Installation is the first in North America to feature the new Horizon HSF-50 Sheet Feeder

Mimeo is a long-time provider of tailored, on-demand print solutions, document management, and kitting/fulfillment services, from business print and document distribution to fully customized education tools and one-of-a-kind photo products. The company was founded in 1998, and two of its founders, David Uyttendaele and John Delbridge, are still with the company today, providing consistent leadership and strategic positioning as the company evolves. Mimeo has 270 employees located in their 140,000 square-foot headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, with another 230 team members spread over their international facilities in Huntingdon, UK, and Berlin, Germany. During peak season, Mimeo’s headcount typically rises higher.

According to Bassim Alamiry, Mimeo’s Vice President of Engineering, Mimeo produces hard cover, soft cover, stitched, and spiral bound books and booklets, among other applications such as brochures and calendars. The primary applications produced at their Memphis location are personalized meeting kits, training materials, photo books and calendars, school planners, and yearbooks.

“Our systems are highly automated,” explained Alamiry. “From project creation through print and/or electronic production, bindery, and fulfillment, we have structured our operation to provide the ultimate in customer service.”

Mimeo’s relationship with Standard Finishing and Horizon dates back to 2004, and they’ve invested in many pieces of equipment over those 20 years. “One thing that makes this relationship successful aside from great service and super reliable products,” said Alamiry, “is the common user interface across all of their offerings. And the interface to set up the machines is digital – no need for screwdrivers and wrenches as in the past. In fact, in many cases barcodes or other marks on the printed material can set the machines up automatically, even changing booklet sizes on the fly without any operator intervention. This makes it very easy to cross-train everyone on all of our Horizon bindery equipment, as well as to quickly get up to speed when we acquire a new model. While there may be new features and capabilities, the interface is familiar, making it easy for them to quickly become proficient.”

Mimeo’s recent Horizon acquisition was no different. In a first-of-its-kind installation in North America, Mimeo added the Horizon StitchLiner Mark V Saddlestitcher with the new Horizon HSF-50 Sheet Feeder to their bindery. Alamiry reported that the entire process went well from installation to training. Each of Mimeo’s three shifts required only two days to get up to speed, allowing the operation to begin running quickly.

“This was our fourth StitchLiner installation globally,” Alamiry stated. “Because the Mark V is so much faster than previous generations, especially with the ultra-high-speed HSF-50 feeder, we were able to replace two older generation StitchLiners with the new Mark V. That leaves us with the Mark V and a StitchLiner Mark III with a HOF-400 Sheet Feeder. The combined Mark V with HSF-50 is three times the speed of the Mark III, and the Mark III is still a relatively new machine! In effect, we have more than tripled our output speed with a smaller bindery footprint.”

“Because the Mark V is so much faster than previous generations, especially with the ultra-high-speed HSF-50 feeder, we were able to replace two older generation StitchLiners with the new Mark V.”

Bassim Alamiry
Vice President of Engineering, Mimeo

Alamiry also likes the fact that the Mark V supports multiple feeders for covers and interior booklet pages, automating cover-to-booklet matching. “It’s nice to have two feeders for covers and two for inside pages, so we can load while running, making the system even faster and more efficient! The Mark V also creases one sheet at a time for a crisper crease.” Alamiry and his team can reliably run as many as 6,000 booklets per hour on the Mark V, compared to an upper limit of 2,500 on the Mark III.

Alamiry notes that Mimeo also has Horizon perfect binders, trimmers, a CRF-362 Creaser/Folder, and an AFC-564 Folder to round out its on-demand bindery configuration. He recalls that on the older folding machines, you would have to be a folding expert to get a perfect fold. You had to crease in a separate process and then do the fold in another step. Now you can select the type of fold from the touchscreen, select a size, and hit run. “Horizon makes it very simple,” Alamiry said.

Mimeo is also pleased with Standard’s Horizon dealer in Memphis, PDS Equipment. “PDS is our first line of support providing service and advice on purchases,” added Alamiry. “They work with us on testing, sampling, pilot projects, and more. And when needed, Standard Finishing is always ready to help. Their demo center in Massachusetts is amazing. When we were looking to acquire the BQ-500 Perfect Binder, I visited with two of my team members. We wanted to see for ourselves how it did with photo books, and it performed beautifully. We also were able to see other equipment as well as the warehouse to learn about their inventory, how they receive and store it, and more.”

Alamiry concludes that the Horizon equipment has enabled them to excel in their on demand business. “We deal with the unknown every day, and so the cross-training is a critical piece. Some days we need zero perfect bound books but 5,000 saddlestitched books. The next day it’s a different mix. You have to have the kind of flexibility that Standard, Horizon, and PDS have helped us to achieve.”