by Cassandra Balentine
In today’s digital world, book finishing processes take on new features and functions that enable automation and integration. Termed “smart finishing” for the purpose of this article, the definition is similar across major vendors in the space.
“Smart finishing ultimately empowers us to deliver enhanced efficiency, precision, and flexibility—capabilities that are essential in today’s market, where shorter runs, faster turnarounds, and high levels of customization are in constant demand,” shares Anthony Gandara, partner alliance manager, Duplo USA.
James Tressler, EVP, C.P. Bourg Inc., explains that smart finishing in the modern era of printing is the deployment of technology and workflows that can be modified and enhanced as needed. “Technology that is automated and scalable is ultimately profitable for the end user and promotes diversification of products that can be produced using the technology,” he notes.
Carlos Martins, head of solution management, Muller Martini, agrees, noting that smart finishing refers to a highly automated, data-driven workflow that seamlessly integrates digital and offset print streams with finishing equipment. “Smart finishing leverages intelligent software, barcode-driven job control, and connected machinery to minimize manual intervention, enable ultra-short runs—even down to a quantity of one, and ensure consistent, high-quality output. It’s about creating a touchless workflow that maximizes efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness for book manufacturers.”
With the combination of advanced automation and a user-friendly interface, “operators can manage and control the entire system through a PC, significantly streamlining the workflow by eliminating unnecessary touchpoints. The system enables an efficient, automated, and tool-less setup, reducing manual intervention and minimizing the risk of human error. Job changeovers can be completed in seconds, allowing for greater productivity and responsiveness,” says Gandara.
Don Dubuque, director of marketing, Standard Finishing, adds that smart book finishing equipment and processes leverage the power of automation and integrated/connected systems to improve efficiency, ease-of-use, accuracy, versatility, and book quality.
Ever Evolving
Providers involved in book production have transformed their print operations with the help of smart finishing systems.
“We’ve seen leading print manufacturers introduce a new generation of inkjet printers that further closes the gap with offset printing in terms of quality and support for a wider range of formats and substrates,” shares Dubuque. “Finishing manufacturers have also stepped up their game with automated book production equipment that pairs well with these new printers for the efficient production of books from printing through finishing. With these new tools, book manufacturers are looking to optimize and grow instead of playing catch up with the publishing industry. They are now able to invest in new equipment and software that incorporates automation and, in some cases, artificial intelligence (AI) to transform their operations and situate themselves better for the future.”
Book production automation and workflow efficiency continue to advance in response to shifting market demands. “As the industry faces ongoing challenges in hiring skilled labor, publishers and print service providers increasingly turn to solutions that are highly reliable, user friendly, and streamlined. These capabilities are critical for controlling costs and meeting tight deadlines—even for complex or customized jobs,” offers Gandara.
As run lengths continue to get shorter and the content more variable, Tressler argues that even generic products are produced today in ultra-short run lengths, preventing obsolescence, and minimizing infrastructure such as warehousing and pick and pack labor costs.
“The past five years have seen a dramatic shift toward shorter runs, on demand production, and greater product variety,” agrees Martins.
These changes lead publishers and printers away from large inventories and toward just-in-time manufacturing where digital print and supporting technologies shine. “Digital print technology is matured and finishing systems have to evolve to keep pace—requiring smarter, more flexible, and more automated solutions. Data integration and workflow connectivity have become essentially a requirement in this new age of book production along with smart finishing systems,” notes Martins.
There is a rising demand for unique and specialty bookletmaking features, like square spine booklets, which help differentiate offerings and add value in a competitive market, comments Gandara.
Cultural Change
There is a clear shift towards shorter runs in many areas of book manufacturing. Much of this change is driven by an evolving consumer culture.
“From my vantage point it’s the way consumers are purchasing products that’s enabling automation in manufacturing. Home school content is purchased from the content provider’s website and the individual orders are pushed directly to the digital press and finishing solutions with limited interventions along the way. This scenario holds true for pleasure read, education, vanity press, expressions and greetings, and so many other markets and products. The future is bright and the content is seemingly endless,” offers Tressler.
Martins sees the demand for ultra-short runs and personalized content fueled by the growth of digital publishing and ecommerce. “Customers expect rapid delivery, high quality, and the ability to print exactly what they need, when they need it. This has forced the industry to embrace automation, data connectivity, and highly flexible finishing solutions.”
Since the pandemic, Dubuque notices renewed interest in printed books. “These changing consumer preferences, as well as the continued desire for shorter runs and print-on-demand models, have paired well with the technological advancements related to book production.”
The move to smarter technologies is also driven by challenges in the pressroom, including “the lack of a qualified or interested workforce, competitive market, and operating cost,” says Gandara.
On the Horizon
The future of book production continues to move towards automation.
Tressler expects more automation as well as smaller print facilities located closer to consumers.
