Progress towards automated manufacturing is the defining movement of the printing industry. At PacPrint, Currie Group is showcasing the future of printing with an amazing demonstration of automation, interconnectivity and robotics across its stand.
The file is already loaded into the HP Indigo 12000, the B2-size digital press that is bench-marking digital print quality and productivity. The file is of a perfect-bound, hard-cover book of 88-pages over a print run of less than 20. Its success in emerging at the other end of the process as a ‘ready for market’ product with no touch points along the way is the start of a new era in print production that is set to transform the industry.
To follow the progress of the book file is to chart the transformation that has already altered print production. As a result of digital processes and computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) printing is well on its way to being an automated manufacturing industry. Currie Group has long been a leader in this development by representing such iconic brands as HP Indigo digital presses and Horizon finishing equipment to mention but two of its many leading agencies. Add such names as Scodix for digital foiling and varnishing, ABGi for digital web converting, Cron for CTP, Daeho with cutting equipment and Foliant laminators, and there is a complete picture of how the printing industry will operate in the future.
Once the book file shows up in the digital front end (DFE) on the HP Indigo 12000, it joins any number of other jobs lining up for automated production. The benefit of being able to print job after job without the need to change plates is one of the most striking advantages of the new era of printing. Once printed on both sides the file is transferred automatically to the Horizon SmartStacker. Here the output is cut and folded into sheets, ready for binding.
A Sawyer Collaborative Robot then picks up and transfers the stacked sheets to the adjacent Horizon BQ-480 perfect binder and Horizon HT-1000V three-knife trimmer, where a completed book is produced, all without a touch point.
According to Phillip Rennell, sales and marketing director Currie Group, the print and binding line is a perfect example of the benefits of smart technology integration. “Putting together a production line of automated and compatible machinery makes good sense. It not only speeds up production but thanks to automatic settings it can adjust for different sizes of work without intervention,” he said.
“The perfect bound book line is only one of a number of automated lines we have on the Currie Group stand. Not all of them are completely inline as there’s always a call for standalone equipment but they’re all intelligently linked either through the workflow network or by reading barcodes. This is the future of printing.”
Read the complete article here in the latest issue of Print21 magazine.