Finishing & Screen Printing
Muller Martini at the digi:media Trade Fair in Düsseldorf (April 7-9)
Tuesday 22. March 2011 - Unleashing the Potential of Digital Printing with High-Performance Finishing Systems
Featuring the slogan “Grow with Digital Solutions,” Muller Martini is set to unveil high-performance finishing solutions for digital printing (both softcover and hardcover production, as well as saddle stitching) at the digi:media trade fair in Düsseldorf (Hall 06, Stand C28) from April 7-9.
When Steve Ellithorpe, Operation Manager at ONeill Data Driven in Los Angeles, attended the Hunkeler innovationdays event two months ago in Lucerne (Switzerland) and took a closer look at the various digital production solutions on offer, he learned something very important: “Digital printing and finishing are moving increasingly closer to becoming a single process. The two production processes have become more closely integrated than ever before.” Similarly, Roger Schenk, Head of the Printing House at Stämpfli Publikationen AG in Berne (Switzerland), was amazed to discover the extent to which digital printing is linked to finishing. “The barriers between manufacturers of printing presses and finishing systems have definitely fallen.”
New Growth Opportunities for the Graphic Arts Industry
In effect, the more powerful digital printing systems become, the more challenging the finishing process will be. This is because new digital printing technology is not just more expansive and more colorful, it is also considerably faster, making it even more attractive. As the leading specialist in the field of in-line finishing, Muller Martini develops innovative digital printing solutions that yield new growth opportunities for the graphic arts industry – for perfect binding as well as hardcover production and saddle stitching.
Muller Martini is expanding on the possibilities offered by traditional finishing to ensure that the industry can take full advantage of everything digital printing has to offer. Roger Schenk sees this as the key to success: “Fully integrated solutions increasingly enable graphic design companies to offer customers a complete service and keep the entire value-added chain in-house.”
An Ideal Platform for Digital Printing
The growing market for shorter runs offers the ideal platform for digital printing, in particular for integrated inkjet printing systems. “Printing production systems are at a crossroads,” according to Alex Chan, Chairman of Iciclegroup,Global Print Management, in Hong Kong. “Digital printing is the future and the key theme will be on demand, because customers only want to have as many products printed as they need. And this includes the relevant finishing solutions.”
Muller Martini has a close eye on market trends and enjoys successful partnerships with the leading manufacturers of digital printing systems. Thanks to the experience gained in recent years with the SigmaLine digital book production system, and to Muller Martinis comprehensive product range, innovative solutions for new applications can be achieved.
SigmaLine – The Perfect Solution
The SigmaLine, a unique complete system for fully automated production of a whole host of printed products, is the perfect solution to bridge the gap between digital printing and finishing. One of the core elements of the system is the unparalleled SigmaFolder. It is the worlds only web-based, variable-size signature folder and forms an important link between the printing press and the finishing process. As the Muller Martini system can process signatures, the graphic arts industry is able to take advantage of the full range of finishing processes for digital printing for the first time.
However, the possibilities of the SigmaLine complete system are not just limited to fully integrated in-line systems. The modular design (e.g. entry-level models available) also means it can be coupled with offline solutions that can simply be extended at a later date if the order volume changes. The SigmaCollator, for instance, incorporates a new function for gluing signatures. The glued book blocks can be temporarily stacked and fed offline to a perfect binder or another finishing process.
New Softcover Business Models: Pantera and Acoro
Muller Martinis decades of experience and considerable expertise in the areas of web offset printing and finishing really come into their own in the development and implementation of fully integrated solutions. The complex processes involved in traditional finishing are adapted to suit digital printing – from web-handling through to cutting, folding, gathering and, finally, finishing.
In order to integrate more efficient perfect binders, such as the Pantera and Acoro, into the complete system, innovative engineering techniques are put to use. For instance: A new, modular buffer system (SigmaBuffer) intelligently separates the printing, folding and gathering process from the binding process but ensures that all the processes still remain connected to each other in line.
New Hardcover Business Models: Diamant MC Digital
Customized content from hardcover books, particularly the popular photo books, is in high demand. This poses no problems for digital printing, but can be particularly challenging for bookbinders because book block thickness is constantly changing. In addition, each book block has a different case, making reliable allocation an absolute must. Until now, short runs have entailed lengthy set-up times and associated costs, although the automation of bookbinding systems reduces these factors considerably.
The Diamant MC Digital from Muller Martini is able to efficiently produce high-quality, customized hardcover books on an industrial scale. Based on long-standing bookline experience, the Diamant MC Digital is perfectly adapted to the specific requirements of hardcover production. In the future, hardcover books will be efficiently bound even in single-copy runs thanks to the Diamant MC Digital batch production system.
With its high level of automation and the ability to provide outstanding book quality, the Diamant MC digital is the ideal machine for keeping pace with the huge and constantly growing demand for photo books. In a single production run, the headband and crepe paper are added to the book blocks (the thickness of which can vary) and are then efficiently combined with their specific book cases.
New Saddle Stitching Business Models: Primera Digital
Run sizes for stitched periodicals, magazines and brochures are currently falling, but at the same time, product variety is on the increase. Processing times are also getting shorter and shorter. According to Steve Ellithorpe: “Reducing the time slot required for the production process is of great importance to us, as this would result in lower costs.” In addition, personalization of saddle stitched products will increase dramatically in the future, as personalized products allow publishers (and advertisers!) to reach their target groups more successfully. These are all requirements that digital printing can fulfill perfectly.
The Primera saddle stitching system from Muller Martini is ideally suited for digital solutions, as it offers the highest possible levels of automation and process reliability and features the modular system that is already familiar from conventional production methods. The modular design also supports flexible extension options and guarantees good investment security for customers, allowing them to fulfill digital printing requirements both now and in the future.
Complete Digital Networking Using the Connex Workflow System
Whether its stitching with the highly automated, powerful and extremely configurable Primera, softcover production with the Acoro and Pantera perfect binder lines or hardcover production with the Diamant MC in-line bookline, the Connex digital workflow system developed by Muller Martini and used company-wide ensures seamless interaction and optimum control of all assemblies in all finishing processes. Connex forms the basis for the seamless integration of stitching, softcover and hardcover systems into the SigmaLine digital complete system.
Connex communicates with all the machines involved: it ensures high levels of safety and transparency during production, generates job data for all systems and facilitates sorting, grouping and planning of orders. These are indispensable assets, particularly given the trend toward increasingly short runs.
Another major benefit of Connex, upon which all Muller Martinis new and future developments are based, is the close cooperation between Muller Martini and the worlds leading manufacturers of digital printing systems. This cooperation forms the basis for seamless integration of printing presses into the entire production systems workflow.
The new Muller Martini MMRemote online connection also reduces costs due to idle time, maintenance and servicing and reduces downtime by up to 50 percent. A direct line to the Muller Martini service team ensures good availability and productivity levels and is essential for financial success.