3.27.07 -- Duplo USA has launched the versatile ASM-500 Automatic SpineMaster, a highly productive ‘squareback’ finisher, which allows printers to produce a professional, perfect bound book finish on saddle-stitched and folded booklets from both digital and offset printing devices. Developed to connect to Duplo’s DBM-500/500T bookletmaking and trimming module, the ASM-500 is capable of handling paper stocks and thicknesses from 1 to 6.5mm, making it ideal for a range of applications such as magazines, brochures, journals, catalogues and menus. Comments Si Nguyen, Product Marketing Director at Duplo USA: “Like all of today’s consumers, printers live in an on-demand world and therefore have to be able to respond to individual customer requests. As a result, we’ve been asked by many of our offset and digital customers to provide a ‘squareback’ finishing option for booklets to provide the professional look and feel of a perfect bound book, with the added security of stitching. The cost-effective ASM-500 is another great solution to harness the full potential of existing finishing options, providing the flexibility needed in today’s competitive print environment.” In addition to delivering a sleek, professional finish, the booklets can be opened flat without damaging the spine and are easy to store and stack due to their flat appearance. For ease of identification, the book cover design can also be printed on the spine. The user-friendly ASM-500 can be configured for near-line, off-line or in-line connectivity while the heavy duty build allows the ASM-500 to run at the maximum speed of the feeding device. The ‘squareback’ function can easily be switched off when not required, with saddle-stitched, non-squareback books being delivered to the ASM-500 out feed tray. Continues Si Nguyen: “Ultimately, all our products have been designed to realize the full potential of print finishing. The ASM-500 will benefit from our usual after sales service and support and we predict that the ‘squareback’ finisher will be an extremely popular choice for a variety of different print environments, in particular small to medium volume offset and digital printers, educational and government departments as well as in-plants.”