IMPLANT MOVES INTO BOOKS WITH HORIZON

Melbourne-based printer Implant Media is making a major move into the books market, installing a new Horizon BQ-270V perfect binder, supplied by Currie Group, to give it the production power it needs.

Implant has primarily served the music industry since it was established, printing CDs, vinyl, t-shirts and associated products. Owner Shiran De Soysa said the company has now decided to move into additional new fields, identifying books and stickers as key market opportunities.

De Soysa said, “We have been doing a little bit in both areas, and see books particularly as a market that we can serve very well. We have a lot of knowledge and expertise within the company, we have some exposure in books, it is a natural fit for us.”

Implant chose Horizon thanks to its existing experience with both Horizon and Currie Group. De Soysa said, “We already run a Horizon die cutter, guillotine and an older perfect binder. We are well aware of the engineering excellence and the reliability. And we’ve always had great service from Currie Group.”

The company has set up a new division, PrintBooks+ to engage with the market, with a dedicated website. It prints its short run books inhouse on its two digital print systems, with the Horizon handling all the perfect binding.

The new Horizon BQ-270V has been up and running for the past two months, De Soysa said, “It has exceeded our expectations. It is more accurate than our older model, the cycle time is better, the jobs are cleaner, crisper and sharper.”

Vince Pignataro, Victorian account manager at Currie Group, said, “I have known Shiran for many years, and during my visits to the site, it was obvious his binder was getting old and had no automation, limiting the ability to produce volume books with accuracy and better produced finished products.

“Shiran reached out to Currie Group to explain the features and benefits of the newer Horizon BQ-270V, and once he realised the ease and automation the Horizon BQ-270V gave him, it a was the right solution for the business.”

With a top speed of 500 cycles per hour and a book thickness of 1-50mm, the Horizon BQ-270V is JDF compatible. It can automatically set up – via a central touch screen control – the book-block dimensions and glue application, as well as cover feeding, positioning and scoring. Up to 200 different jobs can be programmed into the machine’s memory to be recalled at a later date.

Other features include the top-feed cover station (positioned to accommodate inline scoring), that can handle up to 70mm of cover stock; the gluing station that has two application rollers, as well as side glue rollers, to aid binding strength; and the rotary milling and roughening blades that can mill off up to 3mm from the book spine, helping the glue to penetrate better.

A changeover from A4 to A5 size book can be completed in 10 seconds. Currie Group says the strong, rigid nipping and cover scoring stations are comparable to larger industrial book binders, for strong, accurate binding. The “V” in the BQ-270V allows Implant Media to also bind variable book thickness.