The installation is currently under way at Parliamentary Press, while a similar configuration is shown running on the Oc stand in the PrintCity hall at Drupa.
The Digi-Stitch is configured by Ibis for indirect digital control by the Oc DemandStream line. When a change in settings is required, the DemandStream prints a bar-coded sheet containing appropriate instructions, which is detected by a reader on the Digi-Stitch line. The installation has provision to divert the output stream from the press to a Shoei folding line if the stitching line goes down.
Terry Bailey, production director at Parliamentary Press, said his requirement was for a stitcher that could produce results indistinguishable from a conventional stitching line, yet be able to switch settings at the press' operating speed. "All the others we looked at would only work with relatively large documents, where the waiting time while the pages stacked up allowed them to keep pace. The Ibis machine can outstrip the speed of the Oc&ace; even on very small eight page work." Ibis and Oc worked together to configure the systems at the instigation of Parliamentary Press, added Bailey.
Parliamentary Press' move into digital print has come in response to a shift in the requirements for Government overnight print work from large compilations of documents, which were handled by the company's Solna web offset presses, to individually bound documents which mean frequent job changes. Bailey anticipates a need to introduce personalisation in future. Parliamentary Press' existing Xerox DocuTech was not fast enough for this new requirement, he said, so the Oc was chosen instead.
The company is now looking to fill its extra digital capacity. Most Government printing is handled by the night shift between 10pm and 7.30am, but Parliamentary Press operates throughout 24 hours. Bailey says he is also looking at colour digital presses, expecting a shift to increased short-run colour in future.
Story by Simon Eccles
