MCA-NetPub Transforms Business with Production Inkjet
MCA-NetPub Inc., a division of Media Corporation of America in business for more than 30 years, has consistently ranked as one of the top twenty digital book printers in the U.S. Its founder, William Grogg, leverages the company’s web-to-print platform to integrate order placement, document management, digital printing, inventory, and shipping management.
Earlier this year, MCA-NetPub began investigating production inkjet to provide increased capacity and affordable color to its operation. “We were increasingly seeing our books and manuals customers incorporating more color in their publications,” Grogg says, “and while we did not feel at risk of losing their business because we could not address this requirement, we felt it would become a greater disadvantage over time.”
Grogg chose to install the Ricoh (Booth 2022) InfoPrint 5000 GP. “In addition to the quality and cost dynamics Ricoh offered,” he says, “I was impressed with their service and support infrastructure in the New York area. I also had confidence in them because of their IBM heritage, and their early role in the development of production inkjet solutions.”
Finishing the deal
Grogg understood that the decision about a finishing solution was integral with the press decision. “We looked at both simultaneously,” he explains. “We needed an integrated in-line solution that could deliver book blocks to our bindery, and we found that Hunkeler’s Roll-to-Cut/Stack solution provided by Standard (Booth 1231) was the ideal answer. Compared to similar solutions on the market, we liked the fact that Hunkeler’s solution featured newer, software-driven technology.”
The configuration MCA-NetPub put together includes a Hunkeler UW6 Unwinder on the front end, the Ricoh InfoPrint 5000 GP inkjet press, a Hunkeler CS6-HS1 Cutter, a Hunkeler SE6 offset stacker for 3-up production, and the Hunkeler LS6 non-stop stacker.
“Both Standard and Ricoh were exceptionally proactive and supportive,” Grogg states. “They worked seamlessly together to get everything up and running efficiently.”
Training for the Hunkeler equipment was accomplished in two stages. First, a trainer from Standard spent one week on-site. The Standard trainer then returned after the operators had some experience with the equipment to address any questions that may have arisen as they became more familiar with operation. “My operators are quite happy,” Grogg adds. “It has really streamlined the operation.”
At MCA-NetPub, media is fed to the Ricoh press via the Hunkeler UW6 Unwinder, printed, and presented first for perfing, which Grogg indicates is used primarily for lab manuals and workbooks where pages need to be detached. The web is then slit for multiple-up jobs, and cut with the CS6-HS1 rotary cutter to the appropriate length (books are typically 6x9" or 8.5x11"). This results in finished book blocks that are perfect or spiral bound off-line, or saddle stitched.
The final word
“I would say that everything is working pretty impressively,” Grogg concludes. “We’re running at 900+ ppm, or 1,828 ipm. The entire configuration is quiet, and runs much cleaner than toner systems. We have been very happy with the support from Standard, and the increased capacity we have gained positions us well for future growth!”
