Knowledge Yatra reaches Pearsons to demystify the basics of PUR technology

Twelve production managers and executives of Pearsons and eight of its print partners attended the session conducted by a team of Henkel Adhesives and Welbound Worldwide which initiated the Knowledge Yatra to focus on the acceptance of PUR hotmelt in the Indian book print industry.

Both the companies have partnered to encourage PUR applications in India. The three-hour session had the production team of  Pearson clarifying various aspects related to environmental friendliness, page pull and flex values and the inroads made by PUR in India.

Anil Krishna, director of Henkel Adhesives discussed the various advantages of PUR including strength, longevity, resistance to climate change, resistance to solvents, lay-flat binding and so on. In educational publishing the advantages are stronger and durable books, flexibility that enhances readability and quicker turnaround in comparison to thread sewing.

The printers who attended the discussion agreed upon PUR having a huge advantage over thread sewing, which is the biggest 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,” said a printer.

Krishna went on to de-mystify a number of myths related to PUR - be it about safety, handling and costs. He said, “The technology is gaining popularity for hard-cover books and products like diaries where one can perfect-bind the book block with PUR and round the spine within a stipulated interval.”

The perspective on PUR in India was summed up by P Sajith of Welbound. “Acceptance of PUR is a learning curve - similar to the one we had when perfect-binding was first introduced in India. We will need to spend a lot of time educating our customers and their operators.”

PUR FACTFILE
Introduced in the US in the early 1980’s.
Promoted in India by the trio of Welbound, Henkel and Robatech.
Eight installations HT Burda in Noida, Repro India in Surat, Lovely Offset in Sivakasi, Pragati Offset in Hyderabad, Sahaya in Mumbai and Replika Press in Kundli, Shree Printwell in Ahmedabad.