The device, supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems, was installed at the Nottingham-based business partially to support a venture into online ordering for student prospectuses but also as part of a decision to bring binding in-house.
“We have just launched the service to allow prospectuses to be ordered based on the students' chosen courses,” said operations director Simon Lowe. “This enables the educational institutions we work with to create personalised information simply and then we mail them direct to the students.”
Lowe said that a recent perfect binding contract win had pushed the decision to bring the service in-house giving the £5m-turnover business greater control over production time and cost.
The Horizon BQ-280, previewed by IFS at its Perivale showroom in June last year and officially launched at Print Efficiently in September, is based on its best-selling BQ-270 automated single clamp perfect binder.
The device, which costs from £53,000, features an increased spine length of 385mm and up to 51mm thickness, an enhanced milling motor as well as a new chip cutter and wire brush for improved spine preparation. It offers production speeds of up to 500 books per hour.
The device also features an automatic nipper height control, on screen adjustment height control for glue rollers and spinner as well as adjustable pressure above both scores. Like the BQ-270, it can be supplied with a separate EVA glue tank.
“Automation was very important in the decision to invest in the perfect binder,” said Lowe. “We were already sending out a number of small-run perfect binding PUR jobs and to bring that in-house we needed a solution that was easy to operate and quick to set up. We needed something that could switch from binding a 16 page product to 24 pages and 48 pages.”
The Moorgreen-based business employs 40 people and runs kit including three Heidelberg Speedmaster SM-74 presses and a Xerox iGen4, which it installed in 2012. Last year the business also invested in new wide-format equipment as it expanded its poster and banner service.
