At Drupa this year, it seems that there are two key areas finishing equipment manufacturers are focusing on: automation and the ability to deal with high-speed digital equipment.

Hohner UK managing director John Sykes believes that all finishing manufacturers need to be watching the digital sector, which may now finally be comparable to litho.

"Many years ago, I was seeing St Ives," he explains. "They said that print was moving towards digital, across the board, and told me, ‘Don’t laugh, but eventually digital will match litho for speed and quality’. The quality appears to already be there; it is the speed that is now catching up.

"You can almost compare it to the changeover from letterpress to litho. People laughed off this new litho technology and said it would never be able to replace letterpress. Where is letterpress now?"

High-speed digital
While some kit manufacturers have been dealing long-term with digital printers since the technology’s inception, the increase in speed and ability of the format means that larger finishing machinery is now needed. While this means that speed is important, today’s digital printer wants the best of both worlds – a fast finishing department that can boast having next-to-no makeready.

Sykes adds: "Our overall feeling is that equipment needs to cater to the increasingly fast digital market. Rather than having stitching lines offline, digital presses will move into continuous reel-fed and will want finishing in-line with that."

Duplo UK managing director Tony Lock also feels that traditional machinery, such as saddlestitchers, will develop to work better alongside digital machinery.

He says: "Ten years ago, makeready wasn’t even taken into account during costing, but it’s so crucial now. While some of the bigger guys are producing excellent machines that are faster than the digital specific kit, if you are only doing runs of 2,000 products and have a 45-minute makeready, you aren’t very efficient – a slower machine can still work out to be 50% more efficient if you are taking the makeready into account."

Upgraded area
While the traditional finishing manufacturers are trying to adapt to the uptake in digital equipment, there is also a large step change for companies that have already been producing specialist digital finishing equipment, and this is an area that has constantly been upgraded.

With run-lengths continually coming down, manufacturers can no longer whip the sheet off a machine on the first day of Drupa to reveal a product that can do 10,000 sheets per hours, when the predecessor did 9,000, and expect applause.

Printers don’t need a machine that can run faster; they need a machine that will run whether it is doing one long-run job per day or 500 short runs. Renz international marketing manager Dan Pooley believes that visitors to the show will be looking to streamline their processes.

"Using our kit as an example," he says, "previously a block might have been punched in six or seven hits, but now the user needs to be able to punch 40, 60 or even a hundred pages in one go.

"They want a quick set-up and they want as many processes in one pass as possible. That is where the cost and efficiency savings are going to be made; printers will be at the show asking how you can increase their output."

Lock agrees that digital finishing will be scrutinised this May – however, he also believes that users are looking for simpler controls.

He says: "We are finding a lot of people want PC-operated machinery. They want controls to be the same across all of their equipment, to give operators more confidence to operate machine in the factory, whether in the pressroom or the finishing department."

Another area that Duplo has seen interest in, which Lock believes will be especially prevalent, is the ‘bundle’ system, bringing together a number of finishing applications into one machine, again aimed at the digital sector, but also able to handle litho work.

"Printers want a machine like a slitter/cutter/creaser that can sit alongside the digital machine so the press operator can look after both machines," he says. "The operator can print, finish and may even  box the work as well."

Drupa, much like a World Cup, when unknown footballers are often given the chance to shine on the world stage, can throw up one or two new products or manufacturers to take us all by surprise. With litho manufacturers simply fighting to remain relevant and digital presses constantly picking up the pace , it is a fair bet that a vast number of the surprises at this year’s show will come from the finishing sector.

With a plethora of processes that can be brought together, sped up or made easier, there is far more scope for change than the rest of the industry. Even if you aren’t heading to Düsseldorf with post-press in mind, there is a good chance you may be thinking about it on the way back.

