BR Printers Reaches New Finishing Heights

Originating in Silicon Valley, company now meets demands on a global basis

San Jose company extends its print services to include Fortune 500 organizations

CLEVELAND, OH (MAY 20, 2014) – When one thinks of Silicon Valley, print probably doesn’t come to mind as much as digital 1’s and 0’s may. But even in the midst of the regions great digital revolution, developers needed the support of print to flourish.

In 1992, Rich Brown and Chris Rooney established BR Printers in San Jose, CA to supply digital printing services to Sillicon Valley’s powerhouse players. Today the company has grown by two production facilities in Independence, KY and East Windsor, NJ, and extended it’s reach to global organizations, including many Fortune 500 companies.

Since the beginning, BR Printers relied entirely on digital print equipment. The line-up of presses is steadily growing and includes technologies from Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Océ, Ricoh and Xerox.

The array of jobs requires not just diverse print solutions to manage the work, but also efficient and versatile equipment to compliment those presses. For example, the Kentucky facility has been running a Standard Horizon SPF-20 Bookletmaker for several years, which has been critical to growing its booklet business.

Last year, BR Printers also installed a Standard Horizon HT-1000V zero make-ready three-knife trimmer. The BQ-470 caught President Adam DeMaestri’s eye several years ago, after seeing it in action at industry events.

“We had been using some single-clamp perfect binders, because a couple four-pocket perfect binders from other manufacturers hadn’t worked to our satisfaction. That somewhat forced us to consider only single-clamp binders for several years,” recalls General Manager Chris Gerhold.

But the need for greater productivity and efficiency steered the executives back in the direction of multiple-clamp machines, and eventually to the BQ-470 and HT-1000V solution, which has a unique, automated trim removal system that prevents jamming, and heavy-duty construction for 24/7 operations.

DeMaestri recalls visiting Standard Finishing Systems in Andover, MA: “We were looking at the HT-80 Three-knife Trimmer there, and we loved that machine, but right over our shoulders was the HT-1000V, which was fully automated, with zero make-ready. We were impressed by the quick set-up and quality output which would allow us to excel at book-of-one projects. It was a no-brainer for us, really. Even though it was a little more expensive, it paid off!” Gerhold concurs: “It definitely has increased our through-put. Our set-up time is minimal. It’s easy to run, and it makes a great quality book.”

With the help of local dealer Graphco, the sale was completed, and the combined perfect binding and trimming solution was installed. Gerhold adds that a book thickness can be a critical factor in book binding. “We get some pretty thick books here on occasion, and before we had a maximum spine thickness of two inches. Now, we can actually go above that with the BQ-470, which is very nice.”

Equipment performance is only one benchmark by which BR Printers justifies return on investment. DeMaestru notes that having a technology partner on which one can rely is equally important: “We have always been impressed by the way Standard Finishing Systems and their dealer Graphco stand behind their products.

 

For more information on the Standard Horizon BQ-470 Perfect Binder CLICK HERE.

For more information on the Standard Horizon HT-1000V Three-knife Trimmer CLICK HERE.