The rise of print-on-demand has placed a raft of new demands on the finishing sector over the past few years. With shorter print runs and web-to-print applications, jobs need to be turned around faster. In addition, on-demand printers, many with digital presses, are bringing more post-press functions in-house and demanding more highly automated kit. The new generation of binders and trimmers have stepped up to the challenge.

"Compared to 10 or 15 years ago, when machines were manual, to change from bulk to bulk involved a lot of tools and keys. Now it's within 10 seconds," says Terry Cooper Services sales director Dean Stayne. "We have one client who takes orders through the internet and each cover produced is different and digitally printed."

"Look at the whole market because there are a lot of new things around - the change from litho to short-run digital has brought about a phenomenal change," adds Mike Biggs, managing director at Encore machinery.

A cut above the rest
That change has resulted in many binding lines fitted with an inline three-knife trimmer. "This year we have a customer who invested in two four-clamp binders, fitted inline with a three-knife trimmer, and every book they are producing on it is different," adds Biggs. "We are talking about very short-run book production in different sizes and formats. With different sizes and widths the machine has to be able to reset straight away."

In the perfect binding arena, there are two main options: EVA hotmelt glue and PUR gluing. "PUR is stronger, but you pay twice as much money for it because of its strength," says Stayne.

With EVA, hotmelt ethylene vinyl acetate glue is melted and brushed over the spine of the book - PUR uses a polyurethane reactive glue that cures when exposed to moisture in the air and the substrate, resulting in a superior bond within the fibres of the paper, offering better pull strength. Despite being more expensive than conventional glue, only half as much is needed.

Although improvements have been made on hotmelts over the last few years, PUR is becoming increasingly popular because of the rise of digital printing according to Stayne.

"Because of the toners used, hotmelt can't stick digitally printed stock together," says Stayne.

Most manufacturers will be showing examples of both PUR and EVA systems at Ipex. It's an ideal opportunity to talk to all of the players in the market and to check the quality of work being produced.

WHAT'S NEW IN Perfect binders & 3-knife trimmers

?    Watkiss Automation will showcase its complete range of products at Ipex next month. Visitors to the Watkiss stand will be shown how its machines deliver better efficiency, productivity and quality
?    Horizon’s flagship CABS6000 17-clamp binder will get its worldwide launch at Ipex. The perfect binder can produce 6,000 books per hour while a swappable glue tank unit allows users to switch between EVA and PUR hotmelt options. The SB-09S 9-clamp perfect binder is also new for Ipex
?    Encore Machinery plans to showcase a new JUD perfect binder at Ipex for short-run hardcase book-binding which includes a new system for PUR binding
?    Terry Cooper Services (TCS), which is sharing a stand at Ipex with CP Bourg, will provide ongoing demonstrations of the Challenge range of CMT trimmers at the show. In September, it launched a three-knife trimmer: the CMT330 from Challenge is available in both inline and near-line versions with an optional multibook feature