A Guide to Better Stitching

WHEN IT’S time to shop for a saddle stitcher, automation, quick setup and ease of makeready are neccesities. But what other new features are available that might help your in-plant? And how should you go about comparing equipment?

We talked with saddle stitching experts at several companies to get their tips and ideas to help you get the best machine for your in-plant.

Buying Tips
When comparing equipment, examine a range of format sizes and provide job samples (floating cards, envelopes) to equipment manufacturers, ensuring the best possible fit for your shop’s individual needs.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Look for a line that will fill your immediate needs but have the capability to add on units as your needs grow.
—Carmine Festa, Muller Martini

See if each pocket has its own drive to give you the ability to independently set the pockets for 1:1 or 2:1 operation in any order without losing the use of any pocket. Some systems have one drive per a pair of pockets.
—Paul Byrne, Vijuk

Share data in regards to makeready times, run speeds, net outputs, run lengths, spoilage, number of jobs run per week and difficulties you experience to determine which equipment can improve the overall production process.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

When looking at equipment, consider the ease of maintenance and lubrication.
—Paul Byrne, Vijuk

Talk with Users
Visit a plant which has a similar line to the one you are looking at, and talk to operators about their experiences on that line.
—Carmine Festa, Muller Martini

Speak to owners about what they like or dislike about the system they own and what drove their purchasing decisions.
—Bob Flinn, Standard Finishing Systems

Price vs. Growth Potential
Do your homework in regards to shop savings with the new equipment vs. the actual price tag. The shop should look past the short-term gain to the long-term strategy and growth potential of the equipment, as opposed to buying a machine on price and sacrificing technology, versatility and production.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Do not purchase on price alone. Manufacturers’ parts, service, reliability and reputation will make up long-term any additional costs you might have paid out at time of purchase.
—Carmine Festa, Muller Martini

Get a Demo
The best way to test any machine is to provide the vendor with a representative sample of work you run on a daily basis and have the manufacturer bind the job in its demonstration facility for you to review.

—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Make sure when you get a demonstration that you are seeing what you want to see and not just what the seller wants you to see. Although the canned demo can be good, the true test is how the equipment and seller respond to something out of the ordinary.

—Bob Flinn, Standard Finishing Systems

Features to Look For
If you want to gain an edge in the shorter-run market and take advantage of the growing requirement for saddle binding of digitally imaged booklets and brochures, take a close look at the new trend in “flat sheet” saddle stitching solutions.

—Bob Flinn, Standard Finishing Systems

Look for a machine which has wrenchless and on-the-fly adjustments.
—Carmine Festa, Muller Martini

Check the ability and the ease of inserting card inserts, business reply cards or envelopes in-line. Some require complex attachments.
—Paul Byrne, Vijuk

Quality Control
Quality control is the key to customer satisfaction. Monitoring systems—such as CCD cameras at each feed station to ensure the correct signature has been fed, miss/double detection, skewed fold detection and stitch placement detection—will help to ensure your customers’ satisfaction.
—Bob Flinn, Standard Finishing Systems

Check for quality assurance controls like double- and missing-sheet detection on each pocket, an oblique monitor to check signature-to-cover registration, a caliper to double check that all the pages are there and missing-stitch detection.
—Paul Byrne, Vijuk

Printers should have a stitch monitoring device on the equipment to ensure that they have stitches in each booklet. This feature compares the number of stitches set at the operator’s terminal with the number actually stitched into the booklet. The booklet is ejected if a stitch is missing.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Vertical vs. Horizontal Feeders
Vertical feeders enable the shop to place more signatures in the feeder, and they require less manning during the production run. The operator can replenish the feeder less often due to the feeder’s signature capacity. Vertical feeders can better handle small-dimension products with lighter stock weight and low pagination counts.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Horizontal pockets are easier to load, and therefore can be loaded more quickly. On vertical feeders light-weight papers, which have little body, are difficult to load and have a tendency to flop over.
—Bob Reynolds, Vijuk

Training
All operators should be trained by a factory-trained technician. A good operator will retain 85 percent of what he is taught. Internal training is not recommended.
—Carmine Festa, Muller Martini

Allow time for training on the equipment. Evaluate staff and consider additional training to ensure operators have the required skill set to run the machine and live up to quality expectations. The customer should supply “waste” jobs of maximum and minimum product sizes. “Waste” jobs with lap, reverse lap and vacuum opening would allow for more complete operator training. Operators may not learn to fully utilize the equipment if training is performed on a production job with time limits.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Operating Tips
Take time to follow an orderly setup routine, completing each step satisfactorily before going to the next. That way you won’t find yourself going in circles tweaking this and that section over again.
—Rick Jasnica, Vijuk

The more you know about the equipment (electrical and mechanical) the better your setup time, production speeds and production nets will be. Down time will be reduced because you will know where to look and how to solve problems.
—Carmine Festa, Muller Martini

Purchase two extra wire spools and two extra de-spoolers and have them pre-wired and ready for a quick changeover to decrease downtime during the job run.
—Rick Jasnica, Vijuk

Stitching Jobs with Mixed Stocks
Check thickness caliper prior to stitching, making sure it detects all pieces of mixed stock. Make sure you have the appropriate gauge of stitching wire for the application. Adjust the clincher device so it won’t “crush” the crown of the staple.
—Rick Jasnica, Vijuk

Common Problems
If stitching is poor, check the length of each “leg,” making sure they are equal. Make sure overall length of stitch isn’t too long or too short. See if the clincher device is adjusted correctly.
—Rick Jasnica, Vijuk

If a pocket is misfeeding, try running the signature at a 1:2 ratio. Check gripper location on the lap. Check the timing to the saddle chain. Check the vacuum/blow adjustments.
—Rick Jasnica, Vijuk

Maintenance Tips
The recommended lubrication schedule should always be followed with the lubricants that the manufacturer suggests to ensure the longevity of the equipment. The owner or maintenance department should have a log or weekly/monthly lubricating schedule for the machines. Too often breakdowns occur due to lack of proper maintenance.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Stitching heads should be cleaned or serviced regularly. If the machine comes with four heads, it is easy to rotate them as you use only two of them most of the time.
—Joe Koch, Vijuk

Blow down or wipe down the machine to avoid paper dust build-up. A clean machine runs more efficiently.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

Place ownership of the stitcher on the operator with expectations to keep the equipment and the surrounding area clean of waste and debris.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA

With difficult jobs, shops may benefit from keeping a written log of the jobs with a few samples to show technicians. This helps technicians better provide tips to help the bindery run more efficiently.
—Steven Calov, Heidelberg USA