Willi Egger
To my knowledge the printer will have more hand-work than accepting that e.g. the 2*4*2 or the 2*2*4 scheme is used. - Again, if I understand you correctly, then the folding machine can only do a single fold. So after assembling the section with two folded sheets still a manual fold must be made along the spine. I expect that the assembly is quite unstable if it has to be stitched/sewn.
In the first case one can pick two sheets and fold them twice, resulting in a 16 pages section. Such folded sections are stable for stitching/sewing. Even more easy is the 2*2*4 approach, with a single folding over the spine you end up with a section of 16 pages. This kind of section is reasonably stable for stitching/sewing.
Hi Willi, thanks for your truly inshightful reply. I'll discuss this with the people doing the printing/folding/binding, because, as you noted, something here doesn't feel right. Thanks again Best wishes -- Marco