Making money out of paper: Print 21 magazine article

What you do with a piece of paper after you’ve printed on it can add as much value to it as the print itself – and the possibilities of what to do are seemingly endless. But what tools do you need to mine this highly profitable goldmine? Simon Enticknap checks out the post-print paper handlers and processors.

The market for small-scale paper processing equipment is one of the most dynamic in the industry. There are more types of machines doing a wider range of jobs than in any other part of the print process, certainly more than the printing itself where the presses – both offset and digital – seem to grow ever more homogenous.

In contrast, print finishing is buzzing with more machines than ever coming onto the market from a long list of suppliers and importers. Whatever you want to do with a piece of paper – punch it, drill it, fold it, crease it, score it, perforate or just coat it – there is a machine that will do it for you. In fact, usually there will be several, each offering differing degrees of automation, ease of use and, of course, price.

Surprisingly too, it is a sector which seems to be holding up well despite the slowdown in the industry. For a variety of reasons, printers are continuing to invest in new finishing equipment and taking on more processes that, traditionally, they would have left for somebody else to do.

In the medium- to large-scale commercial offset market, post press equipment is dominated by the likes of Stahl, Wohlenberg, MBO and Horizon – iconic names with engineering pedigrees as long as a binding line. These are industrial pieces of equipment built to run fast and with a high degree of intelligence built into them. Beyond basic folding and binding though (or perhaps beside it), there are also many other different processes that add value to the finished item and which are currently serviced by a range of equipment not covered by the big brand names.

A quick survey at PacPrint revealed a myriad of such equipment on display, each highlighting particular applications and stages in the print process. And while it is the bigger pieces of equipment that usually grab the headlines, it is often the smaller gear that is being most eagerly snapped up.

Thanks to digital
One obvious reason for the activity in this sector is that it mirrors the growth in digital printing. As more and more print has shifted to digital output devices, this has resulted in a corresponding demand for equipment that will take the printed sheets and convert them into finished product as quickly as possible.

Garry Hengst, general manager of Paper Handling Equipment (PHE), said that commercial printers who already have folder and bindery equipment to handle their offset work are not necessarily best-equipped to process short-run, quick turnaround work when they move into digital print.

“They don’t need another big piece of equipment to service a digital printer so they’re looking at smaller items which are easy to use, flexible, don’t take up much space and where the initial investment is lower,” he commented.

As an example, Hengst points to the range of Nagel equipment which the company has been representing in Australia for the past 15 years. Nagel is a long-established German engineering company with a history in paper finishing that goes back to the 1930s (its first piece of equipment was drilling machine). Being German-made, the equipment obviously has a reputation for high quality and durability.

At PacPrint, PHE introduced the Nagel DFC (Digital Flexo Cut) cutting machine, typical of this type of equipment that combines die cutting, kiss cutting, perforating, creasing and embossing of A3+-size sheets up to 450gsm in a single unit. It’s a small, easy- to-use product with a magnetic die cylinder for quick changeovers, using just three waste sheets to set up. As such, it’s a niche product that’s not necessarily going to replace an industrial-scale piece of equipment but rather provide an additional line for short-run, quick turnaround work. As Hengst points out, its versatility will enable print shops to process even quite highly specialised jobs at a profit, something that printers seem to recognise with a couple of orders being signed in quick succession at PacPrint.

Looking at the market as a whole, Hengst believes that after a number of years in which prepress equipment has been the main focus of printers’ attention, finishing equipment is now back in vogue as companies play catch-up. And while there has been a lot of talk about inline finishing, particularly in digital print, Hengst says there is still a case to be made for standalone equipment.

“Standalone finishing equipment has a much longer life span than inline equipment,” he says, pointing out that if a printer invests in a new digital machine with inline finishing, they may be forced to pay for it all over again two or three years later when the digital printer is replaced. With standalone equipment, only the digital printer needs to be replaced as the technology advances while the finishing equipment remains viable for a number of years.

Equally, he says, standalone equipment allows the digital printer to be run at its top speed rather than having to match the top speed of the inline finishing equipment which might be slower. Then, while one job is being finished offline, the digital printer can be busy with the next one.

Take it in-house
Growing interest in finishing equipment also mirrors the desire of printers to manage more of their work in-house. Tom Ralph, managing director at Graph-Pak, noted that this is particularly true during hard times such as the current economic downturn when cash is king and everybody is keen to hang onto their money.

One process that has traditionally been out-sourced is laminating but, according to Ralph, the trend in recent years has been to bring the process back in-house, a shift which has seen sales of laminators “go through the roof” he says.

“And because we have the benchmark machines, we’ve done very well,” he added.

