Blue Star director Lee Harvey and operator Ian Richardson with the new Horizon BQ470 perfect binder supplied by IFS
Ilford trade finisher Blue Star Print Finishers has picked the four clamp Horizon BQ470 PUR perfect binder from Intelligent Finishing Systems to support its service expansion into perfect bound books.
‘We should have done it years ago,’ commented director Lee Harvey. ‘It has surpassed our expectations. We expect ROI in less than 18 months. It will help us retain existing customers and extend the services we offer them while making us more attractive to potential customers.’
He explains how a visit to a neighbouring printer prompted the decision to add perfect binding as a service: “I saw a lot of jobs waiting to go out that were not for us. I could see they were going to be perfect bound. I then rang round my customers to see what their demand was and soon realised there was a need.’
Mr Harvey reviewed a lot of the market available perfect binders and second hand options but said, ‘We saw the BQ470 PUR a couple of times at IPEX as well as the others but kept coming back to it because it could handle short, medium and long runs. It had to cover every eventuality. It has already completed a 4,000 run for Tesco as well as short runs.’
The 1,350 cph Horizon BQ470 PUR offers fully automated set-up through an intuitive icon based LCD touchscreen and can produce books up to 65 mm thick. It is equipped with two large application rollers for strong, high-quality binds and a separate side glue tank for added flexibility.
