SOS Print & Media install Australia's first Wilstead book-on-demand finishing line.

Sydney-headquartered SOS Print & Media Group has ordered the country’s first Wilstead Digital Finishing Fastset 60/700 automated three-knife trimming and book finishing line..

Wilstead Digital Finsishing exhibited the machine at Ipex where SOS’s Michael Schulz and Michael Peel first spotted it.

“I was immediately impressed with the quality of engineering,” says Schulz, “but even more impressed with the speed of job changes between differing book sizes – as little as five seconds. This is increasingly important in our era of ultra-short book printing runs, where an order for just a few ‘C’-size books can be followed by an even shorter run of, say, A4 books. The Wilstead Fastset 60/700 enables virtually uninterrupted production from the perfect binder to finished books ready for shipping. It fits very well with our digital book production platform.”

SOS’s Wilstead Fastset 60/700 will feature a Data Matrix Barcode reading system that scans each book as it approaches the trimming station and sends the size and other instructions such as clamp pressure, to the trimmer in preparation for the five-second job change. Books can be automatically transferred from any perfect binder, cooled on the spine to set the PUR or other hot melt glue, dropped singly or in multiples into the 20 feed pockets, which then convey the books into the final trimming station. Sewn book blocks can also be accommodated prior to casing in.

When trimming single books, maximum book height is 60mm and Wilstead’s Fastset 60/700 will finish 700 books per hour. If trimming thinner books, they can be stacked into the pockets to increase production up to 2,800 books per hour. Information is constantly exchanged between the binder and the dryer/feeder conveyor to ensure all functions are fully synchronized and productivity is maintained.

Managing Director of Wilstead Bill Tunstead mentions: “We are delighted that SOS has chosen Wilstead for its book-on-demand finishing. Our solution uses hydraulics for cutting and clamping, which we find is much stronger, more accurate and reliable than other methods such as pneumatics. SOS has also wisely chosen the Ethernet/serial link option that enables the reporting of production details to their IT system and also provides remote internet access for monitoring and software upgrades. Books-on-demand printed digitally are changing the publishing world and we believe the Fastset 60/700 is the perfect partner to any digital book press and binding line.”

The order for SOS’s Wilstead line was facilitated locally by industry specialist Andy McCourt of mccourt consulting & communications. He comments: “When I saw Wilstead’s Fastset 60/700 at Ipex, I recognized what a game-changer it could be in book publishing. We arrived at a sales representation arrangement and the next step was to cater for local servicing. We found two very capable contract engineers with press and electronics experience and they will complete their training during the SOS installation. With this plus a local essential parts inventory, online support and Fastset’s amazingly robust construction that requires only a weekly lube and clean, SOS can be confident that they won’t be let down in the all-important book finishing area.”

McCourt continues: “Books on demand are the best opportunity in publishing today and also offer a progressive pathway to ensure the future prosperity of printed books. With the Wilstead it is even possible to automate everything from the digital press, book block formation, to infeeding at the binder, and then outfeed into the three knife trimming system. This creates a true ‘book factory’ where white paper and data come in one end, and finished books out of the other, with very little human intervention.”

SOS Print & Media Group is a rapidly growing print and allied media communications company with a strong position in the short-run book market, using the latest digital and offset technologies to service publishing houses, the education sector, self-publishers and corporate communication needs.