Automation

Bindery Automation Circa 2024

By Brad Emerson, general manager, www.fixyourownbindery.com

What have printers and finishers/binders seen in bindery automation advancements in recent years? Beyond robotics increasing their labor-saving advantages with paper banding and palletizing, it pretty much has been digital bindery automation advancements. While most binderies realize the benefits of well-calibrated manual measuring devices to input format data on automatic makeready equipment, it’s time to fully embrace the ‘touchless’ bindery workflow, which works seamlessly, end-to-end, in a digital bindery. The word ‘touchless’ on digital lines seems to be smoking out the real-world ROI benefits of automatic makeready alone.

The digital bindery automation bar has been raised in single-book production. For many, digital perfect binding is all the same where (among sizeable digital binderies) two digital bindery production worlds exist: long-run digital (grouped size formats) and single-book production, where each book has a size format change. One of the latest digital perfect binders released seems ideal for both with amazing 2,000 c/hr production in single-book format mode and 4,000 c/hr when only the content changes. This hybrid two-digital-perfect-binding-worlds-in-one binder goes a step further with optional signature-feeder expansion on the same perfect binder to include conventional offset perfect binding for short runs, adding a third type of perfect binding in one machine.

Automation review

Training first and foremost

A cobot is a collaborative robot that is intended to work interactively with humans.

A manager’s training obligation isn’t completed by getting the PO number issued to bring in a training technician. Outside equipment trainers do not have the desire or bandwidth beyond the proper cycling machine to optimize the training to match the manager’s terminology, product mix, and existing systems and procedures. While it may seem ideal to train as many associates as possible, training three people works well. Fewer than three people may increase the cost per person and more than three people can lead to counterproductive sidebar conversations.

Before hands-on training starts is the perfect time to repair and tune the machine(s). Also, plan for a means to capture and transfer this valuable training expertise (usually video). If the ability to do in-house training does not already exist, seek outside options. Most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) offer machine training on newer equipment. If new installation training at commissioning has been unsuccessful, find out what went wrong and incorporate lessons learned into the new training session. Operators might have to dig a little deeper to find an independent trainer(s) for legacy or obsolete equipment training. Whether an outside independent trainer is hired or an OEM technician, a highly skilled trainer or technician can teach maintenance technicians (in a separate session) beyond the operator’s routine minor maintenance duties.

Cobot automation
With the bindery labor shortage combined with rising costs over recent years, bindery cobots continue to arrive from major bindery equipment OEMs. This typically cage-free human/robot cohabitation is welcome in the bindery where relatively slow cobot speed does not restrict overall line output due to a particular plant’s product format mix.

Delta robots, which are popular in other industries (packaging), have yet to take hold in the bindery. Besides the Delta drawbacks of requiring interlocked safety enclosures, smaller x/y/z axis reach and lighter payloads, the major benefits cannot be denied: high-speed, lower investment cost and long-term cost of ownership savings of inexpensive maintenance-free components. Delta robots can cycle more than 10,000 cycles per hour, making them ideal candidates for bindery feeding and processing applications of ‘individual’ bound and unbound products. I hope any drupa bindery robotic releases this spring continue to accelerate this growing area of bindery automation.

Automatic and semi-automatic cartoning
Both automatic and semi-automatic cartoning have advantages and disadvantages. Semi-automatic cartoners have a distinct advantage over fully automatic cartoners as they allow the plant to produce extreme formats, plus they handle imperfect cartons. Trying to force a fully automatic cartoner near its format and size limitations in a general commercial bindery environment creates a manpower nightmare. When an extreme-size format job and/or off-spec carton shuts down an automatic cartoner for minutes, hours or days, a small army must appear to keep the line running, and then disappear when this carton job is finished – not a problem 30 years ago when a bindery had a few folks in the ‘handwork wings’ for such emergency tasks 24/7.

Palletizer automation
Whether a traditional palletizer or robotic palletizer, the ever-expanding palletizer installation base, combined with automated changeovers, is accelerating the transition from dedicated bindery lines to general commercial lines. Purchasing the right palletizer based on product format and speed requirements is only half the battle. It is important to visit/confirm with other satisfied palletizer users running similar product formats and production speeds before purchasing. Ask these questions:

How well can the palletizer process uncovered stacks with thin endsheets on work-in-progress hardcover book blocks?
Can the palletizer process variable height stacks when postal sorting?
Can the palletizer locally be supported to some extent? The pain is real with a palletizer down. Additional labor must appear and disappear as a palletizer goes up and down to maintain production schedules.

Gatherer feeding automation

A delta robot has three arms connected to universal joints at the base.

Processing difficult, thin paper stocks on new hard/softcover book binding lines has been realized with new thin paper adapters that now are on the market. The adapter gently allows the transfer of offset web press signatures for two-up production into the gatherer raceway, raising the industry bar in overall book quality and net production performance.

Printed digital roll automation
This is the most interesting and limitless area of evolving bindery automation. Whether a digital bindery is expanding its touchless capabilities or raising the roll width/‘feet-per-minute’ bar, the evolution from Gutenberg’s moveable type is most apparent.

We all have seen roll-to-stitched books or roll-to-perfect bound books, and more. From an unwinder into a sheeter into a folder or cut stacks, the possibilities seem endless except for electrical obsolescence. The only chance a digital bindery has against obsolescence is avoiding the complete ‘networked solution’ (if possible) when purchasing. Not only can a single component (unwinder or sheeter or folder or anything) of the overall line be powered off, but the network also remains satisfied if that component is permanently removed. Solid state and physical relay interfacing for upstream/downstream, stops/ready should not cause issues. And if an additional encoder is required to monitor upstream or downstream line speed to avoid the network, no problem.

Avoiding the network can create some touchless book data input challenges throughout the line depending on the OEMs, final line configuration and data handling. Upstream barcode scanners are great options, where possible. Preprinted laminated barcodes of a particular format to quickly wave in front of a scanner (or manually input data as a last resort) should be considered.

The elephant in the room

It was not by mistake that my first point in this article under the automation review subhead is ‘training first and foremost’ and not the latest in bindery automation equipment. The aftermath remains in our post-pandemic marketplace across many plants and industries – finding qualified personnel is difficult.

I know of no better path to the finish line than running smart and strong. Create the ‘perfect shift’ net production bar to be reached that is not just something easily achieved but celebrated with the bindery team. As a bindery manager, I always was fine-tuning my plans with my bindery personnel, whether taking longer or more frequent breaks to keep lines running or changing something responsively. Maximize the company’s entire investment: planning/implementing/training/running. Automation is necessary and will continue to be an important part of the bindery operation growth; however, people will remain the difference between success and failure.

Brad Emerson is the general manager of www.fixyourownbindery.com, a company specializing in consultation, consolidations, relocations, equipment sales and training. Email Emerson at [email protected].

Preparing for Today’s Bookbinding Applications

By Dianna Brodine, managing editor, PostPress

At the height of the pandemic, a significant increase in durable goods orders kept manufacturers producing at near record levels. Consumers who found themselves at home hit “add to cart” as they made purchase decisions on items to make their living spaces and daily lives more comfortable, including furniture, home appliances and entertainment options. One surprise winner in this shopping spree? Books. Even more surprising, the
spree continues.

According to a report from market research company NPD Bookscan, unit sales of print books increased 8.2% from 2019 to 2020, with 693.7 million print units sold. In 2021, 825.7 million units were sold – an increase of 8.9% in 2021 over 2020. Some of the early sales numbers were driven by panicked parents looking for resources that would replace educational opportunities lost when schools closed. However, with school back in session, young adult fiction books were the biggest driver of the 2021 increase, with unit sales jumping 30.7% according to NPD. Adult fiction sales rose 25.5%.1

Photobooks are another print industry staple that benefitted from consumers with time on their hands. Many took advantage of the opportunity to scan family photos or finally do something with the images on their cell phone cameras. Digital photobook production sites such as Shutterfly and Snapfish added new book sizes, paper stocks and design options to keep up with demand.

