Most bindery operations are the last bastion of manual labor in a printing company. The variety of equipment, the variability pocket feeding requirements require a constant pool of manual labor to lift handfuls of paper from a skid, and lay them in a pocket. Repeat. and then Repeat some more.
In addition to the cost of the labor and exposure to workplace injury claims, mishandled paper is the primary source of finished product defect in the entire process. Printweek.com reports here that St. Ives in England has apologised for production of GQ with missing pages. The true miracle of printing is not that miscollated books go out to customers, it is that it doesn't happen more often.
Pocket automation is a ready solution to these issues. Proper pocket automation depends on a good bundle off press, proper lifting devices to hoist logs of signatures, and a level control system to keep a steady and consistent flow of paper in the hopper.
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