Graphiscan Feature Article

June 2024

STANDARD FINISHING SYSTEMS

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Graphiscan New Horizon solution triples production for both softcover books and hardcover book preparation

Art & Negative Three new roll-fed finishing lines support the transition to inkjet print and streamline mailing operations

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Bindery Operator, Samantha Fleury, loads book blocks into the Horizon LBF-500 Book Block Feeder, which can deliver loose sheets, folded signatures, or pre-glued book blocks to the perfect binder.

Left: Alex Legue, Director of Operations, stands with the new Horizon GF-500 Gauze Feeder which prepares book blocks for case binding.

Graphiscan triples book binding capacity with new Horizon solution. Graphiscan, a printing, direct mail, and

for operational efficiency. The solution can easily switch between fully automated softcover production, which is still the majority of Graphiscan’s work, and preparing book blocks for case binding when required, enabling the company to offer their customers a wider range of capabilities with shorter lead times. “We are now able to produce up to 1,100 books per hour with a much more automated system,” Legue said. “To create a softcover book requires no manual intervention. The book block goes in, the glue is applied to the spine, the cover is adhered, and it is automatically fed into the trimmer and finished all in one process. We also opted to get the GF-500 Gauze Feeder to prepare book blocks for case binding, where we have easily increased our capacity by two or three times. And as our case volume grows, we will add the end-sheet feeder for case binding, which will speed up the process even more.” As Director of Operations, Legue also appreciates Standard Finishing’s iCE LiNK solution for cloud-based production management of the entire finishing workflow. “It’s absolutely fantastic for a business that wants to be data driven. I wish I could have literally everything on my floor connected to iCE LiNK. It gives us real-time insight into what’s happening. And it helps us make decisions at a business level. I can obviously know the speed of the machine, how much they’re running right now, the production capacity that is available, and the volumes they run in a day, in a week, in a month. It also helps us with maintenance, which is a big, big thing. Basically, the system sends you an email when maintenance is needed, preventing unnecessary downtime. It makes the life of the supervisor and operator easier, and if you do have an error, it tells you exactly what needs to be done to fix it. At a management level, it gives us a better understanding about what kind of jobs run well, and what doesn’t, as well as other important insights. It’s a very powerful tool.” He also notes that with Standard Horizon’s modular approach to equipment configurations, adding a new module to their workflow like the ESF-1000 End Sheet Feeder is basically plug-and-play. “That’s how they have designed it because they understand how important it is to make it easy for customers to expand their capabilities as their businesses grow and needs change.” Legue concluded, “We love working with Standard Finishing, and we love their equipment. They are a partner, not just a supplier. They help us figure out what we need to meet emerging client needs, and they are with us all the way through the sales and implementation process, as well as after the sale. I also appreciate that they help us arrange visits to companies that are using the solutions we are considering, since I like to see equipment actually in use during production. They have helped us with that many times over the years, and it makes the decision process easier for us.”

volume grew. “We were able to do about 350 books an hour,” Legue said. “But as we began doing shorter runs and more book-of-one jobs, we knew we had to find a solution that would give us more automation and increased throughput without sacrificing quality, not only keeping up with demand, but also giving us room to grow.” In addition to the BQ-470 Perfect Binder and HT-30 Trimmer, Graphiscan also runs several Horizon solutions across their multiple facilities, including two StitchLiner Saddlestitchers with VAC collating towers, the CRF-362 Creaser/Folder, and an AFC-566FG Folder. As they considered an upgrade to their perfect binding operation, their experience with Horizon equipment was certainly a factor. “Standard and our local Horizon dealer, RM Machinery, have been longstanding and reliable partners, so the decision to work with them on this project was an easy one,” says Denis Gagnon, President at Graphiscan. The company chose a new Horizon book binding solution, installed by their dealer RM Machinery, that includes the Horizon LBF-500 Book Block Feeder, BQ-500 Perfect Binder, GF-500 Gauze Feeder, and HT-1000V Three-Knife Trimmer. Horizon’s cloud-based iCE LiNK platform is integrated across the entire system

graphic communications company with three locations in and around Montreal, Quebec, has been in business for more than 30 years and has been producing case-bound and perfect-bound books, including photo books, for more than 20 years. Books represent about 60% of the company’s business, with general commercial print making up the rest, and the company currently employs 120 team members. “We started binding books by hand,” explained Alex Legue, the company’s Director of Operations. “We started old school, and as technology evolved, as the market evolved, we have been committed to keeping up.” Legue reported that some customers were leery of moving from a sewn binding, which is a nice finish but time consuming, to glue binding. “We have tested the PUR binding every which way,” he said, “and it is just as strong as a sewn binding. We have been able to convert most of our customers to this newer technology.” Until recently, Graphiscan was using a Standard Horizon BQ-470 Perfect Binder with an offline HT-30 Trimmer in its book binding operation. While they were very happy with the quality of the books, whether perfect- or case-bound, it became increasingly difficult to keep up and to meet customers’ shorter lead times as their

Stephane Morin gathers finished softcover books exiting the HT-1000V Trimmer.

Graphiscan operates several Horizon systems across two facilities including the AFC-566FG Folder (top), two Horizon StitchLiner Saddlestitchers with VAC collating towers (second from top), and the CRF-362 Creaser/Folder (third from top.)

From the touchscreen on the HT-1000V Trimmer, operators can easily switch between book format sizes with zero makeready.

Horizon’s cloud-based iCE LiNK platform provides real-time data at a glance which Graphiscan uses to continuously improve productivity across the bindery.

Glued books exit the BQ-500 Perfect Binder and travel via conveyer to the HT-1000V Trimmer for the final finishing step.

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