Two industry experts – Rick Salinas, president of Duplo USA, and Al Scolari, president and CEO of APS Imaging Solutions, Inc. – spoke about the trends in bookbinding during Amplify Print in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a first-time event aimed at those involved in print embellishments. During a panel discussion, Salinas and Scolari answered questions about binding processes on the rise, tactile effects, paper challenges and more.

Layflat and perfect binding take off during the pandemic

APS Imaging Solutions is a leading provider of digital lay flat photo book manufacturing systems and accessories to professional photo labs, photographers and studios worldwide. Over the last few years, Scolari has witnessed a surge of interest in lay flat binding, driven by an automated process that makes photo book production more accessible. “We specialize in the panoramic, full-image spread,” he explained. “That type of image is ideal for lay flat binding, and the professional photography market has taken notice. Over this two-year time period when everybody was at home, we’ve seen more photo books being generated – and that came along with a 30% increase in photo books done with perfect binding.”

Duplo USA Corporation also witnessed the growth of perfect binding. The company is the leading provider of print finishing solutions for the graphic arts industry, with highly efficient, modular products that streamline postpress production for digital color and offset applications. “Over the two years of COVID-19, perfect binding was absolutely explosive,” Salinas said. “People were trapped at home and bored, so they started ordering printed books again on sites like Amazon. That created a challenge because these days, when you order a book from a retailer’s website, that book doesn’t exist on a shelf.”

On-demand printing and inexpensive file storage changed the traditional book production and warehousing process. Now, when an order is placed, a file is downloaded and sent to the print facility closest to the consumer’s location. The interior pages are printed, a cover is manufactured and, within a couple of days, the book is on its way for delivery.

“Automation has taken book production to the next level,” Salinas said. “Paperback books are manufactured with this easy, on-demand perfect binding process, and now online booksellers are applying the same automated process to hardcover and lay-flat books to reduce storage costs and avoid low margins when stored books are sold to wholesalers.”

The visual and tactile effects of books

“Embellishments create intrinsic value out of nothing,” said Salinas. “Studies have shown that the more a product can touch the senses – see, touch, smell – the more it entices buyers. So, we see book covers that are foil stamped, embossed, debossed or finished with a soft-touch coating.”

Those print embellishments add visual and tactile elements to the cover of a book, drawing attention on a retail shelf and then enticing the consumer to pick a book up and hold it. This “haptic marketing” focuses on the tactile sensations that create a pleasing experience.

“Through studies, we know that if we can get a consumer to hold onto something, the brain begins to create ownership,” Salinas said. “So, the longer retailers can get purchasers to hold a book in their hands, the more chance there is that consumers will get hooked and take the book home. And, the more unique, the better! People don’t want a traditional book size anymore, so letter landscape formatting has become very popular. Duplo has just released our I Saddle 5.0, and every page in the book be a different size. Those unusual features increase the likelihood of purchase.”

Binding techniques play a critical part in that visual and tactile appeal. Lay flat binding appeals to the high-end coffee table book market. Saddlestitching can be done with an exposed, colored thread that adds a visual ‘pop.’ And raw edge paper adds another point of interest.

Scolari added, “It is all about creating something different. In some of our lay flat binding projects, whether children’s books or other types of printed books, we’ve added multiple inserts to build a thicker page that is extremely stiff. We’ve also had requests for the ability to use different types of substrates in one book, so one page will have a matte finish, but when the page is turned, the next image has a luster or metallic look.”

“Smell is probably the one sense that hasn’t been attacked yet in the printing industry, but I think we are going to start seeing it,” Salinas predicted. “Raised spot UV is something we’ve been doing for a number of years, and I think we’ll eventually see scented polymers come out as another way to attract buyers.”

Paper challenges in book production

Recycled paper stocks are another trend embraced by consumers. But, those stocks can cause problems with equipment throughput or adhesive bonding.

“The problem with recycled paper is that it’s recycled,” Salinas laughed. “To create a good-looking sheet, pulp and clay have to be added. It’s also a cost-cutting measure for paper manufacturers because the actual paper content in paper has gone down significantly. Clay is an inexpensive way to build up a piece of paper, but it can flake off during binding. Then the equipment or adhesive are blamed for failures, but oftentimes the substrate is the issue.”

Synthetic paper, often manufactured from plastic films, has gained in popularity due to its durability. “Synthetic paper looks beautiful when laid perfectly flat, but it doesn’t like to fold,” Salinas explained. “It’s hard to cut, and it’s very hard on the blades. We tell people that Duplo equipment can cut two million books on a single blade, but synthetics often reduce that significantly.”

Scolari said thicker, less flexible substrates also have an impact in the photobook production process. “We score everything with lay flat binding. So yes, we can use many different substrates and prints, but it’s very, very challenging to score a substrate that is stiff. The synthetic papers – and even some of the recycled substrates – can show discoloration after scoring. Sometimes, it’s better to look at a coil binding or perfect binding process.”

Focusing on the elimination of waste

A key component of today’s sustainability conversation is the reduction of waste. Automation is critical in the on-demand world of book production, where a print run may consist of just one book.

“The word ‘makeready’ is a thing of the past,” said Salinas. “When a run length is 13 sheets, you can’t have a 3% or 5% makeready margin. Automation is the only way to achieve zero makeready, and that has to be the ultimate goal for an operation that claims sustainability because every sheet that goes into the trashcan – that isn’t sellable – is created waste. Job flow software that ‘talks’ to the book production equipment as a print job moves through the system facilitates the elimination of waste.”

Scolari knows all about book-of-one production, since most photobooks are one-off orders. “It’s really about automation in regard to the layout, the tiling of the pages. It’s utilizing the material, especially when we’re using leather or other high-end materials. We use an overhead system that projects a tiling layout to eliminate waste and use each material in the most efficient way.”

There’s another often-overlooked source of waste in book production. “In the vast majority of printers in the US, the production staff has no idea of how much time they are wasting between steps,” Salinas explained. “If it takes 20 minutes to print, 20 minutes to bind and 20 minutes to ship, how much time is wasted in between those steps while walking the book block from the printer to the finishing device and then over to the packaging and mailing department?”

Understanding workflow is the first step in eliminating unnecessary steps during the production process. “Before print shops go out and buy a piece of equipment to improve their throughput and speed up production, they have to understand where they are wasting time,” Salinas said. “Then they will understand how to automate their processes to drive out the touch points, increase profits and reduce the chances for error.”

In a world where the printed book has made a comeback, but without the volumes of yesterday, automation is worth the investment.

References
“Print Books Had a Huge Sales Year in 2021,” Jim Milliot, Publisher’s Weekly, Jan 06, 2022, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/88225-print-book-sales-rose-8-9-in-2021.html

Folding Carton Production: Automation to the Rescue for Workflow Challenges

By Liz Stevens, writer, PostPress

From the earliest days in the folding carton finishing sector, there has been a push for greater output quantity, higher product quality, increased speed and improved efficiency. Each time a goal in one of these areas is achieved, the honeymoon is short-lived because, in the blink of an eye, another new goal crops up. Folding carton finishers perpetually strive for ways to better serve their customers and improve their profitability. Finishing hardware and software manufacturers work equally hard to provide new technologies and automation solutions to meet the emerging needs and overcome the latest challenges.

