Sheffield print and integrated communications provider, ProCo, has chosen a Horizon BQ270V perfect binder with variable software from Intelligent Finishing Systems to bring the current outsourced small to medium run work inhouse.
Graeme Parry, ProCo Production Director, explains: “The primary reason for us investing in the kit was the constraints of outsourcing and in order to deliver quicker timescales as dictated by the demands of our customers. When we looked at the flexible nature of the BQ 270V in terms of ease of use, pre-set programming and the ability to have variable data driven books requiring different spine widths, it was a perfect fit.”
The 500bph BQ270V with an intuitive touch screen set up enables the single clamp to be pre-set for the next book block in the job queue. It will provide ProCo with seamless production connectivity from pre-collated digital book blocks and the ability to utilise collated litho sections from its Horizon collation towers with a minimal set up to reduce dead time in production.
Continues MrParry: “The investment was critical to not only enable reduction in lead times, but we have also seen the benefit in transport costs associated with the outsourcing of work.”
Quality was also crucial he states:“One of the first jobs we ran was an annual report for a high profile client. The cover was soft touch laminated in addition to a lot of specific finishing that needed to be spot on. By handling the entire job from start to finish we could ensure the high standards needed were met within our own quality procedures.”
The system featuring variable software will handle output from both litho and digital print produced by two Roland 500s, two HP Indigos as well as a Konica Minolta 1200, Konica Minolta 1250 and Konica Minolta C5500.
The ProCo team reviewed other market available solutions at trade shows and spoke to operations that had invested in the system before taking the step. “The reasons for choosing the BQ270V were mainly centred on ease of set up and the amount of automation, bringing down make ready times. We are able to add enhancements to the multi-clamp machine if we needed to bring in more capacity. It’s a great piece of kit.” states Mr Parry who also looked at Morganna and CP Bourg units but saw the Horizon as the best all-rounder for the cost.
He adds: “From installation we were operational in a very short amount of time; we were in production in just a few hours. This goes to show that the ease of operation is quick, concise and easy to master.”
Established in 1992 ProCo carved a niche in handling complex large scale, high quality print projects. Ten years later it launched a direct mail arm, followed by digital print. The business later merged and relocated to a state-of-the-art premises. Today, it offers a broad range of marketing support and campaign management solutions that help co-ordinate client communications into single integrated programmes. It has also developed its own range of bespoke, online workflow management tools.
