Print Solutions
Diamond Digital in Woolwich has installed an Ashgate KF640 bookletmaker and trimmer with a squarefold in line unit to meet the demand for high quality, A4 landscape bookletmaking.
The company, which was set up by Gary Norris almost four years ago to focus on high end, short run, fast turnaround digital print, has three Ricoh presses, including a direct to garment digital t-shirt printer. The Ricoh Pro C7200 and the 5200s both have the banner feed option, giving Diamond Digital the opportunity to produce digitally printed A4 landscape booklets.
‘It is a growing market, but we were missing out because we could not find an affordable bookletmaker to finish this type of format. We either had to stitch them by hand which is laborious and time consuming or outsource them, which made us uncompetitive,’ said Gary.
‘When we heard from Ricoh that Ashgate was introducing the KF640 bookletmaker, manufactured by KAS Paper Systems, we were very interested. I knew of Ashgate because I had used its equipment before.’
He continued, ‘It is ideal for our type of work, not only because of the formats it can handle but also because it finishes a range of stock, including gloss and laminates. We like the fact that it is manual because, as well as being compact and robust, we can get into the machine and adjust every part independently. This makes if very quick and easy to change from one size to another. Speed is really important because we pride ourselves in being able to turn jobs round within 24 hours.’
Diamond Digital also bought the squarefold in line unit which sits between the bookletmaker and the trimmer. ‘It is proving very beneficial to flatten books, without noticeably slowing down production. The squarefold is an efficient way to give them a perfect bound look with the security of a stapled finish. Like the KF640, it finishes booklets from A6 to A4 landscape, giving them the quality we require,’ Gary commented.
He added, ‘The K640 has been a good buy. We are already marketing it to our customer base and sending them sample booklets. The future for this type of bookletmaking is looking good and, with the extra work that it is already bringing in, we expect it to pay for itself within two years.’
