Bill Davey likes to get it right the first time. That's why whenever possible the Seattle Bindery Production Manager does mockups of jobs in advance. That practice paid off on a recent map-folding project. . .10,000, 8-panel maps for a national scientific and education institution.

Because the job called for 78# cover stock, Davey was concerned that the specified perf'd outer panels would be stressed during the multiple folding on Seattle Bindery's MBO 30 x 50-inch folder. After receiving blank stock from the customer, the production team constructed mockups with the perfs and ran them through the folder. Confirming Davey's suspicions, the perf'd panels broke away on the equipment. Davey recommended scoring the outer panels instead.

The job arrived a Monday on 28 x 40-inch press sheets that were immediately put on Seattle Bindery's Bobst Autoplaten press for scoring. (Click here for a case study we did on the Bobst)

The production team then sent the job to the trimmer and began prepping the folder for makeready, which they knew would take longer than usual. Six hours later the job was running slowly but surely on the MBO in perfect register and perfectly square. "Because of the thickness of the stock and the full-size press sheets, the MBO was the obvious choice," says Davey. "We needed the flexibility of extending all the rollers as wide as possible."

The number of folds—seven accordion folds and one right angle double parallel fold—and the thickness of the stock also required the MBO to run at its slowest speed to ensure unbroken production. The speed also allowed the job to be bundled and shrinkwrapped right off the folder. "It was a blessing in disguise," Davey reflects. "If we'd run it at full speed we probably would have lost time at the end because we would have had to offload the job onto another piece of equipment. This way, the shrinkwrapping was done in-line."

The customer requested a partial delivery on a Wednesday, which Seattle Bindery easily met. The remainder was delivered the next morning, right on deadline. "Folding projects can be both interesting and challenging," enthuses Davey. "That's why I've learned over these many years to run tests beforehand. It's the only way to avoid heartache in the end."

 To see folding portion of this job in action, click here.

Seattle  Bindery
6540 South Glacier Street, Suite 120
Seattle, WA 98188

Phone: 425-656-8210
Fax: 425-656-4400
miltvine@seattlebindery.com
www.seattlebindery.com

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