Expanding the Bindery's Repertoire

Trade binderies are certainly facing more competitive times. And any trade bindery owner looking to keep his business going, or expand it, must look at what other opportunities are to be had outside of traditional print finishing. There is no shortage of ideas that are pushed by the print industry “think tanks.”

Packaging is one. Since consumer and business packaging doesn't seem to be facing any end-of-life issues, potentially providing some packaging services seems to be within the realm of possibility for may trade binders. Some of the finishing gear used in the trade bindery can be used to produce packaging products.

Pharmaceutical insert folding has long been a trade bindery specialty, and there are folding machine vendors who specialize in building these complex buckle folders that can perform many multiple folds on lightweight paper to reduce a large instruction sheet to a tiny packet. And along with the inserts, folder-gluers are extremely flexible systems that are used for processing mailers of various sizes, but can also be configured to turn out boxes of many sizes and configurations. And a variety of attachments (on the inside or outside) can be added to the box in the process.

And speaking of boxes, there is opportunity in producing a range of custom paperboard products. Luxury boxes, slipcases, kits, puzzles and more can be manufactured with the right equipment. This is not to imply that trade binderies can easily enter some additional markets. The packaging world is certainly full of qualified suppliers. But trade binderies have accumulated finishing knowledge spanning hundreds of product types and techniques.

I would certainly appreciate hearing from trade binderies about how you successfully entered a new market. Simply email me at finishingres@comcast.net with your story. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!