ESEX, VT—The Offset House, a growing direct mail printer that specializes in catalogs, has made impressive improvements in speed and operational efficiency since the installation of two state-of-the-art saddle stitching machines from Muller Martini: a Prima SB and a BravoPlus. “We used to have a bottleneck, now it’s a pleasure [for print finishing] to keep up with the press room. . .we have twice as much throughput now,” says John McGrath, owner of The Offset House. Since installing the new equipment, Mr. McGrath explains that “We can allow less lead time, we’re faster, allowing our customers to make last minute marketing decisions; We
Binding - Saddle-Stitch
Stitcher Makes Debut at Steffy BROWNSTOWN, PA—Steffy Printing, a full-service commercial printer, recently installed a Vijuk 321-T saddlestitcher to keep up with its customers’ quicker turnaround needs. Bindery Upgrade Made in Northwest KENT, WA—ESP Printing updated its bindery equipment with the addition of a Bravo-T saddlestitcher from Muller Martini. Bobst Group USA Plans Open House ROSELAND, NJ—Bobst Group USA has set September 21-26 for its Direction ’06 folding carton open house, conference, seminars and trade fair. “This will be our biggest Direction event yet,” promises Chris Raney, Bobst vice president for folding carton. “We’ve added a number of new features including some very topical breakout session seminars. We
Installation Helps Bring in More Work MANCHESTER, MA—Cricket Press recently installed a Vijuk 321-T saddlestitcher. As a result of the new equipment, the full-service printer reports it is no longer outsourcing large jobs and is now taking in binding work from other printers. Customer Event Held on Long Island HAUPPAUGE, NY—Muller Martini hosted an open house March 22nd, providing an opportunity for customers to experience the high-speed Corona perfect binder in action. The event, held at Muller Martini’s Corporate Training Center on Long Island, was attended by printers and binders from throughout the country. Attendees learned about the Corona’s features, including: menu-guided operation and
Bindery Goes Large With New Diecutter MOUNT VERNON, OH—Coyne Graphic Finishing, a full-service binding and finishing company, has installed a custom-manufactured Cauhe large-format diecutting machine to produce P-O-P displays and similar products. The Spanish-made Cauhe machine has a 65x120˝ cutting bed, making it among the largest of its kind in the United States. This machine is the company’s fourth large-format diecutter. Growth From ESOP Results in Stitcher BOISE, ID—Alexander Clark Printing, a full-service web and sheetfed shop, recently expanded capacity by purchasing a new Best Osako Estar saddlestitcher from distributor Best Graphics. The added capacity comes just two years after the printer adopted an ESOP plan, resulting
It was only a matter of time before someone could build the better mousetrap that Donnie Webb had long envisioned. Webb, president and owner of Mobile, AL-based Superior Printing, had envisioned the ideal saddlestitching system. It would be a flat-sheet collator/bookletmaker that could fold, stitch and cap off with a three-knife trim. “I knew what I wanted; I just had to wait for somebody to build it,” Webb says. “I run mostlyquarter-size presses, with one half-size. I looked at signature collators, but my production was not really set up for running a lot of signatures. A flat-sheet collator was really what I needed.” Webb had been using
Quad Bindery Crew Cranks Out Jobs LOMIRA, WI—In today's competitive, "must have it yesterday" stitched catalog market, speed and overall output capabilities are the keys to success. At the Quad/Graphics facility here, the production crew is setting the pace for stitching speed and output utilizing a Tempo saddlestitcher from Muller Martini. The Quad Tempo is capable of running at 20,000 cycles per hour and the crew was recently recognized with an "Excellence in Finishing" award as the highest producing saddlestitching team among Quad's arsenal of more than 100 machines. Quad/Graphics' LHT-132 team relies on its 36-pocket Tempo saddlestitcher for production output that enables Quad to
Stitcher Installation a First in the States HARTFORD, WI—This month, Quad/Graphics will become the first printer in the United States to install a high-performance Muller Martini Supra saddlestitching system. The Supra will be located at the Quad/Graphics printing center located here. Featuring a newly developed and highly advanced pocket wheel feeder, the new Supra stitcher, shown to the public for the first time at Drupa 2004, offers production speeds of up to 30,000 cycles per hour. Quad's Supra is rated at 25,000 cycles with the new 416 feeder. "Our finishing operations are characterized not just by speed, but by flexibility and efficiency," explains Thomas Quadracci, Quad/Graphics
Stitcher Added to Get Competitive Edge INDEPENDENCE, MO—Post Press Specialties recently purchased a Vijuk 321-T saddlestitcher from Vijuk Equipment. Owner Andy Humble, plant manager Jacob Bagnell and estimator Bowen Griffitt believe the new stitcher will help them become more competitive in the Kansas City market. Equipment Makes the Cut in Reno RENO, NV—Employees at Registered Ink gather in front of their new Polar-Mohr System 2+ automated cutting system. The medium-sized commercial printer has more than doubled in size, sales volume and capacity since owners Bill and Melissa Gillis purchased the former Herth Printing in 1999. The shop's bindery also features a new Polar PM4-ABV automatic pile
Trade Binder Adds New Equipment LONG ISLAND CITY, NY—J&M Finishing recently installed a four-pocket Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 270 saddlestitcher with cover feeder to increase production and versatility in this all-Heidelberg shop. In order to update J&M Finishing's equipment, owner Mike Perreca temporarily replaced an existing six-pocket Stitchmaster ST 90 saddlestitcher with the new ST 270. Perreca plans to reinstall the ST 90 when additional space becomes available. In addition, J&M Finishing added additional pockets to two machines, making the new ST 270 a five-pocket stitcher and an existing ST 270 a seven-pocket system. Founded in 1999, J&M also houses three B-30 Stahlfolders, a TD-56 Stahlfolder, a Stahl
BY ERIK CAGLE Senior Editor Pity the poor saddle stitcher. It gets no love, no recognition for a job well done. Bindery operators want the stitcher to take care of business, and they certainly don't want to intervene in its appointed rounds. When it comes to their stitchers, notes Darcy Maeda, public relations coordinator for Duplo USA, printers seek the ultimate in automation, in every aspect of the design. "They want the machine's stitcher heads, back jogger, side guides, stitch stopper, fold stopper, size adjustments, fold roller gap and conveyance roller position to adjust automatically," she says. "Automation of this degree