A fast, cost-effective alternative to perfect binding

London – Ricoh Europe has launched a newly-developed inline SquareBack™ booklet-making solution in collaboration with Watkiss. The Watkiss PowerSquare 224 has now been configured to integrate in line with the Ricoh Pro™ C9100 series and Ricoh Pro™ C7100X series digital colour cut sheet production systems, and the Ricoh Pro™ C8100 series digital mono cut sheet production systems.  

The Watkiss PowerSquare 224 combines the four processes of stitching, folding, spine-forming and trimming to produce SquareBack books up to 224 pages thick. It supports a maximum paper size of 330m X 520mm. The fast and cost-effective alternative to perfect binding or tape binding delivers SquareBack books that have the superior square-spined appearance of a perfect bound book, but with the integrity of a stitched spine. They lie flat and are easy to pack, stack and handle. There is no risk of loose pages, and the spine can be printed.

This new binding solution has been designed with a right-to-left feed direction, to operate with the three digital production systems. It also features a two knife trimmer that enables full bleed work to be produced, and a high capacity book stacker that allows the system to run for long periods of time before unloading is required.

 “In a crowded marketplace, differentiation is the key to how our clients compete – and the print run is only half the battle. Finishing can be a crucial factor in streamlining the production cycle. The Watkiss PowerSquare 224 allows Print Service Providers to tailor the way they deliver solutions to their clients,” comments Graham Moore, Business Development Director, Ricoh Europe.

“A big advantage of the Watkiss machine is its duty cycle.  It can run at an average of 50,000 plus books per month and 150,000 books per month at peak times. This has a very real impact on profitable productivity. Strength, reliability, durability, build quality, ease of set up and use were also key considerations.”

The Watkiss PowerSquare 224 has fully automatic settings for different book sizes and pagination, including variable stitch-leg length to support different book thicknesses. Its maximum book thickness of 10.4mm is double that of conventional booklet making machines. This makes it ideal for books with a high volume of pages or those produced on thicker stocks. 

The small footprint system is easy to use with job parameters (paper size, book thickness and number of stitches) entered via a touchscreen. The PowerSquare automatically sets the stitch position, the wire draw length (the stitch leg length), the spine width required and the trim dimension. Job specifications can be quickly stored and recalled for efficient operation in the production of repeat jobs.

Moore concludes, “The PowerSquare is a great addition to the range of finishing solutions Ricoh offers, and it will enable clients to expand production capabilities, tap into new markets and increase their range of offerings. “

Orders can be placed beginning in October 2015 for the Watkiss PowerSquare equipped Pro C9100 series and Pro C7100 series digital colour production systems, and in early 2016 for Pro C8100 series digital mono production systems.