PostPress talked with printing and finishing equipment and automation leaders about the challenges they see arising for folding carton finishers, the automation and software solutions they offer for their customers, and the upcoming technology innovations they see on the horizon. PostPress is grateful to Bill Rice, product manager, postpress packaging at Heidelberg USA, Inc. (Kennesaw, Georgia); Doug Herr, director of sales, folding carton North America, Bobst North America, Inc. (Parsippany, New Jersey); Jeffrey Bates, national sales manager at W. H. Leary Co. (Tinley Park, Illinois); and Jan De Roeck, director industry relations & strategic marketing, Esko (Miamisburg, Ohio), for
their insights.

Challenges and solutions

Bobst’s ToolLink is a chip embedded into the diecutting die when the tool is slid into the machine with job-specific information.

The challenges facing folding carton finishers run the gamut. There is the chronic lack of available, trained workforce candidates, but automation and software capabilities may offer some solutions. There is the inherent mismatch between printing press speeds and finishing equipment speeds; here, software for overall plant/job scheduling and individual department scheduling may be helpful. The relatively consistent nature of printing workflows versus the wildly variable nature of finishing workflows produces plenty of challenge but here, again, computerized aids for managing jobs, presses and finishing equipment can help smooth out the rough transitions.

The trend toward shorter runs, the demand for highest product quality, and the requirement to provide production data to customers – these certainly pose challenges. Technologies for streamlining makeready times, vision systems for ensuring superior product quality, and sensors and software for collecting and managing production run data can offer options for finishers. The rising price of energy, the still wobbly supply chain and the increasing costs of materials all add to a finisher’s list of items to address and manage, but good aids exist for finishers to run leaner and eliminate waste. And last but not least, a finisher’s aversion to updating or replacing equipment – and to spending the capital required – can be its own challenge. For this, the argument can be made that investing in equipment may give a company a competitive advantage and result in greater profitability.

Common challenges

Bill Rice, representing Heidelberg and its array of equipment and software solutions for the entire print-to-finish line, identified the challenge that exists in plants managing two systems – printing and finishing – which are sometimes viewed as a single job stream even though they have differing makeready tasks, makeready times and run rates. “The technology and software in our equipment can identify the best way to run a job through a particular machine,” said Rice, “but from one machine to the next, the job plan may not be consistent. A job schedule that might work well for the printing press is not necessarily the same order that would be ideal for running through the rest of the equipment.” Pushing a job through the plant based on the greatest efficiency for the printing press might lead to extended makeready times on the folder/gluer. Conversely, a great workflow for the folder/gluer (going from small and simple products gradually up to the larger products) would reduce the makeready times but that might disrupt the workflow coming out of the
printing press.

Esko’s ArtPro+ software provides print unit support and repeat layout creation.

Rice offered two solutions: Heidelberg’s “Push to Stop” philosophy and the company’s Prinect software packages. “In dealing with the two sides of the printing-finishing line,” said Rice, “it ends up being a compromise. In the scheduling and planning of the production floor, it is important to get as much efficiency as possible through every process.” Heidelberg’s Prinect Workflow software offers management tools from web portals for communicating with customers to costing, job creation and planning, production management, and production and business reporting. “The other solution component is Heidelberg’s manufacturing philosophy: Push to Stop,” Rice said. “It is a way of working, using software and hardware, so that when the plant starts up for the day, everything is pre-organized based on efficiencies. The system starts the first job and then automatically goes from one job to the next, and human operators don’t get involved in changing that flow and schedule unless there is a problem.” Rice stressed that planning and scheduling are the foundation for getting a job through the whole plant as efficiently as possible. “We are seeing tremendous success in companies that are able to manipulate some of that,” he said. “We have seen the biggest success in plants that are able to look at the finishing side of things and manage that best because that is really the most labor-intensive part of the operation, whereas on the printing press side, there is so much technology built into the presses that it is possible to have very good makeready times even if some of the press’s efficiencies are disrupted.”

At Bobst, which offers substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services, Doug Herr said that longstanding challenges stem from several issues. “Run lengths are becoming shorter,” said Herr, “turnaround times for the client are becoming shorter, and margins are tight as always. So the efficiencies of the converting equipment are extremely important; they are critical to profitability. Our customers’ customers – the brand owners, for instance – expect a higher percentage rate of quality product; in other words, fewer defects are important. And more and more frequently, brand owners want production data and data relative to the number of imperfect products produced. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, they need to closely track the production of the product, including the packaging, so that each item and each lot have a specific code which can be tracked back to the manufacturer.”

Herr sees solutions that include upgrading or replacing hardware and adding software. “Older equipment,” Herr explained, “although it can still perform, often doesn’t include the software and capabilities which are built into new machinery to give customers information and quality assurance in an efficient way.” Herr used diecutting as an example. “Diecutting is an area where Bobst has made a number of improvements and introduced new equipment and related support products. We now offer a HMI 22″ (Human-Machine Interface) touchscreen; this is the control module, the brain of the equipment. We also offer Recipe Management, a program that can save up to 5,000 of our customers’ jobs and all of the parameters of those jobs.” Herr mentioned a third diecutting enhancement – TooLink, a chip which is embedded into the diecutting die so that when the tool is slid into the machine, job-specific information is transferred automatically to Recipe Management. “By the same token,” he said, “production information relative to a specific job, such as number of impressions, the number of times that job has been inserted into the machine, the number of times that job has been run utilizing that tool, are kept on the microchip embedded in the die.” Bobst now also offers a Digital Inspection Table, a standalone machine for checking the quality of a full sheet. “A quality assurance (QA) individual can inspect the print,” Herr explained, “to check the color or position, to check for missing copy or – with diecutting – to look for a poor score, an incorrect score or a missing score.” Bobst recently introduced Accucheck 2, a module positioned after the feeder’s blank alignment device on a folder/gluer, for example. Accucheck 2 has cameras which read the copy on each individual blank, check for incorrect color, missing color, missing type. The module can check creases, and can read imperfections in stamping, embossing and other embellishments.

Jeff Bates, with W. H. Leary, a maker of quality assurance, glue application and mechanical solutions for the packaging industry, reported that the biggest challenge his company has seen for folding carton workflow is the continued lack of skilled or even unskilled labor, which has been made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think the factories learned a lot from COVID,” said Bates. “It definitely affected a lot of factories; they now have to start looking more towards innovation and automation for the future.” According to Bates, a lot of plants have acknowledged that skilled workers do not exist and now are just looking for people who can run the lines and keep them going. “More or less,” Bates, said, “they just want someone who can push a start button and a stop button.”

Leary has addressed the skilled workforce scarcity by building more features into its solutions. “Our software, Monet, is a pictorial system that we created 10 years ago, and we have improved it to change with the times,” said Bates. “With Monet, operators can just look at the graphics and understand whether they are shooting dots or shooting a line of glue, and they can see where the tolerances need to be from a quality standpoint.” The system also displays bar codes so that operators can verify that the code on the cartons matches the code on the computer screen.

“Operators can verify what they are running, guarantee that it is top quality and, at the end of the job, they can save the job info,” Bates explained. “All of the settings are saved now so it makes the makeready times shorter for repeat jobs and the quality specs are saved, too.” To further ensure quality, the Monet system includes password protection that prevents operators from making unauthorized quality spec changes. “Plants are taking product quality much more seriously these days,” said Bates. “Once a job’s quality specs are transferred to our system and password protected, no one other than a manager or somebody from the quality department can
make changes.”

Leary has added QA sensors to its hardware and the company’s Monet system has evolved to handle more quality assurance features. “Our QA focus used to be just looking for glue, looking for bar codes and scanning for missed copy,” Bates said, “but many companies now are starting QA all the way up at the feed. They are looking for doubles that are coming out of the feed, they are looking for skew and any bent flaps.” Leary’s system also now collects more production data and offers equipment troubleshooting features. “When there is a mechanical problem, the customers want us to guide an operator to a specific area on the machine to look for a problem and make a fix,” said Bates. “Helping customers pinpoint problems on the machinery is important since this can eliminate a lot of downtime.”

