Collators – Gakken Philippines, Inc. (GPI) | Official Website

Utilizing Collators As Paper Handling Solutions

Seven Sharp — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 02:47:24 +0000

The printing market is here to stay. And with the voluminous publishing requirements emerging from industries transitioning to remote operations, the need for paper handling solutions is more crucial now than ever. According to a 2021 trends report, 64% of businesses agree that printing will remain relevant for the next five years.

For sectors like education, implementing a modular system means gathering and arranging multiple sheets of printed materials in a specific sequence. These specialty tasks have different paper requirements that need special collating set-ups.

A collating system must be integrated into the print finishing process within a given print job to create workflow consistency and efficiency. In this post, we’ll rediscover how well collators can blend with the entire operation when utilized correctly.

But first, what does collate mean in printing?

When handling a printing project, collating means accumulating and combining printed materials to create a complete set. This method is often used when dealing with books, catalogs, and instruction manuals.

Depending on the project’s complexities, collating can occur within the printing process as most printers in the market nowadays already have collating features. However, it can also be done as a separate step after the materials have been printed and removed from the press using automated pieces of equipment called collators.

When is the best time to use collators?

Short-run Projects

These types of publications are often executed by schools, print shops, copy centers, mailrooms, and offices to group paper sheets into sets. Collators are used for short-run projects to create promotional packets like materials used for seminars, presentations, or other multi-page documents collated for easy distribution and are not necessarily bound or fastened together.

Perfect Bound Materials

Before a set of materials could be bound together, its pages have to be collated in numerical order and follow a pre-determined sequence. Collators are used for these kinds of outputs because they usually have high-volume requirements per set, which can be prone to human errors that could result into waste of resources.

Types of Collators

Photocopier Sorter

This is the most common type of collator generally seen in offices. With a series of trays attached to a copier machine, a document is usually prepared for copying and collating at the same time. During the operation, the copies will be split into the trays of the collator to organize and separate sets from each other.

Photocopiers with automatic sorters also have finishing options that minimize manual operations even further and increase the production of different types of documents.

Desktop Collating Machines

Rather than a manual lever, desktop collating machines are operated with electronic controls. With this type of collator equipment, the trays carry different pages of the document. Upon a press of the lever, each of the trays will release one page to create a complete set of materials as programmed.

Advantages of Collators

Saves resources

Whether we admit it or not, manually collating documents does not only take forever but also put our resources at risk. With collators designed to operate and follow a series of programmed sequences, users can be at ease that each set comes with more accuracy and has no extra finishing labor.

Faster turnaround time

For high-volume production, time is of the essence. Paper collators take care of everything from gathering individual printed sheets up to grouping them into sets. Some of these machines even have an operating speed as fast as 130 sets per minute.

Adaptable to various applications

Most collators available in today’s market are very adaptable to different applications. From catalogues, leaflets, pamphlets, multiple flyers up to letter fold samples and books — you name it! These collating machines can accommodate your paper handling needs and make the entire process hassle-free on your part.

A Helpful Guide To An Effective Print Finishing Set-up

Seven Sharp — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 03:21:19 +0000

With the COVID-19 restrictions still in place in the country and worldwide, the demand for modern technology applications to enter the publication scene is now more crucial than ever.

Print-to-finish systems have been an evident requirement, especially for industries transitioning to remote operations like the education and business sector. To fulfill their continuous printing needs, publishers have to focus on quality mass production and concentrate on unique individual requirements and personification.

Lucky for you, GAKKEN (Philippines), INC. offers efficient system packages that allow users to remotely print and systematically sort their papers with maximum productivity. But before we pounce on our recommendations, let’s get you oriented into the print-to-finish process.

The Print-to-Finish Process

Amidst the extensive list of products and innovations applicable in today’s current printing market, the print-to-finish process strongly identifies as a low-cost and high value-added solution to achieve objectives and deliver spectacular results.

This solution takes productivity to a whole new level. It adds value to your workflow not only through fast printing but also through efficient stacking, stapling, binding, and other finishing processes all in one package!

Printing Capacity & Speed

For printing high-volume projects like books and modules, it’s important to keep the capacity and speed of your printing machine in check.

