Page 49 - Print21 Jan-Feb 2020

“The BQ-480 will allow the printer or finisher
to use either EVA or PUR glue. It is fully automatic and
touchscreen controlled, with built-in spine scoring and hinge
scoring as well,” says Robinson. Other radical developments from Horizon include the likes of a robot
arm option for the RB-4055 die cutter, for taking the book blocks. The RB-4055 is the new die cutter that comes with twin magnetic dies, not just one, for double sided laminated products, current male and female light embossing.
Quadient one-stop
Quadient is the Australian distributor for a number of finishing solution manufacturers including Duplo, Multigraf, and – as of last year – CP Bourg. According to Jimmy Nguyen, the company aims to provide all of a printer’s finishing needs under one roof.
“All of our solutions are aimed at boosting efficiency and saving our customers time and money,” he says.
Nguyen tells Print21 that the company’s biggest seller is its range of Duplo card cutters, which it has sold for 20 years.
“Duplo is the pioneer for automated card cutting, ranging from entry level to high-end, and it can do slitting, cutting, creasing, and perforation in a single pass.
“Customers in the digital age receive a lot of small jobs, and if they get many on the same day that require different finishing, they’ll save a lot of time and money investing in a Duplo card cutter.
It does a wide variety of jobs in
a quick turnaround, saves on labour costs, and reduces errors,” he says.
Also from Duplo is the DBM-150 saddle-stitch booklet maker, which offers a small footprint for operators without much room to spare.
“This compact booklet maker is suitable for copy shop and franchise customers to do saddle-stitched books. Some customers are using staplers – this machine will saddle stitch, fold, and face trim to produce a finished book automatically,” says Nguyen.
In folding, Quadient distributes Multigraf products which, according to Nguyen, can save printers on time- consuming manual creasing of stocks up to 400gsm.
“We have the Multigraf CF-375, which creases and folds in a single pass – so if a customer takes a day
or two to finish a job normally, this will allow them to finish in two or three hours, which saves labour costs, adds efficiency, and delivers a better finish,” he says.
Last but not least, Quadient last year sealed the distribution deal for C.P. Bourg’s perfect binders.
“Perfect binding is big in Australia, particularly for photobooks and the like. PUR glue is more aggressive than your standard hot melt, and C.P. Bourg just has the right high-quality solution for PUR perfect binding – it produces a perfectly bound perfect- bound book,” says Nguyen.
Decades of reliability
German offset press giant Heidelberg also sells Polar cutters including the 66 and 78, and the Stahl TI-52-4-4 folder, into Australia and New Zealand. Heidelberg has supplied Polar for decades.
Richard Timson, managing
director of Heidelberg ANZ says, “The introduction of the smaller 66 and
78 size Polar machines gave digital printers an opportunity to buy a robust machine that would cut accurately for many years, thus overcoming the costly handicap of purchasing cheap and unreliable machines.
Added to that was the programming technology that enables customers to store hundreds of jobs in the memory and reduce makeready times,” he says.
The Stahl folder reflects a similar story, Timson adds.
“Apart from limited automation which can suit some digital shops, the Stahl folders have proven to be popular, as they are designed for industrial use and yet are still great for short run work. They are quick to set up and output at high speeds.
Left
Ease of operation: digital finishing solutions
Inline and offline
Plockmatic, through distribution partner Renz, sells its own booklet making equipment into Australia, alongside Morgana creaser/folders and Watkiss booklet makers; additionally, Plockmatic equipment is often sold in-line with digital presses by manufacturers such as Ricoh, Fuji Xerox, Konica Minolta, and Canon.
According to Chris Toll, regional sales manager for Australia, New Zealand and Asia at Plockmatic Group, these partners have enabled Plockmatic booklet makers, which can produce books of up to 50 sheets or 200 pages, to be used in many print environments.
“The clear benefit of inline booklet making is that there is no extra labour to produce the books – and a benefit of the Plockmatic products is the capability to keep up with print speed, so booklets are produced at the same time as they are printed,” he says.
For offline creasing and folding, Plockmatic and Renz also offer
the Morgana range, including the Digifold Pro, the Autocreaser series, and the AutoCut Pro.
“The Digifold Pro is a creaser-folder combination use to creases and folds on the fly for high productivity.
This has been a stalwart model for Morgana for many years and we
are continuing to improve on the capabilities and features.
“The Autocut Pro is one of our newer items, used to cut business cards, gift cards, or brochures. It can also handle long sheets up to seven hundred millimetres, primarily for A4 three-fold or gate brochures, and is able to crease up to five thousand sheets an hour. When configured with the Autofold, you can crease and fold in one pass,” says Toll.
Tim Killen, national sales manager at Renz, says its service and support capabilities are well-known, and provide a vital complement to its equipment.
“With Renz Australia now offering the full range of Plockmatic Group offline products including the Plockmatic bookletmakers, Morgana creasers and folders, and Watkiss bookletmakers, we’re able to provide our customers with SquareFold bookletmaker options for small, medium and large volume operators and greater finishing options than ever before, cementing our position as a trusted partner in print finishing for years to come,” he says. 21
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Finishing