Standard to Feature Advanced Automation at PRINTING United 2021

Standard Finishing Systems, a leading supplier of post-press and paper handling solutions, has announced that they will bring their diverse line of feeding and finishing solutions to PRINTING United, an annual event hosted by the PRINTING United Alliance. As the largest industry gathering in nearly two years, PRINTING United 2021 will bring together all corners of the industry from apparel to packaging to commercial printing and finishing for three days of product and process demonstrations, networking, and knowledge sharing.

Standard’s 4,000 square feet of exhibit space, one of the largest displays of feeding and finishing at the show, will play host to live demonstrations in die-cutting, perfect binding and trimming, slitting and creasing, folding, saddlestitching, and roll-fed print solutions. The technology on display will highlight advanced automation and the “power of smart finishing”, including the new Horizon BQ-500 Perfect Binder and HT-300 Three-side Trimmer raising the bar on efficient book-of-one production and the Hunkeler Generation 8 combination Roll-to-Stack/Roll-to-Booklet solution, featuring the new UW8 Unwinder in-line with the new Horizon StitchLiner Mark V Saddlestitcher, showcasing continuous, high-speed booklet production. A wide range of finished samples will highlight the application flexibility, short- and long-run capability, and smooth setup and changeover of Hunkeler and Horizon products.

“We’re looking forward to meeting with our industry peers for the first time since 2019 and showcasing the latest innovations from our partners live and in person,” says David Reny, Executive Vice President at Standard. “The push for more intelligent automation is accelerating, and Hunkeler and Horizon are rising to the challenge with a suite of new and proven solutions. At PRINTING United, we’ll be helping attendees find the equipment they need to make their businesses efficient, productive, and competitive ‒ from standalone systems to end-to-end setups.”

Horizon Solutions Push Automation Forward and Streamline Production

At PRINTING United, Standard will feature Horizon’s latest releases: the HT-300 Three-side Trimmer, the BQ-500 Perfect Binder, the AFV-566FKT Folder, the AF-408/T-406F Small-format Folder, the StitchLiner Mark V Saddlestitcher, and the iCE LiNK Workflow Management System.

The HT-300 offers higher productivity and more versatility than comparable trimmers due to a rotary table in the trim section which enables not only three-side trimming but also finishing in a variety of shapes, including corner cuts. The HT-300 also offers flap cover trimming to accommodate a wider variety of applications, and setup can be automated via the color touchscreen or with a barcode reader at the in-feed. The HT-300 is over 35% faster than the previous model and can process up to 300 books/stacks per hour at 4 books per stack for up to 1,200 books per hour.

The BQ-500 Perfect Binder is designed for increased book-of-one productivity, increased automation, and increased quality control over a wider range of substrates compared to competitive models. The system features an improved and easy-to-use 12.1” touchscreen for quick setup, an ergonomic design for efficient, operator-friendly production, an enhanced delivery system for thin books, and more. In a variable thickness range of +/- 5mm, the BQ-500 can reach production speeds of up to 800 books per hour, almost double the productivity of other binders in this range. For longer runs, the BQ-500 is capable of running at a rate of 1,350 books per hour.  The new perfect binder features interchangeable EVA and PUR glue tanks with a new and improved tank removal process for cleaner and easier tank changeover.

The AFV-566FKT 6-buckle folder has been designed for improved efficiency, more operator-friendly production, and reduced waste and make-ready. Setup and changeover times on the AFV-566FKT are nearly 20% faster than the previous model, the AFC-566FG. Roller gaps and buckle plates are set automatically and can be easily fine-tuned from the improved touchscreen control panel. The AFV-566FKT has introduced automated stop deployment and adjustment under the knife when cross folding as well as trailing edge roller adjustments to ensure accurate fold position with reduced operator intervention and maximum machine uptime. The system also features a brand-new, automated register table with an adjustable vacuum drive belt that eliminates steel and plastic ball drive for registration. In addition, the system can now automatically calculate the optimal feed interval to ensure top production speeds and efficiency with no manual adjustments or trial and error. The AFV-566FKT uses a single-piston suction pre-feed head for faster and more accurate operation. The system can reach speeds of up 36,000 sheets per hour.

