The beautiful thing about folding machines is that it’s possible to do many things to the sheet as it passes through the machine. Creasing, perforating, cutting, gluing and punching are a few folder functions that can be combined for high productivity.
Here's a question we hear frequently, especially from folder operators new to running cover stocks on folding machines...."Even though I've scored it, the cover stock I'm running still cracks when I run it through the folder; what can I do?"
In the course of a normal day, folding machine operators usually only concern themselves with one adjustment on the buckle plate. That, of course, is the fold stop which sets the length of the fold.
A scenario notorious for causing 'dog ears' (bent corners) is the 11x17" brochure which first folds in half and then folds 2x at a right angle to fit a #10 envelope. It’s common to get an unsightly ‘dog ear’ or bent corner on the inside flap (fig. 1)
If you produce double gatefolds on your buckle folder, you might have struggled with the ‘boxed’ fold as shown in the photo (left). The problem is obvious in that the first fold is squared off and boxy rather than flat and sharp. Several readers recently emailed asking how to solve this problem, especially when folding text weight stocks.
Even the simplest bindery department can be a complicated operation with a mix of post-press machinery, procedures and materials. No matter how well-trained an operator or manager, it's easy to miss something that leads to a mistake. We can all probably recall more than once getting that “uh-oh” feeling after finishing a job. You’d open a box to double-check that you had folded something the right way or kept various lots of a saddle stitched book separate.
One of my favorite and most successful marketing ideas came to me from a chiropractor. In fact, nearly all of the successful marketing strategies here at Technifold USA were inspired by ideas from outside the printing industry.
Don’t get mad; I’m not bashing the printing industry. After all, I am IN the industry. I rely on it and I intend to be around it for a long time. The point is that as with industries everywhere, we tend to narrow our focus to our own community.
We keep an eye on what our competitors, colleagues and vendors do. How they advertise. How they sell. What they sell. What they’re reading. Who’s who and where they work. There is some sort of tribal comfort in being an insider.
There is always some shiny new marketing idea, media or strategy being presented as the next big thing. I admit I’m easily distracted by cool, new techno-wizardry or the latest marketing fad and at times am overwhelmed by sheer choice. But experience has taught me there is truly nothing new under the sun. When faced with countless choices of apps, software, tools, fads and experts, there is an easy way to take the mystery out of new marketing ideas and instantly figure out if it’s of any use. I’ll share that in a moment.