Looking ahead, Martins sees continued growth in automation, with even greater integration across the entire print-to-finish workflow. “AI and machine learning will play a larger role in predictive maintenance, job optimization, and quality assurance. It has already found its way into service, in the area of remote support. It aids our specialists in providing solutions even faster. The future is about even smarter, more connected systems that empower printers to respond instantly to market needs and deliver highly customized products efficiently,” he predicts.
“Even if consumer behavior changes again, I believe the book manufacturing space is well positioned for the future. This new era of automated book manufacturing is efficient. Manufacturers have minimal waste, allowing them to adapt quickly to changing industry conditions. I expect to see even more technological innovation in book production in the next few years as automation, connectivity, and AI are further refined,” adds Dubuque.
Latest Advancements
Smart finishing solutions continue to evolve with new technology advancements targeting book production.
C.P. Boug’s “Cover to Content” matching solution for the Bourg Barcode Reader Manager is one of the company’s latest advancements. Its development is driven from the need for its clients to efficiently produce “book of one” without waste.
The solution can manage “cover to content” as well as trim size format changes. It automatically adjusts for varying spine thicknesses without human intervention and is available is either PUR or EVA adhesives.
“The system prevents the wrong cover from being applied to a book block that isn’t its match. It also prevents the covers or book blocks from being assembled inside out or upside down eliminating waste and enabling the solution to thrive in a personalized, variable book of one environment,” states Tressler.
Duplo’s latest advancement is the DBM-700S Square Spine, which enhances its flagship bookletmaking solution by enabling the production of saddle-stitched booklets with up to 50 sheets/200 pages. It delivers a clean, square spine finish that gives each booklet a flat, professional appearance—closely resembling a perfect-bound book.
Muller Martini’s flagship smart finishing solutions in book production include the SigmaLine or Hunkeler book block solutions integrated with its digital finishing binding solutions such as our Alegro Digital or Antaro Digital lines that are fully integrated with the Connex workflow system.
“These fully integrated end-to-end solutions automate everything from PDF file in from a customer MIS/ERP system to finished products out ‘File to Finish Workflow.’ The Connex workflow suite acts as the digital backbone, connecting prepress, press, and finishing, and enabling real-time tracking, job management, and automatic setup of finishing lines,” shares Martins.
Recent advancements by Muller Martini include enhanced barcode-driven workflow automation, improved integration with MIS/ERP systems, and advanced quality control features using vision systems.
“We also expanded our connectivity to support hybrid workflows—allowing seamless switching between digital and offset jobs. These innovations were incorporated to address market demands for shorter runs, faster turnaround times, and higher levels of customization, while reducing labor and error rates,” says Martins.
Standard Horizon has a number of flagship smart finishing solutions for book finishing ranging from single-clamp perfect binders to seventeen-clamp binders to roll-fed, end-to-end solutions.
Horizon’s latest book production solution is the BBS-56 Roll-fed Book Block Solution. The BBS-56 is a plowfold book block-making system designed for short- to medium-run production. It can be fully integrated into a comprehensive Smart Binding System with the BQ-500 Perfect Binder and HT-1000V or HT-300 Trimmer for a roll-to-book production line that excels at short- and medium-run jobs. The configuration can reach production speeds of up to 800 books per hour.
Also, the BQ-300 is Horizon’s latest perfect binder, and the company has incorporated a lot of new features to promote ease-of-use for all operators while maintaining output quality. This includes not only improved and expanded automation, but also advancements like a new template feature for book-of-one production, the automated adjustment of all areas from the feeding section to the nipping section based on the reading from the built-in book thickness caliper, and a larger, more user-friendly touchscreen. These new features lead to improved efficiency as they help eliminate manual touchpoints, freeing up operators for other work.
Dubuque points out that application and configuration flexibility are important for Horizon’s newest generation of perfect binders, allowing book manufacturers to do a wider range of work in-house. The BBS-56 Book Block Solution supports roll-fed book block production that can be configured with a range of downstream finishing. Additionally, while the BQ-300 can be configured with a trimmer or even a robotic feeder arm, Horizon offers optional accessories for the BQ-500 that support case binding operations.
Another new advancement is built-in connectivity to Horizon’s cloud-based iCE LiNK bindery management tool. iCE LiNK provides real-time device monitoring, KPI analysis, preventative maintenance scheduling and alerts, JDF/JMF workflow support, job creation, editing, and more. iCE LiNK allows for production management across multiple finishing devices to provide a higher level of operational efficiency.
Tecnau’s latest advancements in book production/finishing all share a focus on automation to address challenges like finding skilled labor to run their printing and finishing lines.
“Tecnau is building expertise into our systems to facilitate job setups, allowing less-skilled operators to more quickly come up to speed and produce book blocks for near-line binding,” offers Scott Peterson, product marketing manager, Tecnau.
Automated Book Production
The demand for streamlined, automated workflows continues as the book manufacturing space adopts high-speed inkjet for book manufacturing. The latest finishing systems support a range of formats and substrates in order to offer the versatility needed for just-in-time production.
Removing human touchpoints and waste are the name of the game in modern book manufacturing and the latest smart finishing systems play an essential role in making this possible.
Sep2025, DPS Magazine