Heidelberg’s Mastermatrix diecutter includes presets for things that are done automatically on the machine based on the data flowing into it.

At Esko, which provides integrated software and hardware solutions for packaged goods, Jan De Roeck sees several challenges. “As the packaging industry continues to grow and adapt to the very real threats of today,” said De Roeck, “supply chain volatility, labor shortages and rising consumable and energy costs all underline that converters need to accelerate their search for increased efficiencies throughout the workflow.” De Roeck pointed to efficiency as the biggest benefit of a standardized workflow and identified standardization as being the necessary foundation of any successful automation. “Although the entire packaging sector faced unprecedented challenges in the last two years,” De Roeck said, “Esko has continued to focus on developing new technology, ensuring customers remain at the forefront of productivity, efficiency and innovation gains and are supported on their digital transformation journey.”

Esko believes that successful digital transformation means more automation, more cloud computing and more integration between disparate systems. “In the face of the disruptive market trends in the industry, we continue to work closely with our customers,” De Roeck explained, “listening and developing innovations that respond to demands and deliver tangible benefits. That’s why we recently launched a series of innovations to empower businesses to improve ways of working, eradicate waste and optimize operational processes.” Esko Release 22.07 includes new features such as Cape Pack for cloud-based palletization and logistics optimization workflow, Automated Packshots for creating hyper-realistic packaging images, ArtPro+ for print unit support and repeat layout creation, and more.

De Roeck also brought up the challenge for finishers of taking on capital investments. “Innovation and change are inherent in any packaging business but driving and implementing that innovation is a challenge that can sometimes be difficult to achieve,” said De Roeck. “Many businesses, in the face of challenging market conditions, insecurity and volatility, freeze investments in response. However, the opposite reaction is more appropriate. Investing in accelerating digital transformation maintains competitive advantage and efficiently deals with profitability pressures. We also know it is equally important that these innovations are integrated quickly and smoothly to ensure businesses achieve demonstrable improvements and a speedy return
on investment.”

Challenges created by shorter runs

The increasing tendency of customers to request shorter runs of folded carton jobs is a challenge that all of the industry representatives recognized. “That is a challenge that everybody is facing,” said Heidelberg’s Bill Rice. “The way we respond to that is we try to build in as much technology into the equipment to reduce makeready times.” Rice pointed out that, as an example, splitting a previously routine run of 500,000 pieces into short runs of 50,000 pieces balloons one makeready time into 10 makeready times. “The estimating department now is having to add in those additional makeready times. We encourage folks to build those costs into their price because everybody is going to the much shorter runs.” This type of change also calls for input from equipment suppliers. “It is really a situation where OEMs, like Heidelberg, can work with production floor people to help them use the technology that they have properly and efficiently. In some cases, it means recommending that they buy additional software packages or workflow implementations that will help them operate better.”

Leary’s Monet System settings are maintained with unique security features.

Leary’s Jeff Bates offered an alternative solution to responding to the demand for shorter runs. “A lot of the plants that I have dealt with for years used to run maybe three or four days,” explained Bates, “and they would just put a card in on the machine – a side stream structure card – to eat up board.” But with board now being a hard-to-source commodity, some customers are looking at switching over to the upper end work – shorter runs but with cartons that are worth more money. “This might take them back into the pharmaceutical and the cosmetic lines,” Bates said, “but with board being as scarce as it is in the industry, that’s what a lot of these companies are looking for – the shorter runs, the more expensive cartons.” This, however, puts pressure on finishers to find the right opportunities for operators that can do these types of makereadies. “The automation with our equipment is really helping these companies turn short-run jobs into a profitable business model.”

New technology solutions in the offing

Though the future is unknowable, equipment manufacturers do their best to predict trends and design features for the next anticipated requirements. According to Doug Herr, Bobst will focus on increased automation, preventative maintenance and the flow of data between machines and software, among other priorities. “Bobst is automating more and more of our equipment so that the setups on the machine are more consistent and the length of setup times continues to fall,” said Herr. “Our PackMatic Plus, recently introduced, provides quicker changeover times and more automation to set up machines much faster, with less skill.”

Bobst sees the demand for data driving future solutions. “Data is really key, whether it is downflow of data from machines or upflow of data to the equipment,” Herr said. “That is going to continue to be extremely important for upping productivity and for facilitating preventative maintenance.” Bobst’s Connect Essential, a subscription service, will help finishers maintain and troubleshoot their equipment. “If a customer has a problem where a machine overheats or stops or isn’t producing at the levels it should,” said Herr, “the customer can access remote diagnostics through the internet and communicate with a Bobst professional. We can possibly avoid sending a service person out by identifying problems which the customer can rectify. And if a repair part is required, we can order the part to be delivered a day or two later, versus sending a service person out to locate the problem and then order a part. There will be tremendous decreases in downtime with Connect Essential.”

Heidelberg’s Bill Rice commented on the company’s plans for its finishing equipment and software. “What we have seen because of COVID-19, because the workforce is depleted and it is difficult to hire new employees whether skilled or unskilled, is a trend of more companies looking into automation,” said Rice. “We have a lot of existing automation in this area already, but a stumbling block for some customers has been the price point for added features such as collecting data and managing the production process with things like pre-sets. The newest diecutter in our fleet is the Mastermatrix; it has pre-sets for things that are done automatically on the machine based on the data flowing into it. On our folder/gluers, we have auto-set technology; at this point it is not tied into the Prinect workflow system but that is an upcoming development that Heidelberg will offer.” In today’s environment, Rice expects more customers to see the value of automating workflow as well as the value of data collection and information flow. “All equipment manufacturers are trying to make the technology much more affordable. We think that customers also will be more willing to spend money on these features to replace the (now unavailable) labor that was required to do things the manual way.”

At Leary, Jeff Bates described his company’s future innovations. “For us, it will definitely be automation,” said Bates, “including being able to set jobs up and adding more integration with the OEM machines. We know the future is automation, and with automation comes an increase in demand for vision-based inspection systems.” Bates chalks up the future’s demand to a shrinking workforce. “It is no longer the case that facilities can count on having three or four people at the back of the lines, and two people at the front of the lines feeding the cartons. They just can’t get the headcount that they used to be able to rely on.”

Bates offered his opinion on how the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred change in the industry that actually has been needed for some time. “I think the pandemic caused a lot of companies to pay more attention to tightening up productivity because so many people would get COVID-19 in one week,” he said. “Instead of having just onesies and twosies out sick, plants had half of an entire department out, to the point where it really stressed the ability to get production done. This definitely did wake up a lot of people.”

The industry already had known it had a problem, but the pandemic got a lot more companies thinking and strategizing. “Companies realized that they had not invested much money into finishing; they had concentrated on investing money into printing,” Bates explained. “Now these companies are thinking that they must start investing more money in this last process that they have in their plants because where they used to have plenty of people, the workforce is just not there anymore and it’s not returning. Frankly, I don’t foresee it ever coming back.”

For more information, visit www.bobst.com, www.esko.com, www.heidelberg.com and www.whleary.com.

Perfect Binding Automates: Handling Digitally and/or Offset-Printed Jobs

by Hallie Forcinio, contributing writer, PostPress

As printers face a greater mix of digital- and offset-printed jobs, shorter run lengths and a tight labor market, perfect binders have become more automated, flexible and connected. Traditional, large-volume printers are migrating to shorter, digital run lengths, while midsize digital shops doing print-on-demand, short-run batch and medium-run book production are growing and need higher output.

“Today’s ultimate perfect binding solutions are hybrid/crossover machines that have been configured to allow near-line applications for traditionally-fed offset-type products and also can be utilized to operate inline with digital front ends,” reports Mike Wing, solutions manager, Book Technology and Digital Solutions at Mueller Martini.

