Horizon launches new inline saddle stitcher.
The iCE StitchLiner Mark V sets new standards in digitalisation and marks the technological peak in the industrial production of saddle-stitched brochures from the high-speed inkjet. It can be combined with unwinding systems from all well-known manufacturers and impresses with the highest processing quality, optimised paper run and new possibilities for quality assurance.
Highest quality without loss of speed
After unwinding and cross-cutting, each sheet is individually registered and creased. This ensures maximum precision in the subsequent folding process. The sheets are then transported in an overlapping stream to the saddlestitcher in the newly developed transport system. Here the signatures are folded individually, collected on top of each other and completed. The booklets are separated by a newly developed separating unit without any loss of speed. Booklets with variable page counts can be processed fully automatically without any operator intervention: The separation of the brochures is controlled via a mark or barcode reading. Finally, the brochure is stapled on the saddle in the spine. The system produces up to 6,000 booklets per hour (12,000 in two-up production).
The optional CF-50D cover feeder with individual creasing allows six- and eight-page covers to be fed or sheets to be inserted at any position in the brochure. Up to three feeders can be connected for this purpose. To expand the production possibilities, the CF-50D can also be used as a digital feeder for processing sequentially printed single sheets from the pile.
Quality assurance throughout the production process
An optional tracking system is used for quality assurance throughout the production process. For example, it monitors the job number (ID) for separating the booklets, checking the page sequence and the total number of pages for accuracy. Optionally, there is a comparison between cover and content as well as a final check after the three-page trim.
"The iCE StitchLiner Mark V is the result of consistent further development with a focus on automation, quality and simple operation in continuous operation," summarises Managing Director Timm Edelhoff.
Networking on a new level
"With the StitchLiner Mark V as part of the new iCE series, we have created a system that can be profitably integrated into a fully automated workflow thanks to its high level of automation," Timm Edelhoff continues.
The iCE series - (i) Intelligence, Integration, Interaction, (C) Connection, (E) Efficiency - ensures even more efficiency and productivity in finishing with consistent automation and an optimised user interface. Connected with the cloud-based workflow service iCE LiNK, a fully networked working environment is created. In this way, production processes can be monitored, analysed, visualised and thus made even more efficient in real time.
Successful field test and initial installation
As part of a technology partnership, Horizon has tested the StitchLiner Mark V together with Esser printSolutions GmbH for its market readiness. After successful completion of the European field test, the first system was installed at the Bretten site. Horizon has now started series production with the StitchLiner Mark V.
