Saddle Stitchers — A Stitch In Time

Duplo USA will be unveiling its new System 4000 bookletmaker at Graph Expo next month. The System 4000, first shown worldwide at DRUPA earlier this year, will be displayed in-line with Duplo's new high-speed collating system. This system will demonstrate speeds up to 4,200 booklets per hour.

Maximum rated speed has always been a hot-button topic from both a manufacturer and end-user standpoint. William Duff, president and CEO of Hohner Stitching Products, points out that optimum speed can be achieved only under ideal conditions, such as use of a highly skilled operator and the correct alignment of the planets. Absence of such variables "decrease [the operator's] chances of achieving maximum rated speed long before those signatures ever hit the pockets," Duff states. Plus, as the machine ages, it loses a step, speed-wise. Components will wear and fail sooner when the unit is run at top speed.