produce more complex folding applications in-house, opening opportunities in areas such as marketing collateral, direct mail, and innovative folded formats that were previously difficult or time-consuming to produce.” Harris from Tech-ni-Fold, has also seen a variety of recent changes, adding: “We are continuously adapting our retro-fit tooling to fit a much wider range of machinery, I would say for anyone that is looking at adding creasing, micro-perforation, or cutting to their set up consider that you might have some older equipment that you no longer use that Tech-ni-Fold could retrofit and transform into a high speed finishing machine – thus fully removing the need to invest in new machinery. For anybody else our entry level CreaseStream machines provide access to high-speed, top quality, consistent finishing that isn’t possible from any other machine.” A company looking to the future with a variety of different products is Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS) which is the UK and Ireland distributor for Horizon finishing solutions alongside an extensive portfolio of creasing, folding, and collating options. Eric Keane, managing director of IFS, says many PSPs will have some kind of solution already, but this is where the SitchLiner “comes into its own” as it combines processes for faster completion, faster production, and a smoother transition from one job to another. “For some operations their use is defined by the workload – for example collating towers where a lot of sets may have previously you’re fixing the right problem. We hate to see good machinery not in good use,” adds Morgan. Friedheim International says it provides a wide range of finishing equipment in the UK which includes a full spectrum of upstream and downstream converting, packaging, and automation systems. Future Prospects When it comes to recent changes and advancements, Davidson from Encore Machinery highlights the continued trend of automation, productivity, and application versatility. “Print providers are under increasing pressure to deliver shorter runs, faster turnaround times, and a wider range of finished products, so manufacturers have responded by developing faster and more flexible finishing solutions. Within the Bacciottini PITSTOP range, we’ve seen significant speed improvements with the latest FM series machines now running at up to 16K per hour, allowing customers to process more work with fewer operator interventions and achieve higher daily throughput. “Another exciting advancement has been the introduction of specialist folding modules, including the new OXO MULTISKILL creaser and folder as well as the PITSTOP BUTTERFLY 3 Fold Unit. These systems enable print providers to a customer can fall into when looking to invest in this technology, Harris says that customers often assume that all finishing equipment is too expensive or too niche for the range of work they are undertaking. Seth Morgan, marketing executive at Freidheim International, agrees with Harris, adding that many businesses end up investing in poor quality solutions. “A welldesigned creaser, folder, or collator should have high-performance characteristics, intuitive easy usage, and will be efficient across a range of runs and formats without any pitfalls – all in a small footprint. It will be capable enough to grow with you.” Like Tech-ni-Fold discussed, Morgan also talks about the concept of a solution growing with the customer, a benefit of finishing solutions that is often not talked about. Morgan adds: “For a medium sized or growing printing outfit, higher levels of automation are the difference between how an operator can maximise their output, and if jobs are delivered on time, in budget, in good quality, and without waste, giving busy staff the opportunity to stay proactive. “In order for larger firms to maintain their competitive edge, technology is finally optimised for today’s challenges with shorter run lengths, costs per job, and flexibility across work types.” Morgan also says that if an investment is recognised as being necessary, it’s worth doing properly and capitalising on. “It’s why we have multiple training course options, comparison features on our website, vetted and quality assured products, and a selection of workflow analytics packages so you always know CREASING, FOLDING, AND COLLATING | DAVID OSGAR 83 www.printmonthly.co.uk Issue 362 - September | October 2026 ▲ Tech-ni-Fold sells a variety of options including the CreaseStream CardFolder ▼ IFS supplied a Horizon iCE StitchLiner to print and marketing business, Linney
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