Taking the ‘Man’ out of Manual Binding

According to Kerry Burroughs, division manager of book binding at Muller Martini: “Our customers are looking for shorter makeready and as much automation as possible to reduce labor costs. We’ve been doing motorized makeready, especially on larger lines, so the technology is already on the market to do this. If someone has a manual Normbinder that takes 45-60 minutes for makeready now, the new machines will let them do it in 15 minutes.

“Of course, the price has to be low enough; most customers don’t want to spend anything, but really want to lower labor costs. For most, if they can earn back the cost in 18 months, it’s easy to get the purchase approved.

“Customers also ask for ways to increase productivity, and if they come to us without preconceived notions, it’s easier to suggest solutions. Some customers tried the first PUR adhesive several years ago and had bad experiences, so now they want to stay away, but there have been big improvements over the years.”