Deciding whether to finish in-line, near-line or off-line

Finish in-line with a digital web printer

Advantages:

• Booklets are produced within seconds after printing: no delays
• Reduced number of operators needed: no intermediate paper handling required
• Printed sheets are immediately converted into finished booklets which increases security and reduces risk of any data breach. This is particularly important for high security printing such as examination papers
• No additional roll re-winders or un-winders or sheet feeders are needed, so in-line is the lowest cost (hardware) solution

Disadvantages:

• Printer speed may have to be reduced when making very thin booklets (e.g: 8pp or 12pp?)
• Finishing directly from a web does not suit production of smaller format booklets since this requires web width to be reduced or, complex additional in line folding and/or sheet rotation
• Printer efficiency will be slightly reduced because printer must stop if the finishing system stops
• Some printers can take a few minutes to restart after a stop which reduces the finishing system efficiency

Summary:

In-line finishing is best suited to high security print applications where the booklet format size does not change and booklets must be produced immediately after printing.

Finish near-line from a roll-unwinder and web cutter

Advantages:

• The printer is free to run at full speed with maximum printing efficiency when printing roll to roll
• The roll un-winder can be set at the optimum speed to suit the finishing system
• The system can be restarted quickly after a stop
• The finishing system can handle the output (rolls) from multiple printers
• Compared with off-line finishing it is easier to manually move a printer roll every few hours compared with frequently moving small piles of sheets

Disadvantages:

• It can take up to 2 hours for the printer to produce a printed roll which delays the finishing process
• An additional roll re-winder and un-winder are needed (extra cost compared with in-line finishing)
• Paper rolls have to be manually moved from the printer and loaded onto the finishing system roll un-winder
• Finishing directly from a web does not suit production of smaller format booklets since this requires web width to be reduced or, complex additional in line folding and/or sheet rotation

Summary:

Near-line finishing is best suited to applications requiring maximum possible system operating efficiency, and where there is not much variation in booklet format size.

Note: In-line or near-line Smart-binders may be fitted with the optional SB-097 sheet pile feeder in order to offer also the benefits of feeding off-line, when needed.

Finish off-line from a sheet pile feeder

Advantages:

• Sheets may be easily cut to a smaller format size to allow production of smaller format booklets. Off-line operation is therefore recommended if a large range of different booklet formats are needed
• The printer is free to run at full speed with increased printing efficiency
• The sheet feed rate can be varied automatically to suit the number of pages in each booklet
• Cover matching is easier when running off-line because the codes on the sheet and the corresponding cover for each book can be checked. Also it is easier to recover after a system stop
• The system can be restarted quickly after a stop

Disadvantages:

• The print line has to include a sheet stacker and the finishing line has to include a sheet feeder (additional cost compared with in-line finishing)
• The Smart-binder must be stopped to reload the sheet feeder which reduces production time and required additional manual paper handling
• The sheet feeder will occasionally mis-feed which reduces the efficiency of the finishing operation
• The sheet feeder requires additional operator skill and training
• The reliability of sheet feeding will be reduced if the paper is light-weight or curled or contain too much static charge

Summary:

Off-line finishing is best suited to production of different format sized booklets and when booklets are personalised with matching covers.