Bindery - Finishing

“Puffy.” That’s how Charles Tyree describes the books produced by his in-plant’s previous saddle stitcher. Without a score on the folds, the pages of thick books bulged outward—not a very professional look for Virginia Tech’s publications. Tyree, director of Printing Services for the past 13 years at the Blacksburg, Va., university, says his staff was never quite satisfied with that stitcher, which it added in 1999 to replace a four-pocket Macy stitcher. “It didn’t trim three sides, it didn’t give us tight enough folds and it didn’t have vacuum feed in the pockets,” he says. Plus it was slow. “We wanted

YOU JUST completed a true printed masterpiece. Maybe it is all about the history of your company or university. For the excellence of the job done, you receive many compliments. Then comes the ultimate question from the top: could we have this masterpiece bound into an attractive hardcover binding? After all, as everyone is aware, clever “packaging,” called binding, enhances every printed product. In-Plant Graphics, in its April article on digital book production, concluded that the future for on-demand books is indeed very encouraging. These days, thanks to clever software and digital printing equipment, it is relative easy to put together a book.

In-plants interested in providing hardcover binding should consider attending a seminar on the topic being held September 29 in Springfield, Mass. Sponsored by the Library Binding Institute (LBI), this event offers an opportunity for networking, information gathering and demonstrations from and discussions with industry experts. Seminar topics include hardcover binding processes, challenges and solutions. Best binding options for text blocks, binding systems, and techniques used in hardcover bindings will be covered. Solutions for problems like cover warp and selecting appropriate reinforcements will be addressed. Featured speakers include Werner Rebsamen, professor emeritus from Rochester Institute of Technology. His article on the topic will appear

KENNESAW, GA—August 7, 2007—Heidelberg will showcase its commitment to small print shop owners at Graph Expo 2007 with a dedicated Small Business solutions area in booth #1200 at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 9 -12. Small business printers can now find everything they need from one place, and Heidelberg will demonstrate many of their small business solutions, including prepress, press, postpress and workflow products, at the show. “Small businesses are the engine of the printing industry, and Heidelberg offers them the best technology available to remain competitive,” said Joerg Daehnhardt, director of product management for general commercial print, Heidelberg USA. “We recently added many

The Vatican’s in-plant, called Tipografia Vaticana, recently ordered its first MBO folding machine, the K 800 Perfection combination folder with Navigator control. The in-plant, which dates from 1587, primarily deals with printing papal files, official documents of the Holy See and liturgical books. “The challenge for the folding machine in this case is not only the high throughput, but also the use of very different types of paper, ranging from thin printed paper to very heavy types,” says MBO Germany Managing Director Manfred Minich. The in-plant selected the MBO model not only to reduce changeover and downtimes, but because its High-Grip spiral fold rollers with

KENNESAW, GA—July 11, 2007—Heidelberg will focus on high-tech, high-performance solutions for companies of all sizes at the 2007 Graph Expo, where the print media industry leader will showcase the latest in graphic arts technology innovation. Booth visitors can experience Heidelberg’s commercial print, packaging, small business and workflow solutions at Booth #1200 at the tradeshow, which is being held in Chicago at McCormick Place on Sept. 9-12, 2007. “We believe that by blending our historic expertise in hardware with an equal commitment to optimizing efficiencies at all stages of the printing process, Heidelberg has become the only print technology provider capable of bringing the

WESTAMPTON, NJ— July 6, 2007 —The Pope’s printer designates MBO K 800 Perfection combination folder, with Navigator controlled fail-safe operation. Special challenge: high print runs and different types of paper. The Vatican printing house has ordered a folding machine from MBO for the first time. The K 800 Perfection combination folder comes with Navigator control including the innovative Vacuknife. This high-tech folder from the leading folding technology specialist will be installed in an environment that is both sophisticated and historically significant. The roots of the so-called “Tipografia Vaticana“ go back as far as the year 1587. Its collection and selection of fonts

HAUPPAUGE, NY—Nearly three dozen print production businesses, including printing and binding companies of many different sizes, attended an informative saddle stitching open house hosted by Muller Martini. The event, entitled “First to the Finish: Leading-Edge Saddle Stitching Solutions for Maximum Automation,” was held June 5-7, 2007 at Muller’s Long Island headquarters. In addition to the open house itself, there was also a press-only luncheon on June 7. Attendees to the open house viewed live demonstrations of three of Muller Martini’s highly advanced print finishing machines for the middle-performance segment. Demonstrated were the BravoPlus saddle stitcher with AMRYS (Automatic Make-Ready System), the BravoPlus

The ownership of Spiral Binding Co. has acquired the James Burn North America division of James Burn International, now referred to as James Burn USA. Known for its Wire-O double loop binding wire, James Burn USA manufactures wire and coil bindings in Atlanta and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The company also markets the Lhermite DocuPunch, AlphaDoc, EX380 and Wire-O-Binder. James Burn USA customers will now have access to a wider range of binding, laminating and finishing products.

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—06/13/2007—Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) clearly increased both sales and earnings in financial year 2006/2007 (April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007). “For the fourth year in succession, we have been able to draw on the upswing in the global economy and the resultant upward trend in our industry,” stated Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. “For the current financial year, we are expecting moderate growth in the volume of business,” he added. Sales by the Heidelberg Group during the period under review climbed six percent to 3.803 billion Euro (previous year: 3.586 billion Euro). The fourth quarter alone returned sales of 1.214 billion