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IFS Buy Keeps it Lean For Rapidity

Ensuring operation is as lean as possible is the over-riding company ethos of London digital print specialist Rapidity Communications. Smooth, efficient and effective production is paramount and so any investment is made with meeting these criteria in mind.

That is why Ben Manning, Director of the 33-employee strong £6m turnover operation, chose to add a Horizon BQ280 PUR single clamp perfect binder and a Foliant Gemini 400A laminator from Intelligent Finishing Systems to a number of other IFS-supplied bindery solutions already meeting Rapidity’s high standards.

“We had a Horizon BQ470 four clamp binder and a Horizon StichLiner book production line,” explains Mr Manning. “They are strong reliable workhorses and our staff are very comfortable operating them. Being part of the family the BQ280 PUR has a similar touch screen interface and so we were confident it would easily fit into the workflow.”

The 500 bph BQ280 features automatic nipper height control, smoother PUR book delivery, on screen adjustment height control for glue rollers and spinner as well as adjustable pressure above both scores.

The single clamp binder was chosen to add PUR binding to Rapidity’s service offering without the need to change glue tanks on the BQ470. “There is a lot of interest in PUR bound work and we wanted to offer it as an inhouse service rather than sending it out,” comments Mr Manning. “We have a policy of not turning work away and so wanted to be able to deliver this in house so we no longer had the overheads in outsourcing or the time constraints. Now work can be door to door in a much shorter time-frame. We like to get the job out of the door as quickly as possible and the BQ280 will enable us to do that.

As for the reason behind the choice of a single clamp binder to join the four clamp binder Mr Manning stated: “We did want to be interchanging glue tanks because of the time that can take. We wanted to be able to have two dedicated lines which would help keep production times tight.”

After installing its first laminator the volume of throughput had grown to such a point that Rapidity Communications required another system to handle the increased demand. But Mr Manning also took the opportunity to enable two types of lamination finishes to be completed at the same time, again removing set up times.

He states: “We are always looking for ways to produce work quicker. With the second laminator we can have one running matt stock and the other gloss. That way there is no need to keep changing over.”

The entry level 15 mpm Foliant Gemini 400A, has a fast warm up and interactive touch screen.