The AF-408/TV-406F Small-format folder is a fully automated, 8-buckle folder with an operator-friendly, automated setup that can manage a wide range of simple or complex fold patterns, especially for the insert and pharmaceutical markets. The system’s memory can store up to 200 fold patterns for quick and easy setup of simple and repeat jobs. Each section of the folder is set automatically via the improved color touchscreen controls, and the new scoring navigator helps reduce setup time even further. The folder supports sheet sizes from 1.97” x 3.94” up to 16.92” x 25.98”. The system can run at up to 590 fpm, and the suction head can run up to 30,000 cycles per hour.

The StitchLiner Mark V Saddlestitcher has been designed to improve productivity for variable, high page-count jobs on a wider variety of substrates. Creasing rollers at the in-feed crease every sheet individually before they are accumulated, making for a tighter crease and sharper spines compared to the Mark V’s predecessor, the StitchLiner 6000 Digital. These rollers also eliminate the need for subsets for thick books. A new and improved registration table allows for more stable transportation of even very thin stock, and improved airflow in the accumulating section significantly reduces static electricity between pages to reduce errors and waste. The StitchLiner Mark V features the same powerful stitching heads as the popular StitchLiner Mark III Saddlestitcher, and the whole system has been optimized to maintain efficiency and stability even for high-speed continuous production environments. The system features barcode scanning at the in-feed for automated job setup, fine adjustments, and quality tracking.

iCE LiNK is a cloud-based workflow management system from Horizon that allows print providers to manage and monitor production across multiple finishing devices to provide a higher level of production efficiency. iCE LiNK allows shops to monitor and collect machine data in real time. iCE LiNK can also provide KPI analysis as well as PM schedule/alerts, and future upgrades will support JDF/JMF Workflow, scheduling, job creation, editing, and more.

Alongside these products, Standard will show a range of individual solutions for creasing, slitting, saddlestitching, die cutting, perfect binding, and trimming – each loaded with advanced automation to provide increased flexibility and maximum productivity. PRINTING United attendees should expect to see the versatile SmartSlitter, an all-in-one sheet processing system that can slit, gutter cut, edge trim, crosscut, perforate, and crease in a single pass, as well as the popular RD-4055DMC Rotary Die Cutter. The RD-4055DMC is designed to simultaneously die-cut and crease/score short-run product from both sides of the sheet and can handle even complex creasing patterns and light packaging applications with ease.

Hunkeler’s Generation 8 Continues to Take Productivity to New Heights

Hunkeler’s award-winning Generation 8 solutions will be on display this year at PRINTING United. The Standard booth will feature the Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack solution which produces straight and fully separated stacks from 1-up to 4-up, up to 30” long. The system handles coated and uncoated stock, from 27 lb. text to 12-point card stock, and it features the hallmarks of Hunkeler’s Gen8: greater automation, increased speeds (590 fpm) and web width support (22.5”), service-friendly design, and remote troubleshooting access for operators and service technicians. The Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack solution will be equipped with the TB8 ILF delivery belt, which allows for the bypass of the LS8-30 stacker to deliver sheets directly to the Horizon StitchLiner Mark V Saddlestitcher to create a productive combination Roll-to-Stack/Roll-to-Booklet solution. In this Roll-to-Booklet solution, variable sheet-count booklets can be produced using barcode scanning or mark reading, and automated setup and intuitive operation allows the same operators who are running the printer to easily manage post-press functions. This solution also features the new UW8 Unwinder which can run at up to 830 fpm and handle rolls up to 1,980 lbs., all while reducing the time it takes to change rolls by up to 30%.

In addition, the Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack solution will be producing book blocks that will be perfect bound on the Horizon BQ-500 Perfect Binder and trimmed on the Horizon HT-300 Three-side Trimmer.

For more information on these Horizon and Hunkeler solutions, visit Standard Finishing Systems at PRINTING United, October 6-8, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., at Booth #4620. Attendees are invited to arrange a private equipment demonstration tailored to their application requirements by pre-registering for the Standard VIP Program at https://www.sdmc.com/printingunited/

Source: Standard Finishing Systems