Counting

The sheets received from the printing department are first of all counted in the binding department to ensure that each forme is complete in its quantity. It is most important because even if one sheet is less, it causes shortage of one complete book in binding. In manual counting, the binders count 4 to 5 sheets at a time and arrange them in piles of 100, 250, 500 or 1000 sheets stacked on each other. In the modern and large binding houses counting is done with the help of machines. The electronic counting device of the machine is fitted against one corner of the pile. The sheets are counted from top to bottom of the pile in a few minutes time only.

      The speed of counting by hand is affected by the size of the paper. But the machines with electronic counting device can count upto 100000 sheets per hour irrespective of their size. The following table shows the scale for counting sheets by hand:-

Sheet Size                                                                         Average Speed per Hour

A0        (841x1189mm)                                                     5000 sheets

A1        (594x841mm)                                                       6000 sheets

A2        (420x594mm)                                                       8000 sheets

A3        (297x420mm)                                                       10000 sheets