The Bindery—No Longer the Bottleneck of the Printers’ Workflow

This is true. . .most printers do have bindery equipment, and some have quite a lot of different devices. When touring printing plants, it’s often the oldest technology seen in the plant. The owner prides himself on his press, be it offset or digital, it’s the centerpiece of the discussion. The next thing they want to show you is their prepress department and their recent purchase of CtP equipment. When you tour their bindery, many times their newest acquisition is over 10 years old and that device was purchased on the used equipment market. In fact, you may even have to specifically ask the owner to see the bindery otherwise he may show you his computer room or the loading dock first! Clearly, the new technology available today is far more efficient from a make-ready, production speed and electricity usage basis. Plus the automation available makes these machines far more productive than the older technology, but most printers seem satisfied to get by with what they already have in their shop.