The 140-year-old Dorchester firm, which prints for scientific technical medical (STM) publishers and royal societies, made the purchase after growing demand for short-run, fast-turnaround work prompted it to invest in a high-speed digital press. A Canon Océ ColorStream 3700 inkjet web press was installed at the 105-staff firm at the end of 2013. The company then needed a binder to match.
“We were being asked to complete lots of smaller jobs and so needed a binder that was more efficient with less makeready,” explained managing director Helen Kennett.
The Tecnau Libra 800 is an off-line roll-to-finished-book line. It comprises an unwinder, StreamFolder f30, guillotine and Libra VB variable binder, connected to the Libra VT variable three-knife trimmer.
The StreamFolder f30 vertically folds the web, and is equipped with web guides, semi-automated fold heads and motorised vertical perforation knives to facilitate application change from 2-up to 3-up and reduce changeover times. The line can produce four- and six-page signatures to be collected on an assembling station.
The signatures are compiled into a book block, which is then automatically transferred to the binder input, measured in thickness and placed directly into a clamp by a robot. The cover is cut, trimmed and scored depending on the book size and matched with the book block. The book is then transferred to the trimmer through a conveyor system. The system can also operate via manual feeding of pre-composed book blocks to be bound and finished. It is capable of producing up to 800 books per hour.
Kennett first visited a Tecnau installation in Italy three years ago and kept up to date with developments.
“We knew we needed to make the inkjet press investment first but waited to find a press that suited our needs perfectly. We then turned our attention to Tecnau. Together with inkjet this has been a major investment and we had to be sure it would work for the business,” Kennett said.
Henry Ling’s Tecnau investment also included a second in-line production system featuring the ColorStream 3700 and rewinder. Both lines are operated using Tecnau’s PrePost Manager MIS, which controls the sequence and composition of each book and guarantees book block and cover matching. It also delivers a full report on productivity and errors.
The MIS also offers remote support and diagnostic checking service.
“We had to invest as we were at near capacity. Previously there were bottlenecks in the bindery, and this has all been eliminated. In particular, going forward with the Libra 800 we see the importance of providing a very flexible and efficient solution for short-run production for our customers, and now we can offer them a great choice,” Kennett added.
Tecnau sales and marketing director EMEA Stefano De Marco said: “It was a great learning opportunity to work closely with industry leaders such as Henry Ling. This pushes us towards improvements and new technological frontiers.”
