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Vendors reported a good amount of interest in bindery equipment at the Chicago trade show.
THERE IS clearly pent-up demand in the marketplace, particularly for finishing equipment. Just ask David Spiel.
"The past couple of years we've had good shows with less overall traffic, but much more serious buyers," noted the president of Spiel Associates. "Consequently, you can spend more quality time with them rather than with people who are really not interested in buying anything."
This observation was shared by many of the exhibitors at the recent Graph Expo show, in Chicago. And with a visible increase in the number of in-plant managers walking the show floor, vendors were taking this market very seriously. This was a good thing, since many of those in-plants were there to buy. IPG talked to managers from Michigan Farm Bureau. Cirand Rapids Community College, Iowa State University and other in-plants who all had plans to purchase bindery equipment after checking it out at the show. (In fact, ISU went out for bid on a score/perf machine machine after inspecting this equipment at Graph Expo.)
For the 491 exhibitors at Graph Expo 2011, this was a very good show. Attendance was up 7 percent over last year's event. The Ciraphic Arts Show Company reported a total of 20,451 participants (exhibitors and attendees), 66 percent of which (13,426 ) were verified attendees/buyers.
The bindery equipment at the show offered in-plants some great opportunities to expand their services and increase their efficiency. Spiel noted that Spiel Associates enjoyed tremendous feedback with its Rilecart B-599 double-loop wire binder, which produces "more wire at a greater rate than any other machine in the world, including the million-dollar wire binds," Spiel contended. "They take up to half a day to change over; the B-599 takes 40 minutes."
Twin spools allow for this quick change-over. The machine will automatically bind 4,000 books per hour. It binds double loop wire books with wire diameters from V to G.
An Atternative Approach
For Standard Finishing Systems, it was a different kind of Ciraph Expo.
"This year, our booth revolved around solution sets, putting together combinations of equipment to help customers and prospects visualize how they can streamline their production workflows," said Mark Hunt, director of...