirements, from signatures for saddle stitching to perfect-bound books to commercial jobs of all sizes with top-quality results. Efficient automation accelerates makeready to boost output. Ergonomic control systems effectively support the user from start to finish. Complete integration in the production line and management workflow makes job handling more transparent. Once captured or defined, production data can be used throughout the process, tapping additional potential for savings while making production more reliable.
The PFX feeder can boost a folding machine's output by at least 50 percent compared with conventional cross-fold production. Despite this much higher output, the entire unit still operates at the same machine speed, ensuring precise folding quality and stable production conditions. The new feeder works along the same lines as a press feeder. It separates sheets on the pallet and transports them onto the feed table in a shingled stream, where they are reliably aligned by the feeder's vacuum feed table, a prerequisite for processing more sheets in the same amount of time. Such stable operation would not be possible with conventional feed tables.
“Our longtime partnership with Heidelberg and satisfaction with the customer service we receive gave us the confidence to move ahead with a purchase of this magnitude,” Moore noted. “We value that relationship and are excited to see where it takes us in the future.”
Positioned for Growth
Within the past 12 months, Modern Litho also took delivery of a Heidelberg Stahlfolder TH-82, now housed in a recently completed, 23,000-square-foot expansion of the company’s Jefferson City facility, alongside a POLAR 137XT with jogger, Transomat stacker and lift—a duplicate of an existing system. Built in anticipation of continued growth, Moore said, the new space already boasts a separate workflow, and is equipped to support commercial printing projects that are neither stitched nor perfect bound. In anticipation of future press needs, Heidelberg assisted in the design of a press pad in the new addition to accommodate Modern Litho’s next press purchase.
About Modern Litho
Modern Litho is a Certified Women Business Enterprise holding FSC and SFI Chain-of-Custody Certifications and the G7 Master Printer Qualification. It is also a member of the EPA Green Power Partnership, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, National Association for Print Leadership, and Printing Industries of America. The Missouri-based Modern Litho Family of Companies includes Modern Litho and Brown Printing (Jefferson City), and Midtown (St. Louis), which together offer a complementary array commercial and digital print, mail and distribution capabilities.
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