Delzer-Lithograph-Co — Randy Kornuth, bindery manager at Delzer Lithograph Co. (Waukesha, Wisconsin), operates the Standard Horizon BQ-480PUR perfect binder inline with the HT-80 three-knife trimmer for fast set-ups and changeovers for variable book production
runs ranging from book-of-one to thousands.

He adds, “Today’s ‘smart factories’ are driven by ultra-efficient touchless workflows that result in near-zero makeready by providing a seamless connection throughout the entire production line.” These workflows are enabled through (1) JDF job files that can be downloaded directly to the binder, or (2) binders utilizing barcode scanners at the infeed that identify and recognize each product – and its uniqueness – as it enters the line. Both methods enable the perfect binder to set up automatically and document each product’s parameters and integrity (e.g., page count, trim size, cover-to-content matching) during production. Smart systems also produce continuous data, pushing analytics back to management and operators so they can quickly identify bottlenecks and make changes whenever and wherever necessary.

With a tight labor market that makes it difficult to hire experienced or seasonal personnel, along with rising wages, the labor-intensive workflows of traditional bindery operations are no longer profitable. “It cannot be overstated that the addition of touchless workflows is essential to an industry experiencing both a reduction in labor and in skill sets,” says Wing.

Flexible equipment is needed to make it easy to adapt as business expands and/or moves into new markets. As the number of shorter runs grows, minimizing changeover time becomes critical. “Printers want to produce more titles per shift,” reports Rick Salinas, vice president of Marketing for Duplo USA Corp. Automation makes it possible to move from a 50,000-book shift with two or three titles to more than 50,000 with 10 to 15 titles.

Bourg-BB3202 — The Bourg Book Loader, or BBL accessory, converts its singleclamp BB3002 perfect binder into a 100+ pocket, self-feeding, autonomously operating machine.

“Automation has become the great equalizer,” agrees Jim Tressler, vice president of sales at C.P. Bourg. To automate the binding process, minimize labor requirements and eliminate waste, the Bourg Book Loader, or BBL accessory, converts its single-clamp binder into a 100+ pocket, self-feeding, autonomously operating perfect binder. The operator needs only six to eight minutes to load up to 120 book blocks into the empty clamps. Once loaded, the binding process begins, and the operator works on other tasks, returning occasionally to empty the delivery and load book blocks into empty pockets. The result is higher asset utilization and return on investment.

Vareo_1x2 — Mueller Martini’s Vareo three-clamp perfect binder boosts throughput by equipping each clamp with a drive that moves independently.

Another system with automated book block infeeds, Mueller Martini’s Vareo three-clamp perfect binder, on which each clamp has its own drive that moves independently, can operate continuously or as a “stop-and-go” binder for higher net throughput.

Caliper-equipped book clamps on Duplo’s DPB-500 binder accommodate run lengths of one. When the clamp closes, the caliper automatically reads thickness and scoring wheels, side glue wheels and cover positioning guide adjust. In variable mode, each book can be different. For longer runs, there’s a set mode. But, even in set mode, the caliper does a quick check of thickness to ensure the proper number of pages is present. The system also can incorporate barcode readers to check codes on covers and book blocks to ensure the two match.

“Additionally,” Tressler says, “we have made it possible to direct-connect the binder to multiple brands of printers and presses.” When operating inline, the Bourg Book Compiler, or BBC, accommodates cover- or batch-driven workflows. In either case, the customer preprints covers with a unique barcode identifier. When placed into the cover feeder, the code is read and the required content is immediately printed and bound, completely under process control with one operator. Tressler reports, “This workflow is ideal for runs of one or many and eliminates costly work-in-process and any manual touchpoints in manufacturing. By maximizing throughput and minimizing labor and waste, the increase in profits is enormous.”

Salinas notes there are other productivity-enhancing features, including bottom-feeding cover feeders and cooling towers. Bottom feeding permits cover replenishment without stopping the machine. Rotary cooling towers give books a chance to cure so they can be trimmed without damage and without any sitting time.

Today’s perfect binders also compensate for a wider array of substrates including coated and non-paper materials. Careful attention also must be paid to adhesive selection and spine preparation to ensure the book will perform under the environmental conditions it will experience. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) adhesives remain common, but the use of polyurethane (PUR) is rising because it seals well on coated stocks, synthetics and polyester. “PUR dries not by cooling but exposure to air,” explains Salinas. “Once it cures, it isn’t going to come apart,” he explains.

“PUR does a great job on newer stocks with both pre- and post-print coatings,” adds Bob Flinn, director of business development at Standard Finishing Systems. With the growth in digital printing and its reliance on coated stocks, he says, “PUR systems are now more affordable, user-friendly and versatile.”

For Mueller Martini, advanced, thickness-variable PUR-nozzle systems apply adhesive more precisely, reduce daily cleaning/maintenance requirements and produce minimal waste in comparison to traditional glue pot systems. Integrated “adhesive monitoring systems automatically check for proper glue application and ensure each book is the highest quality,” says Wing.

The newest perfect binders also offer enhanced safety features and energy efficiency, plus a smaller footprint. As a result, newer machines typically deliver throughput and cost advantages over legacy equipment.

The fastest units for perfect binding operate at 18,000 books per hour. However, Wing says, today’s short-run, hybrid or digital work mixes are better served by slower speeds.

Tressler pegs this sweet spot for single-clamp machines at about 600+ cycles, or 350 books, per hour.

If faster speeds are needed, Salinas suggests a single-clamp machine capable of handling up to 1,000 books per hour, or a multi-clamp system that delivers 4,000 to 6,000 books per hour.

Next steps

The demand for books is growing. “…we are printing many more books today than ever in our history,” reports Tressler. He expects the trend toward much smaller quantities per order to continue. “The advent and impact of versioned, variable print and personalization is fueling this trend in all markets including pleasure read, vanity press, expressions and greetings, and others,” he adds.

Automation will continue to expand. The skilled operators needed to run legacy equipment are retiring, and it’s difficult to hire and retain new workers. “The new equipment makes it easy to bring new operators up to speed quickly,” says Flinn.

“Operators won’t be programming machines anymore,” agrees Salinas Major print producers are moving toward workflow-driven production where post-RIP data is sent directly to finishing devices. “Machine-to-machine communication will not only improve productivity but, more importantly, eliminate mistakes,” he explains.

Meanwhile, quality is more important than ever. Flinn explains: “In the old days, runs were high-volume and boxed up. A customer only saw a few books in a run. Today, with short runs, customers look at every book.” With any deviation noticed, book-to-book consistency is a must – along with a strong binding, square spine, accurate trimming and a mark-free cover.

With the higher levels of automation and flexibility being engineered into new perfect binders, it makes sense to replace legacy equipment. Today’s perfect binders can efficiently process variable products, one after the other and be run by fewer and less experienced operators. This makes it practical, even profitable, to run batches of one with completely different covers (hard or soft), trim sizes, paper stocks and customized content.

Duplo USA Offers Fiery Workflow Integrations

Duplo USA Corporation, a Santa Ana, California provider of print finishing solutions, has newly integrated its DC-618 Slitter/Cutter/Creaser and DPC-400 Digital Die Cutter with its Fiery workflow automation software. The DC-618 Slitter/Cutter/Creaser delivers professionally finished applications such as business cards, postcards and brochures up to 23 sheets per minute, and uses Fiery® Impose to streamline job preparation process in Fiery Driven™ print environments by applying imposition, barcodes and registration marks for accurate finishing. The DPC-400 utilizes a flatbed table and digital cutting technology to produce short-run packaging, custom-shaped cards and labels without physical dies required. It cuts, kiss cuts and scores a range of substrates up to 14” x 20” in size. Fiery JobFlow™ can be utilized with the DPC-400 to save time and reduce errors. For more information, visit www.duplousa.com.