2008
Buhrs launched an upgraded BB700… Autobond unveiled a lamination/coating hybrid... Tech-ni-fold signed a four-year deal to supply its creasing supplements to Heidelberg… Encore Machinery launched "the world’s smallest liquid UV coating machine", the VersaCoater DocuMate… Kama developed a new positioning system for the die-cutting process… Ferag debuted the Easysert inserting line… Drytac launched its latest range of aqueous and UV-coating equipment, the Versacoater…  Graphic Art Systems extended its Eagle Systems range to incorporate wide-format... Kompac launched multi-purpose finishing machine, the Kompac Kwik Finish 26… Duplo launched two new friction collators… Total PFS rolled out a programmable digital creaser… B&K unveiled the EHG half-sheet… Zünd launched the G3 Series and Zünd E1 Cutter…

2009
MBO launched the K765 Efficiency Automatic, the world’s "quietest" folding machine… Total PFS took its creaser range to A3 with the Procreaser A3… Duplo International extended the inline capabilities of its DC-645 slitter-cutter-creaser and DC-445 creasers… Durst launched the Rotoworx 330 Finishing System… Heidelberg launched its Postpress Manager software system… Duplo moved into saddlestitching with the Alpha Saddle… Morgana Systems launched a range of micro-format UV coating systems… Kern added an inserter to its 515 EasyMailer… Kama launched the ProFoil die-cutter… Autobond released a combination water-based thermal laminator… Polar launched a range of cutters including the Label System SC-25… Autobond launched a new sheeter… Kama launched a hot-foil stamping system for the ProCut 53 die-cutter system… Renz launched the AB 500 HS… Ashgate launched the BooXTer Duo Binder… Zechini launched a hard-cover book machine… Bobst launched a folder-gluer…

2010
Autobond launched the CC 105 cross-cutter… Ricoh launched a raft of inline finishing kit for its presses… Horizon debuted its HT80 three-knife trimmer… Baumann launched its latest automatic jogging line, the BSB 3 L Professional… Encore Machinery launched the Easy Fold folder… ODM launched the ODM Super Sticker casing-in machine… Brandtjen & Kluge launched the Mailfold automatic folder/gluer… Muller Martini brought the Tempo 220 saddlestitcher to market… Buhrs went into and came out of administration, with Winkler+Dünnebier purchasing part of the business… Steinemann Technology relaunched its Syrius laminating line, with a number of improvements… Muller Martini debuted the Primera 110 saddle stitcher… Ferag launched the ‘fold ‘n’ stitch’ quarterfold line… The CCM Premier Plus guillotine took its bow… Horizon’s BQ-160 Prodigy perfect binder was announced… Herzog and Heymann’s M7 folding system was debuted… Morgana’s Documaster Pro digital finishing system got an upgrade…

2011
Horizon launched a new book production system… Friedheim debuted a heavy duty binder… New company Highcon kicked off its offerings with a digital creasing and cutting machine… Watkiss has launched the 420PUR, an entry-level PUR binder… Morgana Systems expanded its sheet-creasing, booklet-making range with the DocuMaster MFC… GBC claimed to eradicate miss-punches with the Magnapunch 2.0… Kern debuted a high-performance cutter, aimed at the pharmaceutical and newspaper industries… Horizon added an entry level folder, the PF-40L paper folder… Baumann launched the ‘world’s first’ B2 paper handling range… The DigiBook 300 became Morgana’s latest entry-level PUR binder… Pitney Bowes’ Rival Productivity Series Inserting System made its European bow… Muller Martini launched a fully automated three-side trimming machine for book production… Duplo extended its Ultra range with as new UV coater… Kern launched the K305 inserting and sortation line… Zünd unveiled a world-first cutting table… Kolbus debuted the KM200 perfect binder, a near-zero makeready machine… Renz introduced an entry-level machine for its Mobi range of wire binders, the 360… Duplo launched the ‘Indigo of finishing’, the DC-745… AG/CAD unveiled the KM 7 Series digital die-cutter for short-run finishing and prototyping…Duplo debuted a desktop card cutter…Kolbus launched a more stripped-down model of its HD153P trimmer, the HD153.M… Renz entered the AP 360 – 120 block-to-block book block punch system into the market…

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