Binding - Perfect

WESTAMPTON, NJ—In another positive sign that things are turning around for the better in the graphic arts, a special customer expo conducted here recently by MBO America and Muller Martini attracted more than 250 participants. Held in early June at MBO America's Westampton headquarters, the exposition was attended by key executives and technicians from facilities that operate or plan to run binderies. Their focus was on a variety of finishing solutions that were operated continuously throughout the event. Werner Naegeli, president and CEO of Muller Martini, headed the team representing his company at the event. "It's always great to meet face-to-face with bindery

BY MARK SMITH Adhesive binding has long been a benchmark of quality for finishing, but equipment costs and setup times traditionally had kept the process in the realm of long-run and/or higher end projects. The prevailing trend now in "perfect" binding systems is increasing their flexibility to handle shorter runs. This is true for all levels of equipment, but particularly for the relatively new product category of units designed to work in conjunction with digital printing systems. A related trend is the industry's move to computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) that is trickling down to postpress operations in general. Unlike prepress and printing, though, digital

BY DAVE CLOSSEY There is as much variation in company owners as there is in the companies themselves. This is what makes competition great; there are hundreds of ways to run a successful company. For some owners, the plan might go something like this: Target a specific market niche; pursue clients in that niche; and sit comfortably on a steady—and hopefully predictable—revenue stream. Gary Markovits, president of E&M Bindery in Clifton, NJ, sees things a little differently. "My wife always says to me, 'Your company is doing well. Why not sit back and relax?' " laughs Markovits. "But that isn't the way I am.

BY CAROLINE MILLER Brenda Slacum, COO of Specialties Bindery, has a favorite saying: "We are a brand new company with a 30-year history." It's a statement that might leave you scratching your head if you're not familiar with this trade bindery, which specializes in mechanical (Wire-O, spiral wire, plastic coil and plastic comb) binding, perfect binding, as well as folding, rotary scoring, collating, fulfillment and related services. But this $6.5 million, 85-employee trade services company, which is located in a 108,000-square-foot facility just outside of Washington, DC, in Hyattsville, MD, has a bit of a Cinderella story to tell—thanks in part to its COO.

BY ERIK CAGLE If it is September, this must be Chicago. Change is in the air, and where else but the Windy City is more apropos for taking a reading of this change? It is a special year for the graphic arts industry, as it seems to be in transition. Layoffs have rocked many of the big printers as a swooning economy has touched all. Manufacturers are crossing their fingers in the hope that PRINT 01 is successful; some have gone as far to call this a "make-or-break" show in light of some poorly attended trade shows this year. Manufacturers, suppliers, printers, trade finishers,

BY ERIK CAGLE Whatever fat existed in the adhesive binding portion of the postpress workflow has long since been trimmed away. The days of the long run are long gone. On-demand environments are everywhere, and inventories are kept as low as possible. Makeready times must make a NASCAR pit crew green with envy, and the machines must be easy to use, as quality help, like substance in this year's presidential election, is nowhere to be found. Through it all, customers are still asking for lower prices—frantically waving table-top machine money while standing in front of the floor- model machines. They can't be blamed;

The finishing end of the entire on-demand printed product workflow is the poor stepchild of the digital family, watching in envy as the prepress and printing sides get the technological pony for Christmas. But it shouldn't and doesn't have to be that way.

BY CHARLOTTE MILLS SELIGMAN Milt Vine, president and CEO of Seattle Bindery, is often asked why he chose to acquire a trade bindery, particularly given his background as a CPA with one of the Big Five accounting firms. When he purchased a tabbing operation in 1991, and then a letterpress shop a few years later, folks pretty much fell silent on the subject, thinking Vine had some secret formula for success. "Well, I don't," contends Vine. "I've just been around long enough to know that all the trends analysis in the world can't predict success. I also know that while some printing companies may, in fact,

In the early '70s, Marty Anson had a dream: Build a better bindery. Now, 25 years later, the $15 million bindery "kingpin" is at it again. This time, he's expanding with new satellite facilities. BY CHERYL ADAMS He wasn't sitting in the middle of a corn field, like Kevin Costner's character in a "Field of Dreams," but F. Martin "Marty" Anson had a vision just the same 25 years ago: "Build it and they will come." Anson wanted to build a better trade bindery—one that would be a solid performer, a state-of-the-art operation that could weather the fierce storm of competition—a storm that

BERRYVILLE, VA—Berryville Graphics, reportedly the nation's third-largest book manufacturer, recently obtained its first patent and may soon seek another. The patent was issued for the company's Duratech bookbinding process, an alternative to traditional smythe sewing that provides a "lay-open" quality for easy reading. Duratech uses a pliable cold adhesive, twice-reinforced with hotmelt and pulled into an old-world European-styled spine that has been tested by independent labs for durability. Developed by Berryville engineers for use in conjunction with the company's linked in-line system, the Duratech process takes six-and-a-half minutes from binding to jacketed product, and produces 110 bound books per minute. The Duratech patent is