Binding - Perfect

Big Texas Bindery Adds Capabilities HOUSTON—Seidl’s Bindery, Texas’ largest full-service print finishing operation with 130 employees, recently installed a Muller Martini Bolero perfect binder. “We have doubled our capacity and can now also offer more options to customers,” says Bill Seidl, CEO. “Setup is fast, operation is easy and the machine is very diverse.” In addition to perfect binding, Seidl’s Bindery provides services such as saddlestitching, Wire-O binding, tipping and attaching, diecutting, folding and gluing. Time to Talk Shop CHICAGO—Shown during Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2006, Jochen Durselen, founder and designer of the Durselen line of drills (pictured at right), spends some time with Jim Grisez,

Jehovah’s Witnesses Gain Efficiencies Wallkill, NY—The Watchtower Printing Center recently put a new 350,000-square-foot production facility into operation. Central to this new manufacturing system is a Muller Martini Corona/Diamant production line. Among the machinery recently put into operation is a fully automatic hardcover book line from Muller Martini. At the heart of the new system, on which 10 million hardcover books will be produced annually, are a Corona perfect binding line, a fully automatic buffer system and two Diamant book lines downstream. These technologies are complemented by two addressing and packaging/cartoning systems, followed by two Cohiba palletizers. Polar Celebrates Centennial Year HOFHEIM, GERMANY—Founded

For Mike Welsch, strength and flexibility are the keys to building a successful postpress business. The Muscle Bound Bindery president credits the durability of his products for building the reputation his Minneapolis-based bindery enjoys. Strength and flexibility also characterize Muscle Bound's growth from an extension of a publishing house to one of the leading case binding and Otabind producers in the country. From left, Muscle Bounders Jeff Deutsch, plant supervisor; Mike Ertle, plant manager; Jerry Hanson, former president; and Mike Welsch, president.Muscle Bound Bindery was founded by Jerry Hanson in 1967 as the hardcover book binding arm of Lerner Publishing. The company quickly outgrew

WESTAMPTON, NJ—In another positive sign that things are turning around for the better in the graphic arts, a special customer expo conducted here recently by MBO America and Muller Martini attracted more than 250 participants. Held in early June at MBO America's Westampton headquarters, the exposition was attended by key executives and technicians from facilities that operate or plan to run binderies. Their focus was on a variety of finishing solutions that were operated continuously throughout the event. Werner Naegeli, president and CEO of Muller Martini, headed the team representing his company at the event. "It's always great to meet face-to-face with bindery

BY MARK SMITH Adhesive binding has long been a benchmark of quality for finishing, but equipment costs and setup times traditionally had kept the process in the realm of long-run and/or higher end projects. The prevailing trend now in "perfect" binding systems is increasing their flexibility to handle shorter runs. This is true for all levels of equipment, but particularly for the relatively new product category of units designed to work in conjunction with digital printing systems. A related trend is the industry's move to computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) that is trickling down to postpress operations in general. Unlike prepress and printing, though, digital

BY DAVE CLOSSEY There is as much variation in company owners as there is in the companies themselves. This is what makes competition great; there are hundreds of ways to run a successful company. For some owners, the plan might go something like this: Target a specific market niche; pursue clients in that niche; and sit comfortably on a steady—and hopefully predictable—revenue stream. Gary Markovits, president of E&M Bindery in Clifton, NJ, sees things a little differently. "My wife always says to me, 'Your company is doing well. Why not sit back and relax?' " laughs Markovits. "But that isn't the way I am.

BY CAROLINE MILLER Brenda Slacum, COO of Specialties Bindery, has a favorite saying: "We are a brand new company with a 30-year history." It's a statement that might leave you scratching your head if you're not familiar with this trade bindery, which specializes in mechanical (Wire-O, spiral wire, plastic coil and plastic comb) binding, perfect binding, as well as folding, rotary scoring, collating, fulfillment and related services. But this $6.5 million, 85-employee trade services company, which is located in a 108,000-square-foot facility just outside of Washington, DC, in Hyattsville, MD, has a bit of a Cinderella story to tell—thanks in part to its COO.

BY ERIK CAGLE If it is September, this must be Chicago. Change is in the air, and where else but the Windy City is more apropos for taking a reading of this change? It is a special year for the graphic arts industry, as it seems to be in transition. Layoffs have rocked many of the big printers as a swooning economy has touched all. Manufacturers are crossing their fingers in the hope that PRINT 01 is successful; some have gone as far to call this a "make-or-break" show in light of some poorly attended trade shows this year. Manufacturers, suppliers, printers, trade finishers,

BY ERIK CAGLE Whatever fat existed in the adhesive binding portion of the postpress workflow has long since been trimmed away. The days of the long run are long gone. On-demand environments are everywhere, and inventories are kept as low as possible. Makeready times must make a NASCAR pit crew green with envy, and the machines must be easy to use, as quality help, like substance in this year's presidential election, is nowhere to be found. Through it all, customers are still asking for lower prices—frantically waving table-top machine money while standing in front of the floor- model machines. They can't be blamed;

The finishing end of the entire on-demand printed product workflow is the poor stepchild of the digital family, watching in envy as the prepress and printing sides get the technological pony for Christmas. But it shouldn't and doesn't have to be that way.