Postpress specialist Sieber AG, which is based in Fehraltorf in the vicinity of Zurich, Switzerland, has been operating a Eurobind Pro from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) since early this year. Its high level of automation, end-to-end quality monitoring, and images of adhesive applied with high precision using nozzle technology make this PUR adhesive binder the world's most cutting-edge, high-performance machine of its kind. What's more, the new Eurobind Pro can process extreme formats such as signatures up to a width of 350 mm (13.78 in). 

"Our motto is responsibility, care, and enthusiasm," explains Marc Sieber, the third generation of the Sieber family to run the company founded in 1945. "We achieve all three things with the new Eurobind Pro and impress our customers with new and varied end products. We have also gained a great deal on an economic level, because we can now use the entire flat sheet format without any waste," he continues. The company specializes in services focusing on its core business of PUR adhesive binding. It has already bound over one million booklets on the Eurobind Pro.

The entire process can now be monitored 
The Eurobind Pro enables Sieber AG to monitor the entire process for the first time - from gentle pulling of signatures on the feeders and the actual binding process to the trimmed booklet in the Eurotrim Pro three-knife trimmer. This prevents paper waste. To ensure end-to-end quality assurance, a laser monitors adhesive application to within one hundredth of a millimeter. A CCD camera transmits the adhesive image in longitudinal and transverse sections along with a 3D view to a monitor in real time. This ensures that the required thickness of adhesive is applied continuously to the spine of each individual book block. A nozzle system on the Eurobind Pro enables side gluing directly onto the cover. Glue application is thus always even and under control. 

New applications boost added value at the postpress stage 
For spine preparation, the speed of individual tools can be controlled separately from the production output. This enables Sieber AG to adapt spine preparation precisely to the different papers and produce booklets with the maximum mechanical strength and optimum lay-flat properties using the minimum amount of adhesive. "The Eurobind Pro makes it possible to apply the outstanding qualities of the PUR adhesive binding process to even the thinnest print products with just a cover and a single content page," underlines Sieber.

Thanks to the Eurobind Pro, the company is equipped for any job structure. The entire system can be changed over in just a short time. The feeders with servo drives make it possible to prepare one job while another one is still under way. The combination of minimum makeready times and high production speeds of 6,000 cycles per hour results in cost-effective production of everything from short and very short to long industrial-scale runs. Pre-production runs and production stoppages are no problem either because job parameters, including all fine adjustments, can be saved to ensure optimum reproducibility for repeat jobs.