Graph-Pak supplies the Autobond range of laminating equipment from the UK, ranging in size from small hand-operated A3-size equipment up to fully automated A1-size lines. One of the reasons why laminating has become so popular in recent years, according to Ralph, is because it has become so much easier to do. New film technology has removed much of the hassle and guesswork out of laminating, meaning that it is now much more feasible for printers to do it themselves. The latest machines, for instance, even include web cameras and a Skype connection enabling support technicians to log in and analyse any problems that an operator may be having.

Laminating or celloglazing has also become increasingly popular amongst digital printers, according to Wal Sadlo of Walcar Graphics, because it offers that extra degree of protection and a nice finish to the print. While large volumes still tend to get sent to trade houses, there has been a shift towards handling shorter runs in-house, typically the type of work produced on a digital machine. There can be other advantages too. Sadlo points to the example of a copy shop in Sydney which installed a celloglazing machine to handle small volumes only to discover that the word soon went out that it was able to do short-run celloglazing, resulting in local printers queuing up to use it as a quick turnaround trade service.

Digital operators still need to be careful, however, said Sadlo, because not all celloglazing/laminating equipment is compatible with copier-type machines that use silicon-based oil toner. Buyers should be aware, he said, and make sure that they check what works with what.

At PacPrint, Walcar Graphics was showing the eye-catching range of yellow Foliant celloglazing equipment. Manufactured in the Czech Republic, the Foliant models also come in a range of sizes from small, hand-operated models up to large fully-automated systems, such as the model recently installed at the McPherson’s book printing facility in Maryborough, Victoria. According to Sadlo, the most popular models in the range are the SRA3-size, 320 x 450mm sheet units, ideal for most cut-sheet digital output.

Put on a coat
Laminators and celloglazers are not having it all their own way though. Offline UV coaters also figured prominently at PacPrint, such as on the GBC and Renz Masterbind stands, and there is a definite case to be made for coating over laminating, say the suppliers. Some users prefer an overall coat to laminating because it is perceived to be more environmentally-friendly, being easier to recycle than laminated paper. Equally, as Raj Dang, general manager for document print and finishing solutions at GBC, pointed out, not every job is suitable for laminating. For instance, short run work which doesn’t need the finish or protection that laminating provides can be more cost-effectively sealed with a UV coat.

“Not every business card needs to be laminated when a UV coat will do just as well,” he commented.

At the same time, offline UV coaters are mainly aimed at the offset market due to perceived difficulties with running digital print through the coaters. Better get one of each then, eh? Which is why GBC supplies both coating and laminating equipment. At PacPrint, it was showing, for the first time worldwide, a new sub-$3,000 desktop automatic laminator which is a step up from an office-type machine and yet simplicity itself to operate, highlighting how the process is becoming more affordable and accessible for all.

FOD for thought
Think before you buy was the message from Rod Fowler, managing director at Renz Masterbind, who said that printers still don’t pay enough attention to the type of finishing equipment they are running or buying. While they will often research the latest digital print technology in detail, when it comes to the finishing equipment, not enough thought goes into analysing their requirements, he said.

Fowler highlighted the need for printers to think about FOD (finishing on demand) as well as POD (print on demand) because the two go hand-in-hand. Too often, printers are using older equipment which is not suitable for current demands.

“Finishing is typically all last minute work and needs to be rushed through, but many printers are still using equipment chosen a long time ago,” he commented, adding that the level of finishing efficiency in the industry is “abysmal”.

When printers are looking at equipment, he said, they need to think carefully about what it needs to do, and not just be swayed by price. There are big differences between brands and models, and it pays to find out what they can and can’t do. He points to examples of printers going to Officeworks to buy binding equipment that is only really suitable for an office environment, not a production line.

“Our equipment may be a bit more expensive but it is built to last and it goes faster so the cost per book is less.”

Renz equipment is all German made, as are the consumables which Fowler says also need to be of a consistently high quality and safe to use. He cites the example of 250,000 copies of a SpongeBob SquarePants book in the US which had to be recalled because the coating on the wire binding - manufactured in China – contained excessive amounts of lead. Renz is the largest supplier of wire binding supplies locally and has grown its business by more than 70 per cent over the past couple of years. Its PacPrint stand this year was three time bigger than four years ago.

Renz was also highlighting plastic spiral binding this year as another area which has grown enormously in recent times, particularly for textbooks and educational materials. That’s because it is easy to do and popular with customers because the binding doesn’t crush in school bags and backpacks, says Fowler. He estimates this market is growing by 40-50 per cent annually.

Photo books are another growth product and Renz has been very active in this area too. At PacPrint it was showing the Schmedt range of case binding equipment which is ideally suited to runs of one or two copies with no set-up required between different sizes. The demos highlighted how easy it is to do single copies of case-bound books with a very simple make-ready and a high quality finish. Renz has supplied this type of equipment to some of the largest photo book printers in the country and the market is continuing to expand.

The message here is that there are opportunities out there for printers with the right equipment who are prepared to do it for themselves and make more out of their paper than by simply printing on it.