Chennai-based PM Digital Products is a well-known name for delivering quality print products. The unit is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery to deliver fully finished products to its customers. PM Digital not only caters to the short print run segment but also specializes in variable data printing. In the past one year, P Chellappan of PM Digital Products has bought brand new binding and cutting machines to increase his unit’s binding capacity.
“We had a PUR binder for short-run jobs, which, of course, was fully digital. However, the cost aspect was more. In other words, the binding cost with the PUR binding machine was rather steep. So we were looking out for a good machine that would tick our requirements and also bring down the costs. After careful evaluation, we settled for the Horizon BQ 270V single-clamp perfect binder. The machine is fully automatic with all the latest features except for the feeding, which has to be done manually. It comes with an auto spine width facility, and the quality is also exceptional. Horizon overall is an excellent machine. Though a bit pricey, it packs great features in the machines,” shares Chellappan.
In addition to digital print-on-demand work, PM Digital also does regular book production work, and Chellappan says that the Horizon binding machine will be useful in that division as well. “The Horizon BQ 270V is perfect for medium-run jobs. We can easily print 300-400 copies an hour, which is a good number as far as printing general books is concerned. Also, the cost is lower in comparison to PUR binding. This addition has been handy to us as we wanted to increase our binding capacity significantly,” he adds.
Horizon BQ 270V offers user-friendly operation and with fully-automated operation, push-button simplicity, and on-demand production of variable thickness books. All setups can be done instantly by simply inputting book block and cover information into the 10.4 inch color touchscreen. The binder includes an automated, sensor-activated digital caliper system that consistently measures book block thickness and automatically transfers this data to the binder for quick, automated set-up with no cycle lag time for books of different thicknesses. A changeover from A4 to A5 size book can be completed in 10 seconds.
P Chellappan with the Horizon binding machine. Photo IPPIn addition to the Horizon perfect binder, Chellappan has also bought two cutting machines. The first cutting machine is also from Horizon and is a fully programmable one for Chellappan’s digital division. “Earlier, we had a regular gelatin cutter without programming and a smaller size Chinese machine. However, the current Horizon APC 610 cutter is a fully programmable one,” says Chellappan.
Both the Horizon binding and cutting machines installed at PM Digital Products have been supplied and serviced by ePrint, also based in Chennai. The second cutting machine that PM Digital has invested in is from ePrint. “They have their 36-inch gelatin cutter, a fully programmable one, which we liked and thought it would be the perfect fit for our regular book production work,” shares Chellappan.
