Rotherham quick printer, John Brailsford Printers has added a Horizon SPF-200/FC-200A with two VAC-600 Air-Suction Collators and a Horizon BQ-270V perfect binder following a company-wide operational review.
The latest Horizon solutions join a Horizon PF-40L B3+ paper folder and a Horizon CRF-362 creaser folder.
“The impact on productivity has been enormous,” explains owner and managing director John Brailsford. “It is a huge investment. We don’t view the return on investment we consider the return in terms of labour and time savings. We had quite a few jobs that needed collating and hand marrying. Now, with the twin towers, we can handle a range of jobs quickly and easily.”
He continues: “We had a 2,000 run, 48 page, bi-monthly that we had to collate and hand marry. That took three to four hours and now it takes 45 mins. That alone is a saving of £600 a year.
“Having these solutions allows us to take a step back from the operation and re-evaluate how every job is completed. We check if there is a better way or whether we can save time, labour and add value every time.
“We now have more capacity and that means we can take on more work without needing people. It is making such a difference.”
The 4,500bph JDF-ready Horizon SPF/FC-200A replaced a Horizon stitcher that was 16 years old. It features a 200-programme job memory storage for instant recall, an icon-based touch-screen for job set-up and two VAC-Turbo 600 Power Collators with 12–stations.
“Our old system was a good advert for Horizon equipment and the dealer sold it on to someone else,” says Brailsford. “The technology and automation has changed a lot but the new system is very easy to use and the deeper bins mean less operator input is required. Before we might have had to fill them up four or five times now it is only once. We also use the collators for carbonless sets and again our operators can fill up the bins and leave them.
“We adore the SPF/FC 200a. We have installed some additional software that enables us to take pre-collated printed sheets in reverse order to create a block for the bookletmaker. That means they just need top and bottom trimming otherwise you would need to trim each set.
The Horizon BQ270V was bought to improve the inhouse binding capabilities offered: “It was a ‘treat myself’ purchase,” says Brailsford. “It is like a Rolls Royce that comes out of the garage on a Sunday and that I am really proud of.”
The BQ270 has a cycle speed of 500cph and, as well as completing the entire set-up and fine-tuning, its intuitive icon-based colour touchscreen also accesses the on-board 200-job memory store. An automated, sensor-activated digital caliper system which consistently measures book block thickness and automatically transfers this data to the binder for quick, automated set-up with no cycle lag time for books of different thicknesses.
It was chosen for a regular perfect bound job that had been subcontracted to nearby trade finisher. When the owner retired a small perfect bound system was added to the bindery portfolio. “Upgrading to the BQ270V meant we could provide a much better finish more effectively,” states Brailsford.
He adds: “We were also persuaded by IFS that if we invested in the system we would win work. It has been in a few months now and that has certainly been the case. One day we might do a run of 250 and then a run of one, the next day 500 and then 10. But we can do those jobs quickly and easily. I don’t believe anyone else could produce better quality.”
It also encourages the operation to suggest alternative solutions: “We had someone ask us for wire bound books of 150 sheets. We suggested perfect binding and the customer subsequently discovered that made posting much easier and cheaper.”
Brailsford concludes: “We have known IFS for years. It has an exceptional product and the team know what they are talking about.”
