Maroondah Printing sees new Horizon on the line

Replacing like-with-like, Victoria-based Maroondah Printing exchanges it’s 20-year-old Horizon stitching line with an updated model to cope with heavier covers and larger work volume.

Robert Pruis, owner of Maroondah Printing originally found it difficult to justify on paper putting in a brand new finishing machine for the volume of work it goes through, preferring instead to find a six-year-old second-hand Horizon line, but as the market was not forthcoming he turned to the Currie Group.

“We were unable to find a good second-hand machine in the market as people hang on to them when they have them, so we bought a brand new line since we knew it would give us another 20 years of reliable service,” he says.

Up and running within four hours, office staff and the sole binder finisher on call received training from Currie on how to operate the new line, since it was decades apart from what they were used to.

“We have taught a few people in the office to operate it the new automated finishing machine, so that they can run off a few books if they have to. Finishing operations off the Horizon is so easy that office staff can use it.”

Pruis says workflow of catalogue and magazine work has already increased, as the new stitching line finishes jobs in 30 per cent of the time. “We do a lot of monthly club magazines in two-week bursts and for the rest of the month we run general catalogues and magazines.”

The commercial printer’s new Horizon bindery now features a saddle stitcher in line with three different collators and a paper jogger.