The Drupa 2012-launched perfect binder has been installed at BGT’s Chessington print site and has replaced the not-for-profit organisation’s existing Kolbus KM470 Ratiobinder, which has been reassigned to one of its overseas sites. The Kingston-headquartered publishing house produces millions of booklets and gospel tracts as well as traditional bibles each year, partially for distribution in the UK, with around 60% exported. BGT invested in the new Kolbus after a demonstration proved it could produce a two-page perfect-bound ‘book’ on a single sheet of 152x99mm, 130gsm paper and four-page cover, at 9,000 copies an hour. The books were then trimmed with a Kolbus HD153P three-knife trimmer. According to BGT plant manager John Marsh the business was sold on the speed of the new Kolbus. He added: “We did trials using some of our existing products and were particularly impressed by the gatherer and trimmer of the Kolbus KM6000C, which had the edge over anything else we had seen for quality and speed. “Consistent high-speed operation was important with run lengths often in the tens of thousands in order to achieve an annual overall throughput of well over 3m perfect-bound publications.” BGT’s new Kolbus KM600C is linked to a polywrapping line with products addressed, sorted and boxed inline ahead of dispatch. Kolbus UK sales manager Greg Bird said: “The line is now installed and living up to expectations. We were delighted it was able to fulfil the speed and quality criteria of BGT.”...

Under the proposals BoE banknotes, currently printed on cotton paper, would be printed instead on thin transparent flexible film made from polypropylene. If the plans go ahead, the first notes to be printed on polymer would be the new-style £5 note featuring Winston Churchill, followed by the new Jane Austen £10 note and larger denominations after that. At the same time as switching to polymer, the BoE also intends to reduce the size of the notes. The new £5 notes will measure 125x65mm, while £10 notes will measure 132x69mm. Each subsequent denomination will be 7mm longer and 4mm higher than the previous one, making them slightly larger than Euro notes. Polymer banknotes have been used in Australia since 1988 and are now issued in more than 20 countries globally. The notes are produced by coating the film on both sides, in multiple layers of white ink, with a ‘window’ usually left clear, often used for security purposes. The white ink forms the base layer used to carry the printed design of each banknote, while security features can be embedded or laid onto the banknotes. The BoE banknote printing contract, which has been held by De La Rue since 2003, was put out to tender at the end of last year with up to five potential operators invited to bid for the new £1bn contract, due to start in 2015. A stipulation of the tender was that the selected supplier would need to accommodate any changes in substrates requested by the governing body. A spokesman for De La Rue, which operates BoE’s Debden, Essex facility, said: “We understand that the Bank of England is considering alternative substrates and we await their decision on that. We are perfectly able to accommodate changes as we have both polymer and cotton paper options. Our methods for both are tried and tested.” A key benefit of polymer notes highlighted by the BoE is cost savings: In the short-term polymer notes would be more expensive than cotton paper to produce because of their increased cost over cotton paper and because of the significant quantities initially needed. But in the long term, because the notes last on average 2.5x longer than cotton paper, fewer would need to be printed to replace worn notes. Announcing the consultation today the BoE’s deputy governor for monetary policy Charlie Bean, said as well as cost savings the notes would bring a raft of other benefits such as greater counterfeit resilience, better durability and higher environmental credentials than paper. He added: “Given these benefits, we are confident that a switch to printing notes on polymer makes sense. But we also recognise that the public takes pride in their banknotes, and that...

Under the proposals BoE banknotes, currently printed on cotton paper, would be printed instead on thin transparent flexible film made from polypropylene. If the plans go ahead, the first notes to be printed on polymer would be the new-style £5 note featuring Winston Churchill, followed by the new Jane Austen £10 note and larger denominations after that. At the same time as switching to polymer, the BoE also intends to reduce the size of the notes. The new £5 notes will measure 125x65mm, while £10 notes will measure 132x69mm. Each subsequent denomination will be 7mm longer and 4mm higher than the previous one, making them slightly larger than Euro notes. Polymer banknotes have been used in Australia since 1988 and are now issued in more than 20 countries globally. The notes are produced by coating the film on both sides, in multiple layers of white ink, with a ‘window’ usually left clear, often used for security purposes. The white ink forms the base layer used to carry the printed design of each banknote, while security features can be embedded or laid onto the banknotes. The BoE banknote printing contract, which has been held by De La Rue since 2003, was put out to tender at the end of last year with up to five potential operators invited to bid for the new £1bn contract, due to start in 2015. A stipulation of the tender was that the selected supplier would need to accommodate any changes in substrates requested by the governing body. A spokesman for De La Rue, which operates BoE’s Debden, Essex facility, said: “We understand that the Bank of England is considering alternative substrates and we await their decision on that. We are perfectly able to accommodate changes as we have both polymer and cotton paper options. Our methods for both are tried and tested.” A key benefit of polymer notes highlighted by the BoE is cost savings: In the short-term polymer notes would be more expensive than cotton paper to produce because of their increased cost over cotton paper and because of the significant quantities initially needed. But in the long term, because the notes last on average 2.5x longer than cotton paper, fewer would need to be printed to replace worn notes. Announcing the consultation today the BoE’s deputy governor for monetary policy Charlie Bean, said as well as cost savings the notes would bring a raft of other benefits such as greater counterfeit resilience, better durability and higher environmental credentials than paper. He added: “Given these benefits, we are confident that a switch to printing notes on polymer makes sense. But we also recognise that the public takes pride in their banknotes, and that...

The colour inkjet web press was delivered to the book printer’s Glasgow factory yesterday (9 September). It confirmed its order for the machine in June. Managing director Stephen Docherty said: “The arrival has been pretty flawless and it’s being installed as we speak. It’s a wonderful looking bit of machinery.” Installation is set to take a fortnight, with print tests due to commence early next week. Engineers from Fujifilm, Muller Martini and specialist inkjet integrators Matti Technology are on site to set up the press and configure the 100m/min device to run inline with Bell & Bain’s existing Muller Martini Sigma binding line. Docherty said the firm was testing a number of paper stocks for the Jet Press, including a digital silk grade. The £9.3m turnover company employs 82 staff. It recently won an additional contract with client Oxford University Press involving two- and four-colour work for the academic publisher....

The colour inkjet web press was delivered to the book printer’s Glasgow factory yesterday (9 September). It confirmed its order for the machine in June. Managing director Stephen Docherty said: “The arrival has been pretty flawless and it’s being installed as we speak. It’s a wonderful looking bit of machinery.” Installation is set to take a fortnight, with print tests due to commence early next week. Engineers from Fujifilm, Muller Martini and specialist inkjet integrators Matti Technology are on site to set up the press and configure the 100m/min device to run inline with Bell & Bain’s existing Muller Martini Sigma binding line. Docherty said the firm was testing a number of paper stocks for the Jet Press, including a digital silk grade. The £9.3m turnover company employs 82 staff. It recently won an additional contract with client Oxford University Press involving two- and four-colour work for the academic publisher....