Digital Technology And the Bindery

Perfect binding digital color poses further challenges. Digital color covers and inside sheets have been heat-shocked, dehydrated, static-charged and then applied with fusing oil—all of which work against adhesive penetration and binding strength. The economics of short-run digital color imaging also mandate ultra-fast setups. PUR adhesives (polyurethane reactive) are one of the best solutions to this problem, but they have only recently become available on shorter-run binders. Nordson has retrofit some EVA/conventional hot-melt short-run binders for PUR, and the new Horizon BQ-470 boasts interchangeable PUR and EVA glue tanks. This type of system gives maximum application flexibility and first-off, high-quality books (short runs provide no tolerance for setup spoilage).