New Automated bookletmaking line ‘Eats up the Work’

Expansion of its digital printing capabilities prompted Dorset County Council to invest in a Horizon SPF/FC-200A booklet making line from Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS).

The addition of a new Canon imagePRESS, to support digital print produced on a Xerox 250 and new black and white Canon copiers, significantly increased production capacity putting pressure on the council’s existing 18-year-old Horizon line.

“It was time to upgrade,” comments Mike Bennett, design and print manager, “and because of the reliability, robust build and quality of our existing Horizon line we were confident that this latest system would suit our needs. We did look at other options, of course, but the Horizon had everyone’s vote.”

As well as the digital work, the booklet making line completes jobs from the department’s four-colour Ryobi, single-colour Heidelberg GTO and a two-colour Heidelberg QuickMaster. “It was important that the new addition would handle both litho and digital jobs,” he adds.

Another key reason for choosing the new Horizon was its high degree of automation. Says Bennett: “Set up is much shorter making us more productive. It is a giant leap from what we had.”

Easy to operate systems are essential for the high quality completion of a wide range of printed and digital jobs. Members of our team are often asked to operate a number of different pieces of equipment and being able to switch from one to another quickly and smoothly ensures the department throughput is extremely efficient.”

And the investment paid off from day one of installation states Bennett: “It eats up work. It is much quicker and faster. Producing a high quality finished product.”

The 4,500bph Horizon JDF-ready SPF/FC-200A features 200-programme job memory storage for instant recall and icon-based touch-screen for job set-up. It is equipped with a 10-station VAC-Turbo 1000 PowerCollator, which features a user-friendly colour intelligent touchscreen interface for easy operation and a remote handset to aid control at the delivery. The patented Horizon advanced suction rotor drum feeding system operates effectively on a wide variety of paper stocks at high speeds. Accuracy and reliability are assured by mis-feed, double feed and jamming sensors on each bin and the feed error history can be monitored via the touchscreen.