Production in Melody Press Printers’ bindery is smoother, more streamlined and bottlenecks have been eliminated following its investment in a Horizon SPF/FC-200A stitch/fold/trim line supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems Ltd.

Seamless production has been introduced at the Guernsey general commercial printer, which is this year celebrating its 60 anniversary. Working with the financial sector and government departments as well as local customers, it produces litho print on a four-colour Heidelberg SpeedMaster 52, two two-colour Heidelberg QuickMaster 46s and digital on a Xerox 700 and Xerox 75 presses.

“It is making a huge difference,” states group head of operation Alan Jackson. “It is a lot more efficient. We have seen a four-fold increase in productivity. For some jobs we have gone from being able to complete 300 booklets per hour to 1800.”

He continues: “The bindery used to be a bottleneck but the Horizon has completely removed that. We will be able to take on more work confident in our ability to meet our client’s deadlines. It will pay for itself in spades.”

On choosing the Horizon SPF/FC-200A he says: “Our existing Horizon stitch fold trim line was 25 years old and it was not as reliable as it once was. We looked at Duplo systems but having run a Horizon system for so long we knew any like for like replacement would be reliable. We had more confidence in its abilities. We also knew we would have a great service relationship with IFS. It was a no brainer.”

As for the enhanced operation delivered by increased automation Jackson says: “The touch screen set up makes operation easy and will help us with shorter runs. It genuinely does what is says on the tin.”

The 4,500bph JDF-ready Horizon SPF/FC-200A features a 200-programme job memory storage for instant recall, an icon-based touch-screen for job set-up and a 10-station VAC-Turbo 1000 PowerCollator.