The Future of Folding Machines lies in Intelligent Folding Production Lines

Despite the CP Folding Machine being the best-selling and most installed folding machine brand in China for eight consecutive years, our engineers at HXCP have been tirelessly pursuing the ultimate in intelligent folding production. They aim to make the folding process in the printing industry more efficient, automated, and intelligent.

In traditional folding machine production, a folding machine often requires THREE operators: one for paper feeding at the feeder end, one for machine adjustment and production control in the middle of the folding machine, and 1-2 operators for collecting signatures at the delivery of the folding machine. If a post-press binding enterprise owns five, ten, or even fifty folding machines, it means that they need to hire 15, 30, or even 150 operators.

How to save labor and improve automated production has become the primary task for CP folding machine technology research and development engineers.

Starting from 2018, CP folding machine introduced a Vertical Press Stacker Delivery, and later Vertical Stacker and Bundling Delivery. By pressurizing air from the bottom like a roller coaster and automatically counting and stacking, the folded signature collecting work that used to keep two people busy can now be easily handled by one person. Even this folded signature operator’s work can be done by the person operating the folding machine. Because it can collect signatures and bundle them together, the compact folded signatures are more conducive to subsequent processes such as sewing, book back gluing, and cover casing in production.

In this way, the “first ONE person” required by the traditional folding machine is saved!

Because of the adoption of the vertical press stacker delivery, the labor intensity has been reduced, so that even a "girl scout" can be engaged in folding production work.

In 2020, the CP gantry feeder folding machine became a “hot product”. Although it is slightly more expensive than the CP round pile feeder folding machine which has the function of non-stop paper feeding, the printed sheets from the printing machine are directly sent to the CP folding machine’s gantry feeder for folding, without the need for paper handling on the feeder. A stacking height of 1.4 meters at a time can allow the folding machine to fold for a long time without interruption to the greatest extent. In this way, the “second ONE person” required by the traditional folding machine is saved!

Can the “last ONE person” required by the traditional folding machine be saved? In 2023, the CP folding machine answered “Yes!”

We have launched the CP digital folding machine, which can realize automatic adjustment of all parts of the machine, with no need for the experienced machine operator to adjust the machine based on experience, and can store and retrieve various folding parameters and methods of the “foolproof” folding machine, even the operator for the folding machine is not needed.

Even any personnel on the first day of work can easily handle the automatic job changeover and production of the folding machine by entering the folding method and size on the touch screen. If the CP digital folding machine is connected to the enterprise’s production management system, there is no need for personnel to appear beside the CP digital folding machine.

Wait, how about the paper from the printing machine to the folding machine?

AGV(Automated Guided Vehicle) can be used to automatically send the printed sheet from the printing machine delivery, into the gantry feeder of the CP folding machine. This kind of AGV now has been widely used in the printing industry.

Wait again, what about the signatures and collecting and bundling?

We have originally invented the DK520 Fully Automatic Vertical Stacker and Bundling Delivery. Compared with the previous semi-automatic Vertical Stacker and Bundling Delivery Integrated Device, it can automatically insert wooden boards at both ends of the folded signatures bundles, automatically bundle, and completely does not need personnel to participate.

No, this is not all of the CP intelligent folding production line. In order to make this production line completely intelligent, we have made major innovations in the underlying logic of production arrangements!

The previous folding process was like this:

If a book is composed of 8 signatures in order, the printing machine needs to print the printed sheets of these 8 signatures separately, and then the folding machine folds the first signature, the second signature, the third post… in order.

If the print volume of this book is 100,000 copies, it takes at least 8 shifts to complete the folding of 800,000 signatures, even if it is produced in two shifts a day, it takes at least 4 days.

Note that only after all the folding is completed, we find that for example, the 5th signatures may have a large loss, only 97,000 signatures are folded, which is not enough for subsequent signatures-gathering and binding, so we have to reprint the production order and re-fold the production order, which delays a few days.

The overall folding production may take at least 5-10 days.

But by the CP intelligent folding production line, it looks like this:

It can realize the parallel production of multiple folding machines, and each folding machine is folding different folded signatures at the same time; the bundled different folded signatures will be marked with different marks;

The bundled signatures are sent to the stacking area through the conveyor belt, the robot first reads the code to check the bundles, and then stacks the corresponding folded signatures bundles on the corresponding pallet.

That is to say, the CP intelligent folding production line is simultaneously, at the same speed, and the same amount of production of all folded signatures, can be sent to the next set of processes at the same time, without having to fold all the folding before making up the production arrangement, and then carry out the next set of processes.

This kind of production logic also completely eliminates the possibility of mixed signatures, missing signatures, and multiple signatures in the folding process.

Isn’t this a great invention?

And this is not a product of laboratory demonstration. In July 2023, it was installed in the folding workshop of Shandong Yunjie Culture Technology Co., Ltd., and has been running smoothly and at high speed for more than half a year. The folding of textbooks for educational materials and teaching aids, hardcover books, etc., has been completely handed over to the CP intelligent folding production line. Compared with traditional folding machine production, the strict folding requirements of multi-signature books are fully met by the CP intelligent folding production line.

In March 2024, the second CP Intelligent Folding Production Line has been installed in Beijing Print Group (the biggest state-owned print company in China), more and more book printing and binding gaints are considering to upgrade their traditional folding machines to the CP Intelligent Folding Production Lines.

And we must proudly emphasize again: This is a great production line of HXCP’s completely original technological innovation and research and development, which is a major breakthrough in the traditional production habits of the industry and breaks the shackles of human use that the automation production in the field of book binding has been unable to get rid of - folding, and truly realizes the important premise of fully intelligent production of book binding.

In 2023, HXCP has upgraded from pursuing the production and sales of book binding machines in the past to providing consulting, optimization, and implementation of “intelligent all post-press solutions” for book printing enterprises. We provide upgrade and transformation plans and implementation for the “post-press intelligent factory” for many book printing and binding enterprises around the world based on the actual production needs and future development plans of customers.

Since the launch of the CP intelligent folding production line in April 2023, HXCP has been discussing with many book printing and binding enterprises, and more enterprises will install and put into production the “CP intelligent folding production line” in the near future.

In a future full of expectations, we will join hands with many customers to innovate the future and live up to expectations!

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