Bindery Automation circa 2019

by Brad Emerson
www.fixyourownbindery.com

While bindery managers currently are inundated with an unlimited supply of “do-or-die” automation upgrades, ultimately the production and operation needs of each facility will determine which upgrades will keep the operation alive, which will put it ahead of the pack and which will constitute a significant investment with limited value added. A review of bindery automation in 2019 allows bindery managers and others in the field to consider the progress of automation on different fronts and to frame these improvements in terms of the problems they were designed to address and the tradeoffs they may require, beyond the generic “cost-saving,” “quality-enhancing” and “production-maximizing” selling points. This review presents an occasion to take inventory of utilization and return on investment of automation on the floor today and to identify opportunities for improvement.

Existing peripheral equipment

Equipment such as automatic-feed paper drills and automatic-feed poly wrapping lines present popular alternatives to more compact, manually-fed equipment. For binderies that have made or are considering these investments, it is important to keep in mind that as product mixes change over time, so will the “realized benefit” of this automated equipment.

Are we still setting up an automatic drill or wrapper – which typically requires two people to run, with longer makeready and two to three times the floorspace – for a decreasing quantity? Did we bring in extra staff for an eight-hour shift to run the automatically fed equipment for a partial shift to replace one associate on a manually fed machine? By the same token, are we slowing down a perfect binder or saddlestitcher by handfeeding when a bookblock feeder, stream feeder or additional folder feeder could allow the line to run significantly faster with the same or fewer associates?

Of course, binderies producing the highest unit cost (e.g. hardcover, personalized) pieces have the lowest fruit to grab with automated peripheral upgrades such as bundle stream feeders, bookblock feeders, cover feeders, mailtables, stackers, semi-automatic and fully-automatic carton equipment, etc. For managers considering these potential investments, it is best to go see the equipment in action, if possible, to create the best “net results” factored into the justification.

PUR (Polyurethane Reactive) adhesive upgrade

While changing adhesives may not seem like a potential automation investment – or profit center – on the surface, how we invest to apply and handle the PUR adhesive will significantly impact the long-term cost of ownership. After the numbers have been crunched for a handfed perfect binder vs. a complete inline automated perfect binder with gatherer and trimmer, there are two major choices for applying the PUR adhesive: traditional roller pot (which can make the strongest book) or a nozzle system (which sprays the PUR adhesive on the spine with minimal changeover time and material waste).

Other PUR adhesive cost and quality concerns if upgrading an existing line with PUR adhesive would be the mechanical condition of the line, the number of spine preparation tools and the precision of the clamp guidance. In addition, because PUR adhesive is more costly, it is important to monitor the amount/rate of PUR adhesive to be consumed. This will help when sizing the largest pre-melter possible to get the best per pound/liter bulk price and also will help minimize operator pre-melter changeover duties.

Signature or pocket readers

Beyond an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) image verification system’s routine maintenance recommendations for maintaining calibration, we often find many binderies are no longer running their difficult-to-use legacy image reading systems. Binderies with legacy verification systems owe it to themselves to research available upgrades to improve functionality and operator interface with the OEM. Some systems only require replacing the camera and software to enjoy the latest image and barcode features advantage and benefits.

Targeted training

We certainly are not born with the knowledge it takes to operate the latest automated equipment or to utilize every feature. Reviewing real-world obtainable net production goals with your OEM, operators and managers on a given product mix and then developing a targeted training program for success will put you on the path for continuous operations improvement.

While such programs often are dismissed as too costly, the most training-oriented binderies or bindery departments have set up some type of specific area in their plants for training. These programs use the highest-skilled team leaders to hone operator skills on a regular basis, cost-effectively ensuring that investments in automated equipment realize their promises of improved quality and net production.

Other Factors to Consider

With this review of the advancements in bindery automation, companies that are considering an upgrade in existing equipment or a new equipment purchase should look carefully at which investments are suited to their operation’s needs. And, at the same time, look at ways to better automate and organize the bindery through other means outside of equipment upgrades and/or purchases. The following questions should help guide this decision-making process:

Has the current equipment been comprehensively evaluated by an “objective” qualified technician to determine if it is in acceptable mechanical condition going forward? Objectively decide if maintaining or adding automation to current equipment is worth the investment or if looking at new equipment that has the automation built-in is a better option.
Do the production scheduling associates optimize the schedule for the bindery? Scheduling like-size jobs consecutively on even the most pre-historic piece of equipment may be as efficient as the highest level of automation on a new machine.
What is the bindery capability “wish list” from existing customers, new prospects and team members? Look carefully at this and talk with customers and team members within the bindery to determine what type of automation makes the most sense.
Should an independent bindery consultant with experience in production and automated equipment provide an evaluation with recommendations? This can help determine the best options and whether to upgrade existing bindery equipment or consider the purchase of newer, more automated bindery equipment.
Are the current operators properly trained on the most difficult products being produced? And, do you have the proper staff for the addition of automated equipment?
When is the last time you rethought the machine and/or entire bindery layout? Workflow and the layout of the bindery area are extremely important and should be evaluated on a regular basis – especially if new equipment is added or existing equipment is upgraded.

Brad Emerson is the general manager of www.fixyourownbindery.com, a company specializing in consultation, turnkey machine and plant relocations, new and used equipment sales, machine reconditioning, automation, custom fabrication and training. Emerson’s bindery background includes bindery supervision as well as bindery equipment marketing and consultation. For more information, comments, questions or criticism, email [email protected].

10 Time-Consuming Tasks You Should Automate Now

by Gail Bullen, Business Development Manager, Avanti

Let’s face it, your business has fundamentally changed over the past few years. You now have dozens, if not hundreds, of “micro” orders coming into the shop every day: short-run jobs that customers expect at a very fast turnaround time. You know you can’t touch a $500 order 10 times and expect to make any money. You hear the constant message to “automate now,” but struggle with where to start.

When it comes to automation, or any large change, the long road starts with those first small steps. Here are 10 areas where your business can benefit from automation right now.

The 10 time-consuming tasks you should automate now

Automation of your entire workflow makes sense, to ensure you connect islands of automation, which can cause bottlenecks further down the line. The following list works through the top 10 automation tasks, based on the print workflow process:

Web-to-print
Estimating
Order Creation
Material Planning
Production Planning
Production Workflow
Real-time Notifications
Status and Costing
Shipping
Invoicing

Web-to-print

Stop the time-consuming task of walking your clients through the printing process and move to web-to-print. Your web-to-print portal is your 24/7 communication vehicle for customers; the key way to become “the print shop that never closes.” Customers can submit orders any time, night or day. Fortunately, the customers have already done the “heavy lifting;” they have entered all the job details into the portal; description of the job (printing and finishing), quantity, substrate, special notes, submitted the file to print and provided the shipping information.

Estimating

In today’s competitive environment, two things are key when it comes to responding to customers’ requests for quotes (RFQ): speed and consistency.

Customers are simply unwilling to wait for a reply to their request for quote. In many cases, whoever replies the fastest gets the order. Quick turnaround is essential.

As for consistency, regardless of who puts the quote together, it is extremely important that everyone comes up with same number, uses the same estimating standards, includes everything required in the quote and has access to historical information about what it cost to run a similar job in the past. That ensures you eliminate, as much as possible, the potential for human error.

The secret to getting that high-level of consistency is quote automation. In this case, that automation is in the form of templates. Templates ensure all tasks and materials are accounted for when its time to quote. It is imperative to have a system that supports different templates that cover all lines of business. The template requirements of a sophisticated offset job (ganging, plates, makeready, wash-up) are very different than short-run digital (click charges, imposition), which is different from large format (wide variety of substrates, square feet calculations).

