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Fat Bottlenecks in the As inkjet web presses speed along faster and faster, finishing partners are striving to keep pace with glossycoated paper printed in color. By MARK VRUNO Digital Bindery I haven't gulped a Mickey's malt liquor since my over-21 college days, but my thirst recalls those wider bottlenecks, through which the beer-like beverage flowed oh, so freely. While the "Big Mouth" bottle metaphor may seem strange in a print finishing context, it is apropos, nonetheless. "A 'bottleneck' is a phenomenon where the performance or capacity of an entire system is limited by a single or limited number of components or resources," so says Wikipedia. In a bindery, that translates to something like this: It doesn't matter how fast presses can print if postpress cannot keep up on the back end. Slow binding lines mean printed work sits idle in rolls or on pallets, waiting to be completed. With production inkjet web presses, as with all printing, putting ink on paper is only the beginning. The increasing personalization of FINISHING FOR PRODUCTION INKJET PRESSES Additional fnishing equipment suitable for color production inkjet presses can be found in our online Buyers' Guide on MyPRINTResource.com. To fnd out more about a specifc product listed, visit the link at the bottom of the product item. bound products presents publishers with new opportunities. (See separate article, "Custom 'Printfomercials' Are in the Mail," on page 8.) As digital color printing on coated paper becomes increasingly attractive, keeping up is what leading postpress solutions manufacturers such as Magnum Digital Solutions, Muller Martini Corp., and Standard Finishing Systems are trying to do. Their automated finishing solutions already can match the high, feet-perminute (fpm) speeds of black-and-white inkjet output such as books, billing statements, and Presto II Saddle Stitcher The Muller Martini Presto II Saddle Stitcher is capable of speeds up to 9,000 cycles per hour. The space saving layout and automation make this saddle stitcher productive and efcient for small to medium sized runs. The Presto II has two options for book thickness control. Lateral thickness measurement, Semko, checks every copy based on a reference value. Incomplete copies are rejected unstitched, reducing waste. The second option for book thickness control is the ridge caliper. Length monitor and staple control are part of the standard confguration. The machine also has electronic product tracking, from the gathering chain to trimmer, to increase production reliability. The Presto II Saddle Stitcher utilizes servo drive in the stitching unit and trimmer to create faster setup times and increase fexibility. The changeover of the Q stitching heads is very short and the stitching wire can be set up very quickly (changeover time reduced by 50 percent). The set-up of the three-knife trimmer without tools is a key feature of the Presto II. Elements of the high-speed three-knife trimmer from Muller Martini were adopted in the contruction, making setup for two-up production very simple. The new cutting sequence and an ergonomic design allow for easy viewing and quick access to the trimmer and infeed. MyPRINTResource.com/10984885 www.MyPRINTResource.com AUGUST 2013 • INKJET'S AGE 23