Finishing - Digital

BY CAROLINE MILLER Over the past few years, the demand for print projects produced "just-in-time" has grown by leaps and bounds. This trend has touched every aspect of the print production process including, and perhaps most importantly, the finishing department. As a result, finishing systems have stepped to the forefront of the discussion. And one important aspect of the entire debate is which finishing solution—in-line or off-line—is the best choice for a particular operation. Each solution offers its own set of benefits and challenges. So which solution is the right one? Or is a combination of both systems the best way to go?

BY CHRIS BAUER The whole point of on-demand printing is to get the customer his or her print order in a short amount of time. So you have an army of 100+ ppm printing devices and you can churn out short-run, digital documents like there is no tomorrow. That is all well and good, but customers are looking for finished documents—books that are bound, brochures that are folded and marketing materials that are cut, slit and punched. Out of necessity, digital and on-demand printing has become more and more popular in the commercial printing world. According to CAP Ventures' 2000-2005 U.S. Print On Demand market forecast, print

BY MARK SMITH Rodney Dangerfield has nothing on bindery and finishing operations when it comes to a lack of respect. Or at least that's how things traditionally had been in the industry. Process automation—with the obligatory keyboards, LCD displays and digital readouts—is starting to give the machinery that high-tech aura. At the same time, on-demand production and workflow integration efforts like CIP4 are highlighting the integral role postpress operations play in the overall process. The market segment's profile may never have been higher. It's understandable, though, if independent trade binders still feel a little picked on. Printers have been nibbling away at the

BY MARK SMITH When business conditions get tight, it's natural to think about just hunkering down and waiting for the market to turn around. It may hardly seem like the right time to make a significant investment in new equipment. However, doing just that can provide short- and long-term benefits. Postpress operations are prime targets for performance improvement, since they traditionally have been labor-intensive and highly mechanical. Folding definitely falls into that category, so anteing up for a new floor-model folder with automation features can provide a big payoff, manufacturers say. Potential benefits include lower operating costs, by enabling the use of less-skilled

BY CAROLINE MILLER When Steve Landheer's customers speak, he listens. The owner of Great Lakes Bindery—based in Grand Rapids, MI—knew that in order to remain in the trade bindery business, he had to find a way to meet his customers' increasing demand for faster turnaround. For the past 20 years, Great Lakes Bindery has specialized in mechanical book binding. Landheer's father decided to focus on mechanical binding after a major client agreed to exclusively use Great Lakes Bindery for its mechanical binding work as long as Great Lakes invested in the necessary equipment. And not much has changed in the mechanical book

BY ERIK CAGLE The economic strain being felt by most, if not all, industries across our country is making for some interesting bed-fellows. New media applications such as the Internet, with some of its brethren at one time poised to make ink-on-paper as cutting edge as a Smith Corona typewriter, has come crawling back with its tail between its declining stock. Well, we also need the dotcom and advanced media technology companies as much as they need us. Advertising revenue, particularly for magazines, is down. There is, however, an upside to the doom and gloom being projected/predicted for at least the first half of 2001. This

BY MARK SMITH Bindery automation has long since ceased to be an oxymoron, but the back end of the process hasn't seen quite the same digital revolution as in the prepress and press arenas. Touch pads and automated setup features have become commonplace, but operators are not sitting around looking at computer screens all day, as one trade binder owner put it. The fundamental nature of the work hasn't changed all that dramatically. Faster makereadies and more efficient material handling have been the primary focus of efforts to automate binding and finishing operations. Cutting and folding probably are the two areas that have

BY SCOTT POLK Eighty percent of printing jobs need finishing work, according to Duplo USA Vice President of Marketing Peter Tu. With customers demanding quick turnarounds and quality work, the bindery plays an important role in the overall printing process. This is especially true as commercial printing continues its digital revolution. "Print-on-demand has become increasingly popular among printers today," Tu notes. "It offers many benefits such as waste elimination, versatility and cost savings. It's no secret that the widespread availability of on-demand technology has expanded the capabilities of printing operations. Printers are always looking for ways to keep up with technology while

BY ERIK CAGLE Quad/Graphics has installed the latest design in Ferag gathering/stitching/ trimming systems at its plant in Lomira, WI, marking the third such system installation for Quad. The new system includes six log-fed feeders, which transport signatures to a rotary gathering drum, then to a shear-cut trimmer. According to Frank Arndorfer, Quad/Graphics' vice president of finishing operations, adding the third Ferag unit bolsters the company in a number of ways. The Ferags are the workhorses on the shop floor. "We lean toward Ferag because we have an application for production that requires more of a Gatlin gun approach—high volume and relative ease of use," Arndorfer says.

BY CHERYL A. ADAMS Printer, printer . . . How does your bindery grow? Certainly not with cockleshells all in a row—but with the same careful cultivation, operational dedication and savvy business sense that commercial printers are using to grow their prepress and pressroom areas. But forget all the bells and whistles of prepress and press for a moment. Instead, take a behind-the-scenes look at how three very different commercial printers—two with extensive bindery operations and one with limited finishing services—are growing their overall businesses by investing in their back ends. Blue Ocean PressAbsolute AutomationYou never want to have to print a job over