Watkiss Automation Ltd is a leading manufacturer and supplier of print finishing equipment, offering a range of solutions to help customers optimise profitability and productivity in their print finishing operations.  At Drupa 2012, Watkiss will demonstrate applications and new solutions for colour digital print and variable data booklet making in Hall 13, Stand B70.

Highlights of the Watkiss Drupa programme include:

• PowerSquare 200 for the Colour Digital Print market

At Drupa Watkiss are unveiling a PowerSquare booklet maker with full bleed trimming, specifically targeting the colour digital print market.

By adding a two-knife trimmer to the PowerSquare 200 booklet maker, full-bleed print jobs can be produced in a single-pass direct from the printer, without any intermediary handling.  The need to trim the sheets on a guillotine either before or after booklet making is removed. 

The entire booklet making operation – stitching, folding, spine-forming, face-trimming and side-trimming - is quick and easy to control from the intuitive colour touchscreen.  The operator simply enters the paper size, finished book size and number of stitches that are required.  If needed, the side trimming can be offset to match the printed image.

The Watkiss PowerSquare 200 booklet maker is already very successful in the monochrome printing sector, due to its unique ability to produce SquareBack books up to 200 pages thick.  Watkiss expects this success to be repeated in the colour sector and will be producing high pagination digitally printed colour booklets and photo books on their Drupa stand.

• PowerSquare 200 for Variable Data printing

Watkiss will be showing variable data applications on the Nearline PowerSquare 200, a booklet making solution for digital printers that combines a high capacity dual sheet feeder with the Watkiss PowerSquare 200 booklet maker to effortlessly convert digital print into high quality stitched booklets. 

With variable data printing, not only does the data change, but the pagination can also change. The PowerSquare 200 auto-compensates for this variability in book thickness.  It is equipped, as standard, with Optical Mark Recognition in both feeders to check the set integrity and control the complete set.  Barcode Readers can also be included to provide individual sheet-by-sheet integrity checking and to initiate the booklet making process. 

• Watkiss finishing portfolio

In addition to these innovations, Watkiss will be showing a wide portfolio of online and offline finishing systems, including the Watkiss DigiVAC, Watkiss Vario and Document Finishing System.  SquareBack book production will be demonstrated on the Watkiss PowerSquare 200 Booklet Maker and the SpineMaster.