An excellent example of these is the Epson Line Inkjet Printer. Printing machines like the EPSON WF-C21000 have an extremely efficient function designed to fulfill voluminous colored printing requirements which can print up to 100 pages per minute. Many times faster than other traditional printers, this printing tool is worth adding to your workforce.

Your printing workflow can also be expedited if the printer of your choice is integrated with an extensive paper feeder capacity and a full-suite wireless connectivity that allows users to print from home or wherever their businesses take them.

But of course, capacity and speed should never compromise the quality of prints. As you scroll through vast selections, keep in mind that high-resolution output is still the priority of the entire process.

Listed below are the essential solutions users can rely on to execute a seamless print to finish workflow and their technical capabilities that exceed industry performance standards.

Paper Cutters

Every print-to-finish set-up is not complete without a good paper cutter; the only question is which one should you choose? After every printing operation, there will be times when you’ll need to trim stacks of paper depending on the given requirement. Sheets have to be cut in order to fit folding machines or other binding equipment.

Today’s paper cutters come down in two kinds, the Manual and the Electric Programmable type. Each kind offers convenience and efficiency depending on desired volume and speed.

Manual paper cutters are most commonly found in homes or offices. Equipped with sharp blades and great measurement guides on the working surface, users can cut through multiple sheets of paper at ease.

But if you’re dealing with an extremely high volume of paper and want to get it done faster, electric cutters are the trimmers you should consider. These machines can be considered expensive upfront but they actually save you money with reduced operation time and waste.

Collators & Sheet Feeder

As the demand for high-volume printing continues to accelerate, creative paper handling is needed to reduce errors and labor costs. This feat is deemed possible with workflow integration of sheet-feeder equipment into the print to finish operations.

Before you proceed to do coil, wire, or perfect binding, having a pre-collated document saves you time and money. Standard collators and sheet feeders allow its users to accommodate 20 stacks of paper depending on size and thickness. These machines also offer different operational speed as some can collate up to 14,000 documents an hour, making them suitable for longer runs.

Cover & Binding

A book’s cover is one of the most distinguished elements of any compiled printed material. They come in different thickness and weight, and there are available select printers in the market for each type of requirement.

These printers can accommodate different kinds of material suited for book covers like coated and uncoated papers. Depending on your desired output and selected material, there’s a big difference in how the ink will appear on the surface.

For coated papers, you can expect the ink to have a brighter and glossy finish. On the other hand, uncoated papers with absorbed fibers will have a duller appearance in comparison.

After all the printing, cutting, and collating, what’s left to do is bind all the materials together. There are a variety of binding techniques used for books and modules, like perfect binding, saddle-stitching, thread-sewing, spiral-binding, and many others.

You can use specialized binding machines to expedite this print finishing operation. Some models available in the market can bind up to 60mm materials at a speed of 300 books per hour.

Recommended Print-to-Finish Systems

EPSON WF-C21000

Experience seamless printing operation with EPSON WF-C21000 powerful technology that can print up to 100 pages per minute. Integrated with Ultra-High Capacity Cartridges, high-volume printing has never been as easy as this because it prints 50,000 pages in color and 100,000 pages in black and white. Perfect for printing educational books and modules.

Fuji Xerox Docucentre VII

Whether you want a bright or dull finish, Fuji Docucentre VII C2273 CPS-E will give you that. Create a neat-looking book cover page suited for any style. This laser colored printer can accommodate different finishes and paperweights depending on the output you desire.

Duplo Collator

Save time and enjoy maximum productivity with Duplo Collator’s reliable feeding and accurate stacking functions. Suited for longer runs, this easy to use friction collator can systematically sort your papers efficiently.

FRONT Electric Paper Cutter FN-E490T

Trim stacks of paper depending on the given requirement with FN-E490T Cutter. With its touch screen and push-button cutting features, polish the edges of your printed output to fit your bindery equipment.

FRONT Perfect Binder FJ436C

Expedite the print finishing process with Front FJ436C’s seamless operations that can bind up books and modules with 60mm thickness at an impressive speed of 300 sets per hour.

The post A Helpful Guide To An Effective Print Finishing Set-up appeared first on Gakken Philippines, Inc. (GPI) | Official Website.