Bindery Automation Takes Center Stage at Expo

Bindery equipment may not command the same attention as sprawling wide-format printers and high-speed digital presses, but in-plants are still giving it a close look at PRINTING United Expo. With staffing challenges and less-experienced operators increasingly common, managers are seeking finishing equipment packed with automation that can reduce setup time, simplify operation, and keep work moving with fewer manual touches.

Automation also helps in-plants cope with the retirement of their skilled operators, points out Tecnau President and CMO Francis McMahon.

"We can't just expect somebody to come in off the street and be able to pick up that skill. So building automation into the products that we have becomes extremely important," he says.

IPI walked the show floor looking at some of the systems on display that can really help an in-plant stand out. Here’s what we saw.

Tecnau Revolution 50 AutoSetup

Tecnau and Sitma are demonstrating intelligent automation and connected workflows in action. Tecnau's Revolution 50 AutoSetup shows how print providers can seamlessly move between applications with automatic format changes on the fly, requiring no operator intervention. Tecnau is also showing CutReady, powered by c7, a compact and versatile cut-sheet finishing solution designed to deliver high-quality, guillotine-like cuts. CutReady handles media weights up to 450 gsm and supports everything from postcards and direct mail pieces to premium print applications.

Muller Separo PRO

Connected automation is also on display in the Müller Martini booth, where the new Separo PRO high-performance destacker is automatically separating stacked book blocks and feeding them into the downstream binding process. You can watch it processing pre-glued, thread-sewn and loose-leaf book blocks in variable formats and thicknesses. Books are being bound inline with the Vareo PRO perfect binder, trimmed by the InfiniTrim three-knife trimmer, and automatically palletized using a Solema robotic solution.

Palamides Gamma 502 HO Automatic Stacker/Bander,

Standard Finishing Systems once again has one of the largest spaces on the Expo floor. It’s showcasing a range of bindery technologies, such as the Horizon BQ-500 Perfect Binder, StitchLiner Mark IV Saddlestitcher, RD-N4055 Die Cutting System, AFV-566FKT Folder, and SPF-2000 Bookletmaker. Standard’s newest solution, the Palamides Gamma 502 HO Automatic Stacker/Bander, counts and stacks output into pre-set quantities and then presses and jogs the stacks to ensure they are flat and fully aligned. Press strength automatically adjusts to the thickness of the stack, and all jogging mechanisms including side joggers are fully automated – manual intervention during setup is not required.

A few aisles away, in a similarly large booth, Duplo USA is showing off its own range of bindery products such as the DC-648 Slitter/Cutter/Creaser, the DDC-810 Pro Raised Spot UV Coater, and the DSM-1000 B2 Platen Die Cutter with new embossing capabilities.

The DC-3 Pro Digital Foil Transfer is being shown as a technology demonstration. It applies standard foils directly onto UV LED-cured ink areas and onto substrates like acrylic, wood, and plastic boards – up to 20mm thick. Elsewhere in the booth, running in-line with a Ricoh Pro C5410S, is the Duplo UD-310 PRO Rotary Die Cutter with embossing capabilities.

Spiel Sterling DigiBinder Super-C 

In a prime spot near the show floor entrance, Spiel Associates is showing a range of bindery equipment. The Sterling DigiBinder Super-C is a self-adjusting perfect binder with an automatic air-cover feeder and vertical stacking. It boasts dual glue pots and a heavy-duty roughing blade handle, and can bind from just two sheets to books over two inches thick, producing up to 300 books per hour, with no manual adjustment required. Also at the booth, the Sterling Coilmaster Pro FB automatically forms coil as it enters a pre-punched book. A conveyor aligns holes to the coil radius, feeds the book to the inserting station, cuts and crimps before ejecting. It runs up to 1,000 books per hour, depending on coil size.

Shark Finishing Machinery is also showing an automated perfect binder, the SB-660ACF. It offers spine milling/notching, an integrated pre-melt tank with side glue application, and an automatic cover feeder with in-line spine and hinge scoring and automatic feed. Also on display is the SC-31TS, a programmable 32.2" hydraulic paper cutter with an air bed, cut line light, safety beams, side tables, micro adjustment, soft clamp foot pedal, spare blade, and blade adjustment right from the screen.

Graphic Whizard launched the SK MAX5 label and die cutter, equipped with a versatile dual-tool head. It handles rotary cutting, kiss cutting, contour cutting, and boasts three separate tangential scoring tools: narrow, medium, and wide. Its vacuum pile feeder allows the SK MAX5 to handle media up to 400 gsm. With intelligent QR code-enabled workflow automation, it supports unattended operation of up to 1,000 sheets. Also at the booth is the PT 195BM Stitch and Fold booklet maker in-line with the new heavy-duty PT 31SB Square Back and PT 31FT Face Trimmer.

Colex Finishing is showing the FOTOBA XLA320, which handles media up to 3.2 meters with fully automatic vertical blade positioning. Designed for banners, rollups, and other large-format substrates, it delivers straight-line cutting productivity up to five to seven times faster than flatbed cutters.

The Summa Vantage Automated Cutting System from Flatbed Tools combines intelligent tooling and automation for efficient, high-speed finishing workflows. Featuring automated calibration, high-speed routing, knife cutting, conveyor automation, and workflow integration, the platform helps streamline cutting operations across a range of production applications.

Cutworx USA is showing the Apex M Series high-speed flatbed Ccutter featuring magnetic linear drive technology, triple-tool capability, a 1.8kW liquid-cooled router, a seven-position automatic bit changer, and an integrated conveyor system. It automates cutting, routing, creasing, and flexible-media processing to increase capacity, reduce waste, and streamline finishing workflows.