Outstanding productivity using Goss finishing equipment has now been achieved by 1405 individual crews and earned them membership in the Goss Pacesetter Club.

Established in 1997 to provide an incentive for achieving peak performance on Goss saddlestichers, adhesive binding systems and trimmers, the Goss Pacesetter Club admits new members each year as specific targets are met and productivity records continue to be broken.

“We have seen our customers achieve up to 98 percent production capacity on our finishing systems,” says Tim Van Driessche, Goss director of commercial sales. “These levels of productivity set standards for the whole industry and provide an important benchmark for print purchasers. They demonstrate excellence in areas other than raw performance: operator training, equipment maintenance and efficient workflow are all indicated by achieving Pacesetter Club criteria.

“Submissions for club membership show us that between 50 and 60 percent of Pacesetter machines installed in the past ten years are achieving these high performance levels,” Van Driessche continues. “To hit these levels of productivity demonstrates the longevity of the Pacesetter systems and the high built-in value of installing one of these machines.”

Among those recently admitted to the Pacesetter Club are Japs Olson, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Journal Graphics, of Portland, Oregon; and Freeport Press, Freeport, Ohio.

Japs Olson achieved Pacesetter Club performance with a Pacesetter 1600stitcher with GT-16 trimmer installed in March last year. This powerful combination with its automation features facilitated Pacesetter Club production levels for the company. Able to produce booklets from A3 to A5 size, the Pacesetter 1600 stitcher can incorporate up to 40 independent hoppers and has a maximum output of 16,000 booklets per hour.

“The Pacesetter 1600 has enabled us to operate at twice the speed of our previous equipment,” says Michael Murphy, president of Japs Olson. “The GT-16 trimmer has made a major impact on productivity. All the operator has to do is enter the book size and everything in the line is automatically positioned in a matter of seconds.”

The GT-16 trimmer can also store job information for fast setup when handling repeat jobs. The time gained in this way means that more products can be produced on fewer machines.

Also aiming for a competitive advantage, Journal Graphics, of Portland, Oregon, was looking for a high-speed stitcher. The company installed the first Pacesetter 2200 system on the West Coast and, within three months, two of its operators delivered runs that attained Pacesetter Club status, producing more than 20,300 books per hour.

Similarly, Freeport Press, of Freeport, Ohio also was admitted to the Pacesetter Club using a Pacesetter 2200 saddlestitcher.

“After seeing the performance we could achieve with one Pacesetter 2200, we promptly invested in a second,” says James Pilcher, vice president of production, Freeport Press. “There’s no doubt that our productivity and competitiveness has improved since their installation.”

The top performance of any company using a Pacesetter 2200 system was 21, 463 booklets per hour, or 97.6 percent of total capacity, achieved over a 12 hour shift.

Van Driessche concludes: “There’s no doubt that the Pacesetter Club has contributed to companies setting their productivity goals higher. The number of printers that are qualifying clearly demonstrates the rising standards that can be achieved when working with first-class equipment.”