In a move that will strengthen its portfolio for book binding, and Purmelt adhesives for premium binding in India, Henkel India will sponsor a special category award of “The PUR-Book Maker of the Year Award” at the PrintWeek India Awards 2012. This is in addition to the existing Welbound-sponsored Best Book Printer of the Year Award.
Henkel India said its focus is on sustainable and environmentally compatible adhesives and technologies.
PUR hotmelt application has matured the world-over, with faster curing adhesives and simpler application systems. Henkel India has been responsible for introducing PUR in the Indian market.
Anil Krishna of Henkel India has stated the advantages of PUR including superior strength, highest longevity, resistance to severe heat as well as cold, resistance to solvents and lay-flat binding. He said, “In educational publishing the biggest advantages are stronger and durable books, flexibility that enhances readability and quicker turnaround in comparison to thread-sewing.”
In India, thread-sewing is a bottleneck in book production. Even the fastest of sewing machines take four hours to produce 2,000 books of 20 signatures–that will be cover drawn on a six clamp perfect binder in one hour. Krishna said, “PUR will de-bottleneck the workflow, thereby increasing productivity.”
Krishna said, “The current generation PUR bound books can be produced with in-line trimming. The variable cost of thread sewing plus cover drawing, using a EVA hotmelt adhesive will match the cost of perfect binding using PUR.”