Precision Proco Group has installed a Horizon StitchLiner MK III, supplied by IFS, so that it can produce work with more flexibility and enhance its on demand capabilities.  

The new system, which is fully automated and can produce up to 6000 booklets an hour, has been installed at the group’s site in Sheffield, where it will sit alongside two HP Indigo Series 4 presses and two HP Indigo Series 3 machines, as well as a range of litho equipment. 

Graeme Parry, the production director at the Sheffield site, commented, ‘We already had a Horizon StitchLiner 5500 for short to medium runs. It was supported by a Muller Presto for longer folded section work. We identified a load balancing issue between the two pieces of equipment with a disproportionate amount of stitching volume leaning towards shorter runs than the longer Muller type of work. We needed to address this with a system that would give us flexibility to cover the capacity shortfall.

‘The MKIII had been on the radar for investment into the Sheffield site for some time. We had seen numerous marketing pieces and spoke to our Dagenham site about the benefits the system had delivered there.’

Mr Parry explained that he had also seen a number of demonstrations highlighting the Horizon StitchLiner MK III’s ability to move between job sizes. ‘It really impressed me,’ he continued. ‘Also seeing how the design improvements compared to the Horizon StitchLiner 5500 made it really stand out as a game changer, not just to what we had been used to but also over what else was in the market place from other equipment manufacturers.

‘The ability to produce A4 landscape was a massive selling point. Not only this, but the differing collation towers over the Horizon StitchLiner 5500 had clearly been thought about and redesigned with the operator and productivity in mind. We produce large quantities of personalised stitched brochures so to have the barcode read and verification capability was vital to the specification and output of the kit. Underpinning all of the system though is great build quality and efficiency.’