PRINT.IT
27
IPEX Highlights
Finishing
Duplo International
will
be unveiling a number
of finishing applications
that enable customers to
diversify their print offerings,
including the DC-646PRO fully
automated multi-finishing
solution. Capable of handling
stock from any digital press,
this Slitter/Cutter/Creaser
runs at up to 30 sheets per
minute and can handle sizes
from 370 x 999mm to 210
x 210mm, with a minimum
finished product size of 48 x
28mm. It has a stock range
of 110-350gsm and offers
up to eight slits, 25 cross
cuts and 20 creases
in a single
pass. Other
highlights
include
the UltraBIND 2000 PUR, the
world’s smallest closed tank
single clamp PUR perfect
binder; the worldwide debut
of Multigraf AG’s TOUCHLINE
CP375 DUO, a versatile
creasing, perforating and
folding system that can
handle paper stocks up to
400gsm; an enhanced range
of IDEAL guillotines; and a
display of finished products
from the Mita range of lay-flat
hard cover book production
systems.
Visit the
Renz
stand to see
a complete range of high
speed punching and binding
systems that meet the needs
of clients using professional
or desktop solutions for small,
medium and large print runs.
Highlights are the AP 360 fully
automatic modular high speed
punch, with an output of up
to 100,000 punched sheets
per hour, and the AB 500 HS
semi-automatic high speed
binding system. Renz will be
using its latest punching and
binding machines to produce
wire bound books, tent cards
and calendars in short and
long runs.
Exhibiting on its own at
IPEX for the first time,
IBIS
Integrated Bindery Systems
is showing how its Smart-
binder SB-3 ‘Plus HS’ offers
high-quality saddle-bound
booklet (and perfect bound)
finishing options for high-
volume variable-data
output. The Smart-
binder operates
in-line with a continuous
web digital press, from a roll
or from an off-line sheet pile
feeder. An Individual Sheet
Gluing (ISG) cold gluing
system replaces the need for
conventional wire-stitching,
provides a higher quality bind
and allows the number of
pages in each booklet to be
continually varied from four
pages to a book thickness of
10mm without stopping the
infeed flow from a web cutter
or sheet feeder.
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More Highlights...
Duplo International
DC-646 PRO
the basement waiting for work to
come in, it’s about going out to
their organisation and promoting
their capabilities and advising
users of the value they can add
to an organisation.”
This, says Blanchard, is
something that many managers
find hard to do. “They are not
sales people. They are not
marketeers. And they now have
to go out and sell themselves
and talk about what people’s
requirements are and how the
print centre can meet those
needs.”
Multi-channel communications
In order to compete with external
providers and attract extra
business from the company
marketing department, say,
CRDs have to expand the
range of services they offer.
Increasingly that means being
able to deliver multi-channel
communications.
“A number of large print
centres or media centres, where
they don’t just focus on print
and copying, are talking about
how they can integrate print
with multi-channel applications.
Sometimes they also provide
design capabilities that enable
the marketing department to
communicate by email and
the web. That is the way the
communication marketplace
is going. That’s what the print
centre needs to do to compete
with commercial providers,”
explains Blanchard.
“We advocate an evolution
rather than a revolution – a
continuum of development. If
a print centre is offering basic
print and copy services, they
should start by migrating to
print-on-demand. Then we would
advocate a move to variable
data printing and web-to-print
capabilities. That way, print
centre staff get used to what
services they can offer, rather
than going from a basic print and
copy centre to a multimedia hub
overnight. That’s difficult for the
print centre and customers.”
CRD consolidation
Faced with these choices and
the need to cut costs, some
organisations – especially public
sector ones – are taking a
different tack and closing down
their print centres and CRDs.
“My personal view is that
this needs to be thought
through carefully,” says
Blanchard. “Organisations need
to communicate and need to
communicate efficiently and one
way to do that is through print.
A lot of communication is going
to email, websites and PDF, but
there is evidence that this might
not be the most efficient means
of communication. Organisations
that communicate through a mix
of channels communicate more
effectively.
“If you close your CRD
because it costs X pounds
per year, where will that
communication go? Sometimes
it’ll go to office devices with
limited finishing and sometimes
to external providers, but is this
as cost-effective as having your
own internal CRD? Often it will be
outsourced to FM companies that
say ‘printing is not part of your
core business so we will manage
it on your behalf.’ For some
organisations, this is the right
thing to do and for some it is not.”
Shared print centres
Another option sometimes taken
up by organisations in local
government and education is to
share a print centre with another
public sector organisation –
usually a more entrepreneurial
one that has decided to add
value by offering services to
schools, fire brigades and
other organisations that would
historically have had their own
small print centre or used an
external provider.
According to Blanchard, the
route chosen depends very much
on the nature of the people
involved in the decision-making.
“The success of a CRD or in-
house print centre is dependent
on its management. Some people
have been doing it for years and
they get stuck in their ways and
