A trade book binder in Kingsgrove, in Sydney’s south is the first company in Australasia to have invested in Müller Martini’s Acoro A7 perfect binder with both hot melt and polyurethane adhesive (PUR) gluing technologies.
Graphic Bookbinding started out in 1963 and is today owned and operated by the second generation of the Freelingos family, with a staff of 25 offering the full gamut of binding options, from twin loop binding through loop stitching, wire binding, crash folding and saddle-stitching to burst- and perfect binding.
The addition of the Acoro A7 perfect binder to Graphic Bookbinding’s fire-power has, in just six months of operation, opened the company up to new opportunities and customers. “Operating at 7000 cycles an hour, it’s like having not one but three perfect binders on the floor,” says managing director, Emma Freelingos.
Aside from its very high speed, the Acoro A7 is extremely flexible, handling binding projects from as little 1.5mm up to 60mm in thickness, with automatic changeover for book thickness.
The Acoro A7 is a high quality, highly automated solution with short set-up and changeover times, with ease of operation from a touch screen via Müller Martini’s Commander central control and operating station.
As the first trade book binder in Sydney offering PUR as a perfect binding option, Graphic Bookbinding has not only stolen a march on its rivals, but it believes it has opened up the printing industry to greater versatility of binding projects.
“These days paper is full of fillers and with the addition of coatings such as varnishes during printing, many glues simply won’t adhere to it,” says Freelingos.
For example, it is impossible to adequately bind glossy or varnished publications with hot melt.
“Even sections varnished right up to the edge can be neatly and strongly glued with PUR which is three times stronger than hot melt glue, and works out at a fraction of the price of section sewing.
“PUR glued perfect bound books can be opened out to lie flat without breaking their spine, as so often happens with hot-melt glued products,” explains Freelingos.
The PUR glue option yields a better bond and entirely superior layflat which are highly desirable qualities for printers’ customers and, says Freelingos, many are calling Graphic Bookbinding for a level of quality and strength they’ve never seen before in pefect bound books.
Graphic Bookbinding works closely with suppliers of the best binding glues available and Freelingos says her team will try their hand at any binding project. Whilst run sizes average 50,000, the company handles projects ranging from 100 to half a million bound copies, with the capacity for much more.
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A recent job which came its way involved perfect binding a high quality book printed on 170gsm stock with an all-over varnish. Such a job would previously have been impossible to bind using hot-melt, but, says Freelingos, was a ‘breeze’ with the PUR option on the Acoro A7.
Every job is different, she says, and customers are increasingly switching to PUR where a neat, flat appearance and strong binding strength is required. “After binding, jobs are left for the glue to cure for 24 hours,” says Freelingos. “The glue sets like concrete.”
Müller Martini technicians have worked closely with Graphic Bookbinding since the installation of the Acoro A7 in August last year, and Freelingos says the partnership with the Swiss finishing experts is a very close one.
The perfect binder has joined three Müller Martini saddle stitchers on the bindery floor and, says Freelingos, the company’s technicians are never far away when help or advise is needed. After all, the two companies have been working together since 1972.
Overall, Freelingos believes the new perfect binder has opened up the possibility for printers to sell their customers a greater variety of work, such as perfect bound high gloss books which they could not get properly bound in the past. And whilst commercial work is always welcome, she is looking for more work from book publishers and printers.
