BB PRINT INSTALLS NEW STITCHLINER MK IV

By Wayne Robinson | 1 May 2024

Mackay-based BB Print has installed the first Horizon StitchLiner Mark IV in Queensland, supplied by Currie Group, as the company beefs up its service to the mining and general commercial sectors.

First Stitchliner Mk IV in Qld: Gary Bye and Anthony at BB Print — *First Stitchliner Mk IV in Qld: (l-r) Anthony DeStefani and Gary Bye with the new system at BB Print*

The new StitchLiner Mark IV replaces a Horizon StitchLiner 5500, which the company has run for 14 years. The Mark IV comes with auto collation towers, enabling fully automated collation, stitch, fold and trim in one line.

It will produce work including newsletters and programmes, from sheets printed on the company’s fleet of Heidelberg offset presses, with one five-colour, two two-colour and one single-colour machines in operation, as well as from its pair of Fujifilm Revoria digital colour presses.

Nicola Kaye, office co-ordinator at BB Print said, “The StitchLiner 5500 has been a fantastic machine for us, but it was time to upgrade to the latest technology. The level of automation on the new Mark IV is impressive, and we are familiar with the precision engineering of Horizon equipment.”

BB Print is 32 years old, and owned by Gary Bye, one of the original founders, and fellow director Anthony DeStefani, who is part of the Allclear Group of five Queensland-based print businesses. BB Print is a leading print business in the region, it has 25 staff producing a wide range of print for the mining industry, and for the general commercial sector.

The company says the implementation of the Horizon StitchLiner Mark IV is poised to significantly amplify the capacity of BB Print. It says that with an “impressive production speed” of up to 6000 books per hour, a notable improvement over the 5500, the MKIV “ensures heightened efficiency” in BB Print’s manufacturing processes.

The Horizon iCE StitchLiner Mark IV makes booklets at speeds of 6000 an hour. As standard it can connect to Horizon’s cloud-based iCE LiNK workflow. iCE LiNK workflow uses cloud technology to enable customers to begin with real time monitoring of the machine status to enterprise level automation including job scheduling. The intuitive dashboard reports real-time production analysis, for improved efficiency and profitability, remote update capabilities and scheduled maintenance, resulting, says Horizon, in less downtime.

It has non-stop operation, stitches on a wide variety of substrates in both portrait and landscape with the ability to finish A5 books 2-up. It has a 12.1" touch panel display with an icon-based software for user-friendly operation. Each finishing station is automatically set up by simply inputting the sheet size and booklet size on the touchscreen. Up to 999 job settings can be stored to memory for a quick and easy recall.

Michael Mostyn, Queensland sales account manager, Currie Group, said, “Horizon’s three pillars are automation, ease of use and connectivity. Its automation is to minimise touchpoints, enabling quick and easy changeover, and providing accurate quality. The operator friendly icon-driven touchscreens use a common interface that is easy to cross train. The connectivity means being able to expand and integrate with other devices, workflow and robotics.

“Having recently toured the Horizon Innovation Park in Japan, I witnessed this in both the showroom and in Horizon’s own manufacturing processes. Customers will also see this when visiting Horizon at drupa.”