Automating the quoting process for the “simple” jobs means that tasks can be given to sales reps and CSRs to speed up turnaround time and potentially win more business. They also will reduce the effort of your estimating team, leaving them to focus their magic on the more complex tasks.

Order creation

As soon as customers approve the quote, in their mind, the clock starts ticking. Your ability (or inability) to get the job on-boarded in a timely fashion will not change when the customer expects that job to be delivered – but it can seriously impact your ability to meet that deadline – especially if that order requires something to be purchased to produce the job.

You need to input the job into your system as fast as possible to give visibility to everyone that needs it: purchasing, production planning and operations.

There are multiple ways for an order to make its way into the shop: through your web-to-print portal, converting of an estimate, phone-in or email, or even an excel spreadsheet. With the exception of phone-in or email, the on-boarding of all of these sources of new jobs can and should be automated.

Re-keying information already captured somewhere else slows you down and leaves room for human error.

Material planning

Sound familiar? A customer gives you an order and upon accepting the order, you discover you don’t have the necessary material needed to fulfill the job.

If inventory falls below critical levels, you are opening yourself up for trouble. In today’s world where customers demand same day turnaround, you need to stay proactive about ordering materials before you actually need them.

Of course, the other extreme can be even more expensive to the business: you order more than you require, just to make sure you never run out or because you aren’t really sure what quantity you have on hand.

It’s time to automate the material planning. Implement a system that is aware of minimum levels, bare minimum levels, economic order quantities and leads times.

You then can use that information to optimize inventory levels, monitor material requirements for orders in the system and automatically generate a purchasing plan for the given period (day, week, month).

Production planning

Getting more jobs out on time is what it’s all about.

The days of “10 jobs making their way through the shop in the next 10 days” have been replaced with “10 jobs making their way through the shop in the next hour.” You don’t have time to manually schedule and plan smaller orders and run the risk of it taking longer to schedule orders than to run them. You need orders, once on-boarded, to arrive automatically in a department’s queue or run list for a particular piece of equipment.

Automating the run list of the “micro” jobs is one thing. For that, all you really need is an easy-to-use tool that can help manage the order in which jobs will run (i.e. quickly change the sequence of jobs to get several jobs out that are “stuck” behind a large, less urgent job, or to batch similar jobs to limit substrate changes).

More complex jobs need a more sophisticated tool – one able to manage finite capacity, automate the ganging of jobs and allow production planners to play with “what if” scenarios.

This provides you with the flexibility to adjust your schedule before locking and publishing it for everyone to see. When you automate this aspect of your workflow, you will be able to override schedules and change job priorities to meet shifting deadlines. The result is limiting “lateness” and maximize the number of jobs that get out on time.

Production workflow

Often, the greatest challenge is getting your administrative systems (quoting, job ticketing, scheduling CRM, billing systems) to share data with your production systems (prepress, production and bindery equipment).

Automating the sharing of information between these two types of systems can speed up throughput by eliminating the need to reenter job information already captured elsewhere.

Real-time notifications

You have hundreds of jobs making their way through the shop every day. How do you know if something is off the rails? A lack of visibility can make you feel like you have a lack of control.

This is where triggers and alerts can make a key impact. Real-time triggers and alerts allow you to automatically send notifications to anyone (both staff and/or your customers) to let them know that something is ready for review, to be ordered or is off schedule. There also can be a trigger so when an invoice has been completed, it is sent automatically to a customer or it can automatically send a shipping notification email to a customer the moment an order has been shipped – with the tracking number automatically included.

With automated triggers and alerts, you set the parameters that define the event, what action needs to be performed and who the alert should be sent to.

Job status and costing

Given the sheer amount of jobs running through your shop, tracking jobs and their costs can be a real challenge. If you aren’t capturing your costs, how do you know where you’re making money and where you’re bleeding dollars?

When a job ran for days, you didn’t mind the manual effort required to track its status and the amount of materials used (paper, ink, etc.). However, you can’t afford to invest the time to track “micro” digital orders – so most don’t bother and just use the estimated cost as your actual cost.

However, estimated cost is exactly that – it is just an estimate of how long a task should take and how much material a job should use. A feasible way of tracking these “micro” orders is through automation. Having this critical and accurate information right at your fingertips ensures you will make much better business decisions.

Shipping

Getting orders to your customers on time is a top priority. A late delivery can damage your reputation and jeopardize that relationship. In today’s competitive world, you are only one late delivery away from your customer switching vendors.

Automation can significantly improve on-time delivery via batch shipping and real-time integrations with numerous shipping courier providers such as UPS and FedEx. This completely eliminates the need for outside systems and the hassle of manually keying in hundreds of shipments.

By automating your shipping process, the system will automatically email shipping notifications and tracking details to your customers, ensuring they always are kept in the loop regarding their order status.

Invoicing

Getting invoices out in a timely fashion is the key to effectively managing cash flow. Every day you delay getting an invoice out the door is another day you delay getting paid.

However, the time and effort required to get a $50 invoice out is not much different than an order worth $5,000.

With automation, the billing department always will have a list of jobs that are ready to be invoiced, whether they have been partially shipped, fully shipped or haven’t had anything shipped, but is invoiced as a part of a contract you have with the customer.

Because invoices are automatically populated with order information and pricing created at the time of estimate or order entry, errors are greatly reduced and hours saved on administration.

Summary

In summary, automation of your workflow tasks will save you much more than money. Automation will help you accomplish the following:

Streamline the on-boarding of orders.
Help identify bottlenecks that slow down your ability to get jobs out on time.
Control the flow of work in process.
Eliminate breakpoints in your workflow.
Automate interactions with your clients.
Help you better respond to a rush order or important customer requests.
Notify purchasing when inventory levels are low.
Provide real-time business intelligence for better decision making.
Better understand your print shop’s costs down to the penny

Since 1984, Avanti has created products that put the customer first, culminating in Avanti Slingshot print management software. Integrated modules extend from online order entry through to production and billing. For more information, visit www.avantisystems.com.

USPS Ruling Advances EnvyPak’s Automation Letter Rate Approval

EnvyPak, Columbus, Ohio, has received a ruling from the US Postal Service (USPS) that provides lower automation letter rates for a specially-formatted, polypropylene (poly) envelope that now does not require an affixed mailing label, can be sealed with glue applied by lettershops and is fully machine-insertable.

Using this specially-formatted, Automation Letter Rate (ALR) clear poly envelope can yield up to 52.8% savings in postage, savings traditionally only attainable with paper envelopes. EnvyPak is the only clear plastic envelope that is machine insertable/sealable. It is also the only plastic envelope that qualifies for automation letter postage.

The company has worked for more than 10 years with the Pricing and Classification Division of the USPS to develop this clear envelope that meets its automation specifications. The July 2018 ruling is the most current in a series awarded during 2018.

For more information, visit www.envypak.com.

Top Five Tasks You Should Automate

PostPress

When thinking about automation, people tend to picture never-ending assembly lines run by robots with nary a human in sight. Management often loves automation when it means greater profit margins, while employees can feel it can be a threat to their jobs. However, much of today’s advancing technology has been designed not necessarily to eliminate the human element of a job, but to make the operator’s job easier and more efficient.

As technological advancements continue to surge, companies like Avanti have begun developing automating software – such as the Avanti Slingshot print management system (MIS) – in order to help manufacturers streamline how information is managed both on the shop floor and throughout the facility. Such automation software can lead to improved efficiency, less waste and improved profits. The following are common areas businesses should consider implementing automation.

