Gasch Printing Puts Trust in Standard Finishing Systems

In early 1982 Doug and Linda Gasch started a print operation in their 100-square-foot basement. For two decades, the shop operated with a few employees, a one-color duplicator, and a homemade lamp to expose printing plates. As the advent of digital printing came, the company changed with the times.

By 2002, Linda and Doug’s son, Doug Gasch Jr., took the helm and began moving in a new direction; they began to make strategic investments.

Another turning point came in 2006, when the shop teamed with BrightKey, a large warehouse and distribution company that wanted to partner with a print provider to cater to its publishing and association customers.

“We began to realize the niche that we had in front of us,” Gasch recalled.

Today, digitally printed books represent 95-percent of all the jobs produced at Gasch Printing. The balance is companion commercial print work. They still run some of their Canon/ Océ legacy digital presses, but more recent investment in print technology is already getting the bulk of the workload.

In June, the company installed a Canon ColorStream 3900 with an in-line Standard Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack solution. The press represented a new technology, but Gasch was already perfectly familiar with the finishing system. They had Hunkeler equipment in-line with a Canon toner press for several years.

“When it came time to buy a new press, we looked at every option, but the quality of the Canon solution made the difference,” Gasch said. And, it was the quality of the finishing solution that made for an easy decision about the Standard Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack, too.

The Roll-to-Stack system combines a Hunkeler UW6 unwinder, a CS6 rotary cutter, an SE6 offset stacker, and a LS6 non-stop stacker. Working together, the solution is capable of producing up to 1,650 book blocks per hour. That speed was essential. It needed to keep pace with the press, and it does, Gasch confirmed.

“We’ve had a relationship with Standard Finishing Systems and Hunkeler for a long time. We’re still running a Standard Horizon bookletmaker that we purchased 20 years ago. So we had a relationship in place, but more importantly, we appreciated the Standard Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack’s ability to run lighter-weight papers, and we didn’t have the trust in other vendors to do that efficiently.”

After an installation that Gasch described as “smooth” and some testing along the way, by the following month the company was successfully printing and finishing book blocks – even with lightweight 30-lb. stock. Gasch is so encouraged by the solution that he’s set a goal to invest in a second Canon ColorStream with the same finishing configuration in order to add capacity and manage a growing workload.

These aren’t the only investments the company has made. At Graph Expo just last year – and with the help of their local dealer, Atlantic Graphic Systems of Columbia, Maryland – they purchased a Standard Horizon BQ-470 Perfect Binder with PUR

adhesive. The machine was a complement to the Standard Horizon BQ-470 EVA solution they already had. The new BQ-470 is configured in-line with the HT-1000V Three-knife Trimmer, and it beautifully manages the finished book blocks coming off the combined Canon-Standard Hunkeler line.

“It allowed us to have more automation and quicker setups,” Gasch said. “Plus, it allowed us to now bind coated jobs in house.”

The quality and unique capabilities of these investments have enabled Gasch Printing to become true specialists in the digital crafting of books, but it’s the service behind the equipment that makes it all possible, he noted.