Digital Web Press Answers Book Producer's Needs

Twenty-hour print operations have been introduced by UK academic journals and books producer, Henry Ling - the first time the company has done so - to handle digital work at its Dorset headquarters.

Henry Ling's digital print output has doubled this year as the company has been working with international media company Pearson on customised publishing for university students.

Instead of having to buy separate titles, relevant chapters have been merged in to one book, saving time and money for students, said the company.

Consequently, the book printer has completed a GBP1million production facility that involves an Oce Prisma, an Oce Variostream 9230 two-colour web press, a Hunkeler unwind and cutter stacker and MBO folder that can produce cut sheet stacks, or folded sigs.

The 24-hour production requirement came from winning new work that Henry Ling could not previously produce to the required volume.

Prior to the installation of the Oce Variostream line, its production was placed on either a sheetfed Heidelberg Speedmaster press, or a Digimaster.

Helen Kennett, managing director of Henry Ling, explained: "It's been a long journey getting to the point where the quality of printing was acceptable for a digital web.

But now journals, which have mostly been printed litho in the past, can be printed on the Oce system.

This is especially important now that run lengths are reducing and publishers are driving the move to digital." Kennett added: "The quality and enhanced capabilities of the Oce Variostream 9230 has vastly improved capacity and has enabled us to win new contracts.

And the influx of work has been so great that we have had to move to 24-hour digital production to meet our customers' stringent deadlines." Simon Wheeler, director of Oce UK's graphic arts division, said: "Developments in dot modulation have meant that we can further prove that digital is becoming more and more cost-effective for book publishing.

We are rising to the challenge set by publishers for our customers for shorter, digital runs.

The Variostream 9230 has brought improvements in capacity and helped Henry Ling to continue to provide the high standard of printed materials its growing numbers of customers have come to expect." Henry Ling employs 80 people at its Dorchester facility and has a GBP7million turnover, of which 10 per cent is digital although that share is increasing year by year.

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