Helen Kennett with Tecnau’s Stefano De Marco.
Journal and book manufacturer Henry Ling has doubled its binding capacity after investing in a Tecnau Libra 800 offline roll-to-finished-book line, helping it to adapt to market demand for cost effective short run, fast turnaround orders.
The 140 year old Dorchester firm is a well-respected supplier to scientific, technical medical (STM) publishers and Learned Royal Societies. It invested in a Canon Océ Colorstream 3700 web fed inkjet press at the end of 2013, enabling it to add value with cost effective inkjet colour, but updating the bindery was still an issue. Much market research was undertaken before the investment was finalized.
Helen Kennett, managing director of Henry Ling, explained: ‘We are being asked to complete lots of smaller jobs and so needed a binder that was more efficient with less makeready. At the same time we were looking to add cost effective colour inkjet to support our webfed mono toner press. We were also concerned how any new investment would be supported in the bindery.
‘I went to a Tecnau installation in Italy three years ago and have kept up to date with the 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.’
Tecnau’s Libra 800 comprises of an unwinder, StreamFolder f30, guillotine cutter, 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 motorized vertical perforation knives to facilitate application change from 2-up to 3-up and reduce changeover time to minimum. The solution can produce four and six page signatures to be collected on a variable 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 Libra VT Variable Three-knife Trimmer through a conveyor system. The system can also operate via manual feeding of already composed book blocks to be bound and finished. The flexible production line is capable of producing up to 800 books per hour.
Henry Ling’s Tecnau investment also included a second inline production system featuring the ColorStream 3700 and rewinder. Both lines are operated using Tecnau’s PrePost Manager Tecnau management information system designed to read, collect and report information. The software controls the correct sequence and composition of each book and guarantees correct book block and cover matching, ensuring integrity and avoiding human error during the production process.
