The Future Trend of Postpress and Bookbinding Technology (I)

Close to the user

Today, faster, better, and cheaper are the requirements of printing customers, especially magazines and catalog printing. Customers want high-speed binding without increasing costs or lower costs. This trend is determined by the fast, personalized and targeted customer requirements. Today is the age of information explosion. Information is calculated in hours, minutes and even seconds. For printers, speed (rather than web format) has become the basis of competition and the key to ensuring the long-term development of the post-press processing industry.

At present, the one-on-one market is a big egg. With the development of personalized printing, post-press processing will also be affected. The post-press processing technology has not made revolutionary progress, but the post-press processing technology has been linked with printing and mailing, which has increased the printing quality and the speed with which products are put on the market.

Revolutionary breakthrough

Drupa 2000 demonstrated advanced postpress technology, but they are not revolutionary technologies. In fact, these technologies only increase the speed, reliability, and diagnostic capabilities of the equipment without becoming more intelligent.

Customers need equipment to be smarter, but installing many sensors, testing devices, and other accessories on the machine will require the expense of speed and cost. This is what we use today. So, what kind of machines do we need in the future?

Smart devices, smart products

Existing equipment has too many processes and plug and play doesn't have much value. Intelligent devices are used in smart systems.

To make the process smooth, we must eliminate the gap between processes. In fact, to shorten the cycle, the integration between processes is a must. For example, post-press processing has been extended to the mailing section, and post-press processing is responsible for all mailing information, from the address of inkjet or labelling to sorting and then sent to the postal service. Previously, these delivery deliveries were done by people. The technology of delivery delivery now shortens the time for prints to leave the press. If the prints are ready to be processed directly, the work cycle will be greatly reduced.

Postpress Processing Road

In the near future, people will find that powerful printing technology can accommodate all the post-press processing processes. Four-color digitally printed and bound magazines or pamphlets, such technology has emerged, but has not yet moved out of the laboratory, used for high-speed actual printing. Of course, it may also be that printing is integrated into post-press processing, and the insertion process is likely to include printing.

Ignore the post-press processing will make you fall behind

Printers often encounter such problems: they will deliver tomorrow, but they will keep up with the plan from the very beginning. The finalization is too late. The customer has not confirmed the proofs. The printing time is a little longer, but the printer promises the customer. Will be shipped on time.

Time is pressing hard to promote post-press processing and binding to high speed. If the requirements of individual customers are more and more, then binding will be affected as well. Old-fashioned folding machines, sewing machines, and inserters can perform simple tasks, but they cannot meet the needs of on-demand printing and direct post-processing. Customers hope that the digital printing technology can achieve the quality of traditional printing. .

Postpress automation

Many printers have very little investment in binding, but the post-press processing automation loop is really what they should not ignore.

First of all, automation after printing can save costs. The operator can control cutting, sewing, or folding by simply adjusting a few buttons on the console. Of course, old machines can do well, but new equipment is easier to adjust.

For example, the new folding machine has a zero adjustment function to automatically adjust the bending plate. The operator can fine-tune the plate simply by turning the knob without removing the roller as before. The CNC of the console saves a lot of time. Some manufacturers such as Heidelberg, MBO, Manroland have already put the corresponding products into the market.

The Third-Party System, a product of QTI, allows control of printing including binding on one console. To improve efficiency, future workflows will include all printing processes. CIP3 was born for this purpose.

CIP4 is a next-generation standard that includes all the features of CIP3 plus Adobe's standard file format, JDF. Currently used electronic documents contain only print information. CIP4 also includes the entire workflow and feature descriptions on different platforms. Doing so can control process variables and improve quality.

The entire printing industry, especially the post-press processing department, lacks qualified and skilled workers, and the binding section is trying to solve this problem. The first step is to use ergonomically designed equipment that can increase productivity without too much employee training.

The cutting machine shows the trend of ergonomic development. The cutting system reduces the operating time, the overall efficiency is 200% of the individual cutting machine, reduces the overall cost, and stabilizes the operation. Equipment that adjusts paper, such as a collision machine, a collection and recycling system, reduces the operating time and improves the control accuracy.

To put it a bit, Europe is nowadays a popular moveable paper feeder that can transfer the paper feed mechanism from the press to other processes, such as a folding machine, without having to reload the paper onto the folder.

On-demand processing

Some devices have been personalized, such as Heidelberg's post-press processing equipment, to provide personalized inkjet output. Each printed sheet to be mailed is printed on a different address, or even a different pattern.

Because each print is different, the binder has encountered new difficulties: how to solve the waste of different prints? Manufacturers try many ways, such as marking on printed sheets. There is no effective solution yet. The current solution works well, but it is expensive.

Post-press processing will adapt to multi-function digital printing

Print on Demand (POD) emphasizes flexibility, personalization, and short-run printing. Today, POD printers can usually complete product printing within 24 hours, E-base can meet the complex requirements and automation issues, and quality control is also very important.

Today, the binding equipment for short black-and-white softcover books is already complicated. Many suppliers offer highly automated on-line or off-line solutions for bookbinding in small-batch paperbacks. This new device is equipped with a book sealer and a new generation of highly automated three-sided cutters. This binding device can be adjusted for different spine thicknesses and adapted to print on demand.

Short-term mailings now have a large market. Many digital printing business program binders produce hardcover books. The complexity of binding equipment, the limitations of limited edition hardcover book decoration, and limited technology and experience have created opportunities for program binders. At the same time, because of the flexibility of short-run printing, many program stitchers have been printing short-run book blocks to meet customer needs.

Publishers and agents in the market have turned to hardcover books, which has forced suppliers to improve their technology and use appropriate materials to achieve very good economic returns. In the next two or three years, it is important to print paperback books on demand.

On the level of future on-demand printing, industry standards are important. In the past three years, the printing industry has been working to establish pre-press, print, and post-press communication standards. Although the CIP3 operation originated from prepress and ink equipment, it has begun to have some impact on India. The multi-function digital printer emphasizes personalization. Today, two-color and multi-color printing require highly consistent information delivery throughout the production process. Sheet-fed integration technology is shifting to the publishing market. At present, several standards have been established to ensure the accuracy of complex text page numbers and the consistency of documents.