Digital Finishing Complements Print-On-Demand

Eden Litho Reproduction (ELR) of Edenbridge, Kent (UK) has installed a Horizon Stitchliner from Graphic Arts Equipment (GAE) to combine collation, folding, saddle stitching and three-knife trimming.

Eden Litho Reproduction (ELR) of Edenbridge, Kent (UK) has installed a Horizon Stitchliner from Graphic Arts Equipment (GAE) to combine collation, folding, saddle stitching and three-knife trimming in one centrally controlled unit.

ELR's managing director Paul Bridger said: "We are in the print-on-demand business and we bought the Stitchliner to dramatically cut the amount of finishing work we put out to the trade.

It means we save money while giving customers faster delivery times, but most importantly it keeps quality control in our hands." Formed in 1980, ELR began life as a repro house.

In the mid-1990s, in common with many in the pre-press industry, the company decided to embrace digital printing and exploit the growing ultra-short run market, first by installing toner-based systems and latterly a direct imaging press.

Bridger continued: "Running our DI machine led directly to the Stitchliner installation because it opened up a wider market of longer run work which for us meant thousands instead of hundreds.

We first saw the Stitchliner last IPEX.

However, what really made us act was when one of our major competitors installed one and we realised what we were up against.

The automated job changeovers make it ideal for our market and now, if you're going to succeed as a digital printer, you also need to be a digital finisher." ELR's production director Chris Mallinson agreed: "We need the Stitchliner to be extremely versatile because the variety of work we do is so great.

Having collation, folding, stitching and binding in one machine is a real advantage, but we can also use the various elements on their own if need be.

From a purely production point of view I am very impressed by the Stitchliner's reliability - it delivers the goods every time and we fully expect it to keep going for years.

On top of that, the quality is so good we have actually been getting compliments on the standard of our finishing from our customers." ELR has a diverse client base centered on London and the south east of England.

It operates from three sites with a combined floorspace of 9,000 square feet.

It has 25 staff working on a 24-hour, three-shift basis.

Current turnover stands at GBP 2.2m per year.

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