I was contacted late last week by a writer hired by the Canadian Printing Industry Sector Council (CPISC).  She’s writing content for a role playing game for elementary school children: A Day in the Life … of a Pressman, or Bindery Operator, or Pre-Press Technician. The writer asked for input and I sent her a fairly detailed “day in the life of a bindery operator” activity list.

What resonated for me in putting the activity list together was that the key activities focused on the ability to read carefully, check (and double check), organize, communicate, lead, make decisions, set up and run equipment. Specific equipment knowledge is of course important; but equally important are communication skills, leadership and decision making skills, planning and organization skills.  These are attributes we look for in all of our employees (and that we’ve found in the long term employees who work at Pacific Bindery Services Ltd.).

The goal of the CPISC project is to raise the profile of Print as an occupation at a very early age … if children find the industry challenging and fun they will be more likely to want to work in the Printing Industry.

Vancouver is known to be one of the most environmentally friendly cities in Canada if not the world. We have a blue box system, an excellent chain of Return-It depots and even our yard trimmings are separate from our trash. Then I read an article last year that talked about the crash of the recycling market in B.C. and it got me worried* (link here). Although this article only talks about the decreased appeal of plastics and glass, it won’t be long before they tell us we have to start paying to recycle our paper as well.

Nakabayashi Co. is a leading Japanese manufacturer of bookbinding machines, office products, and baby car seats (not sure how that’s related). The latest invention to come out from Nakabayashi Co. is a new and innovative machine that turns your every day paper into….toilet paper!

Talk about the savings! At our office, we get our 36-pack 2-ply toilet paper from Costless for $27.99. In a day and age where businesses are trying to pinch their pennies, this would be quite the savings for businesses big and small.

Unfortunately, the technology has to be refined. With 1800 sheets of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper, it will only produce 2 rolls of toilet paper. And there’s no indication of whether it’s one-ply or two! The price tag is rather hefty for such a technology as well. The unit price for this new machine is a cool $95,000!! Distribution has already begun in Japan this month and their target is to sell 60 units in its first year of production. Maybe as the technology gets refined, we’ll start seeing people bring their waste paper to the recycling depot and walk out with toilet paper. In the meantime, we’ll continue printing on both sides of the sheet and make sure none of our paper waste goes into the garbage can.

*Note: Of course, immediately after I posted my entry, Business in Vancouver talks about a 400% increase in mixed paper value. The article can be found here.

The answer – from a bindery perspective – is that it depends on what binding and finishing processes you want to do with the job; how much ink coverage is on the paper; how quick a turn-around is needed (is there time to properly dry and cure?); will the job need to be handled multiple times (and therefore need extra protection); will the job be shipped long distances (and therefore need more protection); will the job be individually shrink wrapped, polybagged, or inserted into envelopes – or shipped loose?

These are just some of the questions you need to ask before you determine how you need to finish the cover and text pages of a perfect bound book.

Coatings, varnishes and/or laminates are all designed to protect the printed product – and to add visual (glossy or matte) and tactile (touch and feel) elements.

It’s important for designers and printers to recognize that in the perfect binding process all product (both cover and text) travels through nip points,  grippers and over/under belts and conveyors.

This travel puts pressure on the sheet that can cause scuffing, marking, and/or scratching – particularly if the ink is not fully dry.

When we receive printed product, we test for scuffing and ink dryness. If we are concerned about the printed product, we contact our customer to let them know and to find out how they’d like to handle it. Sometimes it means that we need to hold the product for an extra day – to dry.  Sometimes it means that the cover needs to be protected with a plastic laminate. Sometimes it means that the product needs a UV coating. In all instances, we work with our customer to find the best solution.

Ensuring that you plan for coatings, varnishes or laminates at the beginning of your project will mean that quick turn-around times can be met and will mean that  your product will be a ‘perfectly bound’ book at the end of the mechanical perfect binding process.

P.S.  This is not an ‘up-sell’ for Pacific Bindery Services – we do not sell coating, varnishing or laminating services.

I was travelling in Tokyo just over a month ago. As I am in the bindery business, I often look out for cool and interesting magazines or books. In addition to looking at how well (or how terribly) the book is bound, I love looking at the ads in the magazines as well.

I came across this ad from Axe (the deodorant that’s a spray) and it totally blew my socks off!

This is what the ad looked like from the first page. But if you look closer…

The bottles come out! In addition, the bottles are all scratch and sniff so you can experience the new scent without purchasing it.

Beneath each bottle is an attractive young girl with her reaction to your scent.

Now I’ve brought this ad back to the shop and talked to the guys here. Most of their reactions have been, “Cool!” although we’re not too sure how it’s done. I thought it would be a cool thing to show you how companies market themselves in other parts of the world.

If you take a look at the barcode on the bottom right there, I’ll be talking more about it on my next post!

Have any printers or binderies had a look at the SGP website (http://www.sgppartnership.org)? The SGP has a certification program for sustainable print industry companies: incorporating green business practices, environmental initiatives, corporate social responsibility and the economics of making it work.