G & H Soho doubles down with new Colter & Peterson Prism paper cutter

Since purchasing an Accutrim HD1680 three-knife trimmer in January 2014, business at G&H Soho Inc. at times has resembled a stock market bull run. The New Jersey digital book printer strategically got in front of the curve to handle new business, and owners Jim Harris and Gerry Burstein are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. That’s why they turned again to Colter & Peterson and installed a new Prism® 31.5” paper cutter with a Microcut® computer control system in April.

G&H Soho, a completely digital shop, already employed two paper cutters for their operation, a 31.5” Baum and a used, older POLAR. So what was the motivation for investing in the Prism?

“Last year with the Accutrim, we brought hardcover bookbinding in-house. We not only enjoyed huge savings but it solved the bottleneck we had in our bindery department. It allowed us to make our turnaround times much quicker and now with the new cutter, our turns are even faster. We went from a 2-3 week schedule to 1-2 weeks for producing hardcover books,” replied Harris, the company’s President.

“Adding the Prism speaks to our strength and gives us the ability to print 50 or 100 books in only a few days if necessary. It sets us apart from the competition since we can react quicker to market demands; customer schedules get tighter and tighter and we can print any size and any page count. This cutter provides us with even greater flexibility,” said Harris, whose company does work for independent U.S. and Canadian publishers.

Harris originally used the POLAR to cut covers down to size and handle prep work, important since they print non-standard sizes and customize books to satisfy their clients. He also realized if the Baum – used to trim folio sheets – went down, “we would be behind the 8-ball; we didn’t have a suitable back-up. The POLAR developed a problem and needed to be fixed. We already saw the Prism a couple of times in action, so we ordered it and Colter & Peterson fixed the POLAR at no charge so we could get our work done until the Prism was installed.”

The compact Prism cutter has developed a lofty reputation for its reliability. State-of-the-art electronics technology and the time-saving Microcut® computer control system allows for storing of cutting sequences so the back gauge automatically positions itself for each precise cut. Programs also can to be uploaded from a network or with a USB device using CIP 3/4 files, with no additional hardware or software required. All of those benefits and more have made an impression on Harris.

“The ease of use, the flexibility to do the type of work we do, and the accuracy of the machine have really impressed us. This machine is so precise, it is consistently within 1 millimeter of what we cut. The Microcut touchscreen controls are far better than what we have on the Baum. The difference is like driving a 10-year-old car and a new one.”

Harris says his bindery operators are on board with the new equipment. “They noticed the blade change is so much quicker. The combination of the Accutrim and Prism gives us triple redundancy in cutting paper, so we have more options to trim sheets for our presses, covers to bind and odd size books that don’t fit the Accutrim three-knife cutter.”

There is one other advantage G&H Soho enjoys with Colter & Peterson, North America’s largest independent distributor of paper cutters and paper handling equipment – proximity.

“We also have a special circumstance being in Elmwood Park, which is only three miles or about five minutes from their front door,” laughed Harris, who knows a good thing when he sees it. “The service they provide is wonderful and they have bent over backward for us.”