KBR Graphics Canada, a major supplier of printing equipment, announces that Hume Intermedia Services Inc., a Toronto, Ontario full-service digital and offset print and fulfillment firm, recently installed a new Standard Horizon BQ-470 PUR perfect binder, the first of its kind in Canada with PUR glue system.

"Our motto has always been 'Service, service, service'," says John Hume, president of Hume Intermedia Services. "By installing the new Standard Horizon BQ-470 PUR perfect binder, we are anticipating our customers' ever increasing needs---for both PUR, which all publishers are demanding, and improved reliability and productivity."

The Standard Horizon BQ-470 fully-automated four-clamp perfect binder, with its state-of-the-art design and fully-automated setup, is easy to operate with minimal operator training required. It produces up to 1,350 superior-quality perfect bound books per hour, with four clamps that travel on a vertical elliptical track. The BQ-470 is the latest in an expanding line of products that draw on Horizon's core competence in finishing automation. The BQ-470 binder's 10.4" LCD touch-screen is used to provide stepper motor-controlled automation to the professional-quality mid-range binding market. The BQ-470 can bind books up to 2.5" thick, and supports PUR adhesive to meet varying customer requirements including digital color books. The BQ-470 perfect binder fits a sweet spot in short-run professional-quality book production with full automation and touch-screen control.

The PUR glue system allows the BQ-470 to serve an even wider range of applications. PUR, which stands for polyurethane reactive, is chosen over standard hotmelt adhesives for many reasons, the most important of which are its superior adhesion and the ability of a PUR-bound book to lie flat when open. PUR is unique in that it will bond to lacquer and UV-cured coatings, films such as Mylar, as well as paper. Due to the polar nature of the polyurethane molecule, these adhesives also bond well to clay-coated papers.

"Our well informed clients understand the need the PUR durability provides for their products," says Hume. "The BQ-470 PUR capability enables us to produce superior quality books up to 2.5 inches thick with fast changeovers for short runs. Our publishing clients are demanding PUR for their products and we are happy to comply. This technology is another asset that sets us apart from our competition."

For maximum efficiency and throughput, the BQ-470 features an intelligent icon-based color touchscreen that facilitates set-up and allows for instant recall of regular jobs from memory. The installation and start-up of their perfect binder, says Hume, was easy and quick.

"We replaced two Standard Horizon BQ-270 perfect binders with the new Standard Horizon BQ-470," says Hume. "In one month, we found that the BQ-470 was far more productive than two BQ-270s. Now we have ample excess capacity to do even more books due to the BQ-470's speed and reliability."

Since being established 22 years ago, Hume Intermedia has grown to attract a broad base of over 200 clients in a mix of markets, across Canada, the United States and Europe. In possessing a large stable of high volume digital presses, such as three Xerox iGen high speed four-color digital presses, two Xerox Nuvera 144s and one Nuvera 288 black-and-white digital production systems, a Canon PIXMA PRO9000 large-format inkjet printer, and two Heidelberg GTO offset presses, Hume lives up to its adage that "we can print and bind more color impressions or black-and-white impressions in 24 hours faster than almost all other printer in the country."

"Every job we produce is done in-house," says Hume. "Our clients rest easy in the knowledge all the work we create for them is printed, bound, mailed or distributed under one roof. We are far more efficient than most. Hey and we are east to get along with too."

Hume adds that it is his firm's loyalty to particular brands that kept them with Standard Horizon and KBR Graphics. "We have other Standard Horizon equipment in our bindery, such as an SPF-20A saddle-stitcher and an HT-30 on-demand automated book trimmer that are very reliable," he says.

Hume was founded in March 1988 as a two-man copy shop, squeezed into 1,000 square feet of space. Since then, the 44-employee firm has evolved into Hume Intermedia Services Inc., one of Canada's largest producers of digital color and black-and-white print. The firm's 30,000 sq ft comprise three separate facilities: a downtown studio in Toronto which houses Web hosting, design and creative studio and its large-format production; a warehouse for storage capacity in east-end Toronto; and, next door, the main plant with production, bindery and mailing facilities, along with administration and sales support. Hume's depth of resources has established the firm as a "one-stop source" for its clients' communications needs, from design to print and distribution.

With a tradition spanning over 30 years of dedicated sales and service support to the printing industry, KBR Graphics LTD. has evolved as a major supplier to the printing industry covering the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. The company offers a wide spectrum of graphic arts equipment including major manufacturers such as Standard Horizon finishing solutions, KBA offset presses, Perfecta cutting & paper handling systems, and MGI digital print & finishing solutions. KBR Graphics has locations in both Toronto and Montreal.