New Bedford, MA – C.P. Bourg, the world's leading technology developer and supplier of in-line and near-line document feeding, binding and finishing equipment for traditional and on-demand print applications, announced today that it is partnering with Productive Solutions to develop, sell and support Productive Solutions' manufacturing integrity software for book binding and finishing applications.
 
Under the partnership, Fairport, NY-based Productive Solutions will work with C.P. Bourg to formally develop its manufacturing integrity software for application to on-demand book binding and finishing. In turn, C.P. Bourg will market, sell and support the new software to C.P. Bourg customers and prospects worldwide. The partnership between the companies applies to all Productive Solutions current and future software products for book and booklet making.
 
Productive Solutions specializes in developing software used to verify the integrity of manufacturing workflows and ensure that all components are correctly matched and assembled in the proper sequence. The company's integrity verification and control systems have been installed globally. In the banking industry, for example, Productive Solutions' technology is used for card fulfillment transaction processing to ensure that each credit, debit and ATM card is correctly affixed to the appropriate mailing form and sent to the right person.
 
For book and booklet manufacturing, the software developed by the two companies relies on similar technology to ensure that the content of each book is complete, pages are in the proper sequence and content is correctly matched to the corresponding cover. The software is being used in manufacturing perfect-bound and stitched booklets, including photo books and and "books of one" that feature unique customer content or variable data.
 
The software will enable C.P. Bourg customers to "mix and match" Bourg's binding and finishing products – including sheet feeders, bleed crease modules, booklet makers and perfect binders – to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity, while transforming Bourg-based book manufacturing lines into "intelligent assembly processes" that can accommodate the complex workflows associated with emerging book-on-demand business models.
 
"By keeping track of all the component pieces within a job as well as of each job, Productive Solutions' software differs from other workflow tools because it ensures full manufacturing integrity for every item produced. This achievement exceeds the simple job tracking made possible by other methods, including Job Description Format (JDF)," explains C.P. Bourg Inc. Executive Vice President and General Manager Rick Trapilo. "Ensuring manufacturing integrity becomes increasingly important as bookbinding shifts from mass production to short and ultra-short manufacturing runs using variable-data production methods on highly automated equipment."
 
Commenting on the partnership, Productive Solutions President Shawn Pearsall says, "Our partnership with C.P. Bourg perfectly complements Productive Solutions mindset and our strengths as a developer of proven document control software. As experts in print finishing, C.P. Bourg has the caliber of people we like to work with – they are knowledgeable, honest and hard-working; they have great products; and their innovative and modular equipment design is well suited to integrating Productive Solutions' technology."
 
Rick Trapilo adds, "Teaming up with Productive Solutions is a natural fit for C.P. Bourg. Productive Solutions' software technology is uniquely suited to book and booklet manufacturing and to working with the modular in-line and near-line binding and finishing products for which C.P. Bourg is well known and highly regarded. We are pleased to be working with Productive Solutions as a strategic partner, and to be adding Productive Solutions' manufacturing integrity solutions to our growing family of industry-leading products for binding and finishing."
 
C.P. Bourg will demonstrate the new manufacturing integrity software technology for a book binding and finishing application at Print 09 in Chicago's McCormick Place September 11-16, 2009 in Booth #3400.