A bindery is where printed work is finished, including cutting, folding, gluing, stitching, and collating. Binderies can be independent or in-house, and require quick turnaround times. Bookbinders must have an eye for detail and mechanical aptitude. Automation has decreased the need for binderies and workers.
A bindery is where printed work is produced after it has been printed. Some binderies are dedicated only to the binding and repair of books, rare or otherwise, while others process a variety of printed work. This can include cutting, folding, gluing, stitching, trimming, collating and more. A person who works in a bindery is known as a bookbinder, bookbinder, or simply bookbinder.
Binders can be independently owned or they can be operated “in-house” within a larger company such as a publisher, library or print shop. In-house binderies have become increasingly popular and in this case we are talking about inline finishing. An independently owned bindery, on the other hand, relies on outside companies to generate work. In either case, a quick turnaround for manufacturing is usually expected. This can be difficult due to the many ways the printed job can be processed.
In a library, for example, repairing a rare book can take many hours depending on the value and age of the book. Sometimes even the work in a bindery can be as simple as putting two or three objects together and putting them in an envelope to be mailed. The quantity of pieces can also vary from a single piece up to several million.
There are many ways to finish printed materials with varying degrees of automation to get the job done. For example, folding a brochure requires only one pass to finish the job. In this case it would run the flat sheets through a machine known as a folder. If the finished piece is an entire book, however, the process requires many more steps. These may include folding large flat sheets of paper, collating them in the correct order, and then pinning the book together in one of several styles. This may require as few people as a bindery operator, or many more to make sure the book has been put together correctly.
The bookbinding worker must have an eye for detail to make sure there are no mistakes. Other necessary attributes include the patience, precision and mechanical aptitude required to operate modern machinery. Most of these skills are learned through workplace or professional training. There has been an increase in the amount of automation in bookbinding and a decrease in the use of printed materials. As a result, the need for binderies and bindery workers has recently seen a significant decrease. This trend is expected to continue as the future becomes increasingly paperless.
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