Currie takes the initiative with plastic coil binding

In an age when importing consumables seems to be the conventional wisdom, it is interesting to see The Currie Group manufacturing its own consumables to meet the requirements of a small but growing market for plastic spiral bindings.

The Currie Group manufactures plastic spiral bindings under an exclusive Australian agency with Gateway Bookbinding Systems, a Canadian company that has developed Plastikoil, the world’s leading plastic coil binding filament..

Peter Dubourg, production manager of the Plastikoil facility, which is located at The Currie Group headquarters at Hawthorn in Melbourne, (pictured with Bernie Robinson, sales director Currie Group) says plastic spiral bindings are generally more flexible than wire bindings, enabling a book to be opened to a full 360 degrees and laid flat without damage or page loss.

As they are still generally more expensive than wire bindings, plastic bindings make up only a small percentage of the spiral bindings used by Australian finishers today.

The coil is available in either a 4:1, 5mm or 6mm pitch. Plastic coil bindings do not abrade or corrode. The coils are available in an extensive range of colours and are non-toxic, which means they are ideal for children’s books. And as a recyclable material, they are far more environmentally friendly than metal bindings.

Dubourg says falling prices have opened up a strong market for plastic spiral-bound books in the Australian education sector, as well as adding fluoro colours to some boutique stationery lines.

“There are specialised markets where it is critical that books and manuals are plastic-bound, as metal bindings can interfere with emergency or essential services operations,” he says.

The Currie Group is bundling its Plastikoil consumables line with its Plastikoil bindery hardware, including benchtop binding and inserting stations, electric punches, and coil cutters and crimpers.

“At the moment, insertion technology in the bindery is mostly offline but the development of digital workflows around output devices like the HP-Indigo range of digital presses is changing all that,” he says. “Once we break through some speed barriers, inline insertion will be a reality.”

In the United States, plastic spiral binding is a common service offered by specialist finishers along with saddle stitching, perfect binding and three-hole drilling.

In Dubourg’s view, the hard fact that it is not cost-effective to import plastic spiral bindings initially opened up this vertical market for Currie’s, which imports the filament from which the bindings are manufactured.

The small Plastikoil production facility at The Currie Group, with an operational staff of just three, might be expanded in the long term if the company embarks on the next phase -- extruding its own filament. This would further reduce the manufacturing cost.

Says Dubourg: “Automatic inline insertion of plastic bindings will soon enable print shops to offer a comprehensive printing and finishing service for short-run, demand-driven jobs.”