1. Estimating
With the right software, creating estimates for customers can be as easy as clicking a button. An automated estimating system can automatically email quotes to customers, sales reps and customer service reps. Templates can be used for common items, standardizing the estimating process and improving efficiency.

2. Material planning
When implementing automation software, it is important to be sure the MIS system is able to accommodate all the different types of materials businesses work with, whether they be finished goods, stock items or even print on demand products. Automated material planning means having comprehensive materials management capabilities for both raw materials and finished goods in real time. An MIS system can provide notification for reorder points, optimum stocking levels and economical order quantities. Furthermore, the purchasing process is simplified by having a system that knows everything that needs to be ordered for each job in production.

3. Production planning
Automatically schedule web-to-print and routine orders and increase productivity by optimizing workloads. Having an automated production planning process allows for scheduling jobs according to different criteria. For example, jobs can be grouped by similar characteristics, such as equipment needed, materials, colors, etc. Having the ability to automatically schedule jobs in certain sequences means the press operator doesn’t have to switch equipment as often leading to greater efficiency and a more streamlined process. Furthermore, production can determine whether certain projects should be scheduled forward or backward according to customer needs, shipping dates, etc.

4. Production workflow
MIS systems automate the creation of production orders based upon different business instructions. This allows businesses to reduce the need for double data entry, saving time and money. When using the Avanti Slingshot system, for instance, the software knows all the details of any given job – materials needs, finish size, colors, etc. All of that information can be sent to various applications including prepress software, digital front end, postpress finishing equipment, etc. Once the job has been finished, the system updates itself with relevant data, such as how much time it took to produce the job, all of which updates Avanti in real time. This virtually can eliminate the need for shop floor data in some areas as the system can automatically collect data directly from the software/hardware instead of employees having to do so manually.

5. Shipping
Automate the shipping process with software designed to send shipping notices and tracking numbers to the customer automatically. Additionally, by automatically importing distribution lists, employees don’t have to manually enter several different shipping places. Systems with automatic integration of UPS, FedEx and local carriers can automatically fill out paperwork, generate shipping labels and ensure shippers dont have to learn UPS World Ship, FedEx Ship Manager or local courier systems for each individual shipment. Instead, all shipments are processed using a single system.

These are just some of the areas where automation can improve operations and streamline the flow of information. As customer needs continue to evolve along with an ever-changing market, automation can be a game changer for many businesses looking to keep up and keep improving.

Thank you to Avanti for providing information about automation software, particularly Avanti Slingshot print management system (MIS) software, designed to reduce operational bottlenecks and streamline information management.

Labelexpo Americas 2018 to Feature Automation Arena

PostPress

Several never-before-seen features will be on offer at this year’s Labelexpo Americas, the 16th edition of the show and the region’s largest trade event for the label and package printing industry. This includes an Automation Arena, a 1:1 appointment program and the return of the TLMI Ecovillage.

Labelexpo Americas takes place from Sept. 25-27 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Spread across five exhibition halls, more than 400 exhibitors will be taking part.

Running alongside the exhibition and making its debut – not only at Labelexpo Americas 2018 but also for the first time at a show in the region – the ground-breaking Automation Arena will showcase two automated press lines for conventional (shrink sleeve) and digital (label) production, covering job creation right through to pre-press, printing, finishing and customer invoicing. There will be three 30-minute demonstrations on the first two days of the show and two more on the last day.

This is a unique opportunity for show attendees to experience firsthand how the future of label and package printing will evolve over the next decade and connect with some of the companies at the forefront of this.

Shrink sleeve technology and workflow automation also are among the topics in focus at three Label Academy master classes, offered as part of the comprehensive educational program at the show. This is an unmissable opportunity for attendees to deepen their knowledge of these growing parts of the industry, which they then will be able to see in action at the Automation Arena.

Also new for this year’s show – and a first for the Labelexpo Global Series – is Labelexpo Connections, an attendee/exhibitor 1:1 appointment program, which aims to fast-track connections to new business in the label and package printing industry through opt-in meetings. Registered show attendees undergo a matching process with exhibiting companies, which then leads to a series of 1:1 business meetings at Labelexpo Americas 2018. This will enable attendees to really make the most of their time at the show by connecting with the people they want to meet to enhance their business.

Tasha Ventimiglia, Labelexpo Americas event director, commented: “Labelexpo Americas is all about the experience, and we wanted to build on that by launching several new features at this year’s show to ensure that it remains fresh and relevant as the industry evolves. Firstly, we know that a driving factor for people choosing to visit the show is the opportunity to network and make new business connections, so we want to help them make the most of this opportunity and plan their time efficiently through the Labelexpo Connections personalized 1:1 appointment program.

“Secondly, the Automation Arena is something we introduced at Labelexpo Europe last year and it proved such a popular experience that we are bringing it to Labelexpo Americas for the very first time. It’s a unique opportunity for attendees to view the future of the industry by experiencing a fully automated workflow process, enabling them to keep one step ahead of competitors.”

Another key feature of Labelexpo Americas 2018 will be the TLMI Ecovillage, designed to raise awareness of environmental issues in the sector and returning this year for the first time since 2012. Sponsored by Convergen Energy, Channeled Resources Group and Avery Dennison, this area of the show will be displaying the latest products tackling this important issue. To further highlight this, the waste matrix collected from the live press demonstrations over the course of the show will be brought to the TLMI Ecovillage and baled. The material then will be sent to Convergen Energy who will make the waste into fuel pellets, which have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels.

TLMI Ecovillage will have a speaker each day to cover topics such as the new plastics economy and how it relates to labels; a global brand talking about how a label’s impact on package recyclability plays into product stewardship; and sustainable materials management – going beyond managing waste to what’s upstream of production.

Rosalyn Bandy, TLMI’s environmental director, said: “The 2018 Ecovillage is part of TLMI’s ongoing commitment to inspire and engage the industry around topics of sustainability. We designed it to be an educational and showcase platform. Our goal is to help label suppliers and converters to be inspired by sustainability experts who are breaking new ground in making labels a key component of reduced-impact products. We are very much looking forward to Labelexpo Americas in September.”

Ventimiglia added: “We are delighted to be partnering with TLMI for the TLMI Ecovillage area of the show, designed to raise awareness of sustainability, which is becoming such an important issue in the package printing sector. We are very much looking forward to introducing visitors to all of our new show features and giving them the best experience possible.”

For more information, including the full exhibitor list, visit www.labelexpo-americas.com.

Automation

By Brad Emerson, general manager, www.fixyourownbindery.com

Automation review

The elephant in the room

By Dianna Brodine, managing editor, PostPress

Layflat and perfect binding take off during the pandemic

The visual and tactile effects of books

Paper challenges in book production

Focusing on the elimination of waste

References “Print Books Had a Huge Sales Year in 2021,” Jim Milliot, Publisher’s Weekly, Jan 06, 2022, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/88225-print-book-sales-rose-8-9-in-2021.html

By Liz Stevens, writer, PostPress

Challenges and solutions

Common challenges

Challenges created by shorter runs

New technology solutions in the offing

by Hallie Forcinio, contributing writer, PostPress

by Brad Emerson www.fixyourownbindery.com

Existing peripheral equipment

PUR (Polyurethane Reactive) adhesive upgrade

Signature or pocket readers

Targeted training

Other Factors to Consider

by Gail Bullen, Business Development Manager, Avanti

The 10 time-consuming tasks you should automate now

Web-to-print

Estimating

Order creation

Material planning

Production planning

Production workflow

Real-time notifications

Job status and costing

Shipping

Invoicing

Summary

PostPress

PostPress

References
“Print Books Had a Huge Sales Year in 2021,” Jim Milliot, Publisher’s Weekly, Jan 06, 2022, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/88225-print-book-sales-rose-8-9-in-2021.html

by Brad Emerson
www.fixyourownbindery.com