For years Louisiana State University Graphics Services sent its large-quantity coil binding jobs to an outside vendor. Then one of its key clients, the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT), changed its requirements.
Graphic Services, binds books on the new
Spiel Sterling Coilmaster III automatic plastic
coil binding system.
“Their materials became ‘for official use only,’ so we had to bring that binding internal to guarantee that the people producing the books were American citizens,” explains Mike Loyd, director.
So he went to Graph Expo in Chicago last fall to search for coil binding equipment. He found it, and last month the Baton Rouge in-plant installed a Sterling Coilmaster III automatic plastic coil binding system, from Spiel Associates.
“We needed something that did 32mm coils,” says Loyd. Most coil binders only went up to 30mm in diameter, he adds. The Coilmaster III will bind up to 38mm in diameter.
The Coilmaster will allow the 92-employee shop to bind 300-500 books an hour, he says–a big jump from the 10-12 book-an-hour pace in the in-plant was keeping when binding those books by hand.
“We expect it to produce these books in record time for us and for our customers,” Loyd affirms. “It’s a great piece of equipment. Very sturdy.”
The Coilmaster will save LSU money, he adds, because the in-plant can buy the plastic coil material on a spool and the machine will manufacture the coils. This will cost about 60 percent less than buying prefabricated coils, Loyd estimates.