Finishing & Screen Printing
Nahan Printing: The new Tempo 22 has markedly exceeded expectations
Tuesday 07. October 2008 - Since start-up of the high-performance Tempo 22 saddle stitcher from Muller Martini, Nahan Printing, Inc. in St. Cloud, Minnesota has increased net production by no less than 70 percent.
The target was already ambitious. “With the Tempo 22,” says Steve Kirk, “we wanted to boost net production in relation to the other saddle stitchers by 60 percent.” Only a month after start-up, we were at 34 percent. Now were at 70 percent, so weve already exceeded our goal.”
Regarding set-up, the Nahan Printing V.P. of Manufacturing also comes up with an impressive figure: “In comparison to our other models, weve reduced the job changeover time by 22 percent.” No wonder is Steve Kirk “extremely satisfied” with his new high-performance line.
Constantly excellent quality even at high cycle times
The Tempo 22 is the second Muller Martini saddle stitcher at Nahan. 13 years ago, the family company, founded in 1962 by Jim and Helen Nahan and currently still independent, purchased a Prima, which is still in daily use. Later came two saddle stitchers from another supplier before Nahan decided last year on a Tempo 22 with 15 flat loading pockets and a folder feeder.
Since August 2007, its run around the clock, seven days a week, “and its markedly exceeded our expectations,” says Steve Kirk. “The high production speed is impressive – and speed doesnt kill quality!”
85 percent net output
With most products, the speed ranges from 18,000 to 19,000 cycles per hour. The high net output of around 85 percent is of great significance to Nahan, as in St. Cloud numerous promotional leaflets are manufactured in the high-range market for customers throughout the USA. The run length can indeed be higher than seven million copies.
An important condition of being able to produce at these high cycle times, according to Steve Kirk, is having very well trained staff: “Our machine operators dont only need to have command of the procedures but also understand them. Since most of them have been working at our firm for a long time, they have considerable experience. In addition, all operators had extensive training with the Muller Martini training staff before, during, and after the installation was complete. That was very helpful!”
Soon also with digital work flow and selective binding
Nahan has not yet implemented digital workflow. Yet, according to Steve Kirk, it’s a stated target, in view of the numerous machines in operation, to produce in accordance with CIP4 standards in the near future. The Tempo 22 is in any case prepared for the JDF/JMF workflow.
Speaking of the future: The new saddle stitcher is also ready for selective binding. Nahans first selective binding job of 1.8 million completed on a January weekend, exceeding the client expectation with several additional runs to follow in 2008! Says Steve Kirk, “it will most certainly be an item with new customers. Im convinced that promotional leaflets for target marketing will soon have a similar character to direct mailings – there will be significantly more run splitting, which will then be delivered personalized.”