Gateway Bookbinding Systems

Here's a look at some of the new printing and binding equipment and software that will be shown at PRINT 13, taking place in Chicago, September 8-12.

Shelter Insurance, a recognized insurance and financial services leader, has built a solid reputation on integrity, excellence and an ongoing commitment to improvement. That commitment is reflected in its full-service Document Services operation, located in Columbia, Mo.

Take a stroll through the halls of drupa and you will see more finishing equipment than you have ever imagined in your life. Most of those machines, sadly, are unavailable here on the other side of the Atlantic. So we've decided to focus on the equipment that is, and have provided a quick look at some of the new bindery and finishing systems that made their debuts at drupa.

Vendors reported a good amount of interest in bindery equipment at this year's GRAPH EXPO in Chicago. The bindery equipment at the show offered in-plants some great opportunities to expand their services and increase their efficiency.

THE BEGINNING of the college semester is always a bustling time for the employees at Azusa Pacific University Duplicating and Graphics. Located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, the in-plant serving this private Southern California Christian university is usually busy producing course packs and other materials prior to students arriving on campus.

THOUGH PRINT 09 may have gotten off to a slow start, the crowds eventually showed up. And when they did, many of them headed right for the bindery equipment. Nowhere was that more true than at the Standard Finishing Systems exhibit, which was bustling with activity on the third day of the show, even as other booths appeared to be on siesta. Mark Hunt, director of marketing for Standard, thought he knew why.

Sustainability starts at the corporate level. Several vendors are taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, use alternative energy sources, recycle and more.

Prior to 2005, Brigham Young University’s Print & Mail Production Center did its plastic spiral binding with simple, manual tabletop machines. Then the Provo, Utah-based in-plant sent some representatives to Print 05, in Chicago. There, they first laid eyes on the PLASTIKOIL Concept QS2 Dual Interline system, from Gateway Bookbinding Systems. It allows for the in-house manufacturing of plastic spiral binding, coupled with automated coil insertion and finishing. The idea of being able to manufacture their own coil and have it automatically inserted convinced them to make the investment in this system.

THOUGH MOST of the press conferences and “big news” at Drupa centered on digital printing, innovations in bindery and finishing were no less prevalent. In fact, many of them sprang from the very digital printing trends that overshadowed them. As digital printing speeds have increased, bindery equipment has also gotten faster, with vastly improved automation and simplified touch-screen controls to make them even easier to set up. JDF compatibility is becoming more common in bindery equipment, allowing devices to be preset using production data. Demands for higher-quality printed products have led bindery vendors to improve their paper-handling techniques. Folds look better on the latest

A year after Drupa, what new surprises do graphic arts vendors have in store for in-plants? Here's an advanced look. In-plant managers eager to see the latest graphic arts technologies can't do much better than Print 05 & Converting 05. Held in Chicago once every four years, this is the printing industry's main event. Larger than last year's Graph Expo show, Print 05 will feature nearly 800 exhibits covering more than 725,000 square feet of floor space. To help in-plants prepare, many of the industry's key vendors offered a peak at the products they plan to display in Chicago. Offset Boasting