CHICAGO, September 28, 2003 – Heidelberg introduced its revolutionary new Speedbander automated bander at Graph Expo/Converting Expo 2003 in Chicago. The Speedbander is a highly productive and flexible solution for binderies and commercial printers. It will be available January 2004. The Speedbander is ergonomically designed and is operated by a central control panel with touch screen. The whole panel swivels around for true three-sided operation. A fast and user-friendly setup procedure allows menu-driven operation and any manual settings are easy and fast. “The Speedbander is amazing technology that supports Heidelberg’s goal to develop solutions that drive efficiency and profit for our customers,” said Larry Tanowitz, senior vice president, finishing, Heidelberg USA. “Printers are focusing more on the finishing operations of their businesses and recognize that speed and accuracy are crucial to preventing bottlenecks and meeting deadlines. The Speedbander is the perfect fit for print shops with demanding finishing needs.” The Speedbander accepts folded and stitched products, maximum 3-up or 4-up, collates them into packs, bands and delivers them at an ergonomic working height. Functions such as counting, pressing, jogging and banding are fully automated and are rationalizing the workflow downstream of folders and stitchers. It processes 600 packs per up per hour and therefore bands at almost twice the speed as other systems. The pack height can be varied between ¾” and 6”. The high speed makes it feasible to use the Speedbander behind a stitcher. For example, a stitcher can maintain 15,000 cycles per hour for a banded pack of 25 stitched products and makes it possible to save entire manual steps in the after-finishing process. Quality and control are important factors. The folded or stitched products are monitored by sensors and automatically measured and imperfect products are diverted without interrupting production or stopping the machine. An integrated and newly designed pressing station ensures equal pressure over the whole width of the equipment. Automated jogging from three sides ensures clean pile stacking. Adjustable pile height compensation ensures that brochures and folded products, whose spines can vary greatly in thickness, can be processed efficiently. Innovative ultrasonic fusion technology bands packs quickly, reliably and with consistently high quality. This technology does not produce heat or debris as opposed to heat-activated banding materials. Minimum formats of 4” x 3" up to a maximum of 37” x 9 1/4" with a maximum thickness of up to 1/4" can be processed. Different color or clear plastic banding materials are available and can be easily exchanged. The ultra-sonic consumable cost is comparable to the heat-activated materials and customer can also use 50 mm or 30 mm wide materials. This option offers even greater economy. The Speedbander comes standard with a height-adjustable delivery table. The full-wide delivery belt prevents scuffing and allows for spaces between bundles, so it is very easy to remove the finished packs. A lateral output option will be available to be able to deliver the packs back towards the operator side and to save space.