Once upon a time, inline finishing consisted of folding and stapling. Today, in-line finishing has moved past basic folding, stapling, and hole punching to a world of truly “Carton-ready” output, meaning that products coming off of in-line finishing devices are 100% finished and ready to stack in a carton or box. These new levels of automation can save customers substantial amounts of money in productions costs, and provide them with new products and profit centers.
Adding in-line finishing capabilities can significantly improve efficiency and drive down costs. Machine operators no longer have to start and stop devices, and move around the shop floor to complete a project. Operators only need to focus on keeping the printer and attached in-line finishers running at maximum speed and efficiency instead of having to shift their attentions to other devices in the printing plant.
Printing operations managers used to favor the flexibility of off-line finishing devices because off-line equipment could ostensibly be used to finish digital output as well as traditional offset-printed output. But as the mix of traditional output versus digital output shifted heavily towards digital, the compromised efficiency of off-line finishing equipment began to chew into operating profits. Now as digital production accounts for a lion’s share of production, and as in-line finishing devices become more efficient, less costly, and more capable, it just makes more economic sense to invest in modern in-line finishing capabilities.
It is critical to have a deep understanding of your product mix and capabilities before deciding which piece of in-line finishing gear is the best choice for your shop. In some less than common situations, retaining an offline finishing option makes sense. For example, if you have invested in perfect book binding equipment, and your printed sheets come from traditional offset as well as digital marking engines, it probably makes economic sense not to add inline perfect binding to your digital printers.
Here are some other factors to consider in your decision-making process:
Every booklet maker will have a limit to the number of pages that can be folded and stitched. This can range from 40 pages to nearly 200 pages. For example, if you need to fold and staple a book with 100 pages, you’ll need a device that can handle 25 sheets of paper. Remember, total page count divided by 4 equals the number of printed sheets of paper in the booklet.
Thickness of the paper (paper caliper) will impact how many pages you can have in a booklet. Manufacturers of finishing equipment normally use a specification based on 20# bond paper when specifying the maximum number of pages in a booklet. A book that uses heavy cover weight stock for the cover and a 80# text weight for the inside pages will not be able to accommodate the maximum page count specification of the finisher because of the added thickness of the heavier stock.
Having the ability to create a saddle-stitched booklet with a square-folded spine offers a number of advantages over a normal saddle-stitched booklet with a single fold. First of all, you can print the booklet title on the spine which makes the booklet easier to identify in a stack of booklets or on a shelf with other books and booklets, and adds another element of design interest to the booklet. Secondly, a square-folded spine reduces packaging volume by approximately 25% which in can help save money on storage and shipping, and can reduce damage to the booklets in transit by reducing rubbing and booklet edge abrasion.
The ability to square fold a booklet allows it to lay flat when not being read, and facilitates easier reading by allowing the booklet to sit flatter while being read.
Trimming each of the three non-bound edges helps to enhance the appearance and value of your finished book. As the number of sheets or weight of the paper in the book increases, you may begin to experience “creep”, “shingling”, or “push-out”. This effect occurs when the outermost sheet edges do not align with the innermost sheet edges as more or thicker sheets of paper are folded and nested together. To learn more about creep, shingling, and push-out effects, click here. Most quality finishing and imposition software will allow you to enter the thickness or weight of the paper being used to allow for page position adjustments to compensate for creep artifacts.
Most booklet finishers have the capability of stapling in two locations along the spine or fold of a booklet, which may be all you will ever need. However, some number of in-line finishers on the market have the ability to staple in multiple locations which can greatly enhance finishing efficiency. Depending on size and weight of paper, smaller booklets can be run and finished 2-up or 3-up with 4 or 6 staple (stich) locations along the spine of the booklet and were then cut into smaller individual booklets using a guillotine paper cutter. Massive productivity increases can be achieved using multi-up printing versus printing and binding individual books.
Because one size does not always fit all, digital printing manufacturers offer several booklet-maker options with a wide range of capabilities and costs. Most inline finishing devices are modular by definition so you can start out with basic folding and stitching and then add a square folding option, and perhaps 3 edge trimming if your production needs and/or customer requirements change and evolve. Our commercial and industrial print (CIP) specialists can help you make the best decisions by assessing your needs and matching those needs to new finishing capabilities so that you can take your inline finishing options to the next level.
To set up an appointment to learn more about how inline finishing can drive lower costs, greater efficiency, and improved profitability, click here.