Finishing & Screen Printing

Rodona in Pamplona : “We Produce Exactly the Number of Copies that Our Customers Need”

Thursday 22. May 2014 - A complete SigmaLine with HP T300 printing press and inline Acoro A5 perfect binder a world premiere in this form: Based in the Spanish city of Pamplona, Rodona produces softcover books in the short-run segment highly productively.

Rodona has focused for two years exclusively on digital printing. It has its origins in the company Ona Industria Gráfica, which acquired the printing division of an important publishing company for legal reference works. The Ona Group, whose offset experience goes back more than 30 years, not only holds a leading position in black/white and color printing, but has also established itself in the field of digital web printing for the production of color books. That has been made possible by an investment in a T300 eight-color inkjet printing press from HP and in an HP Indigo 5000 for the printing of color covers. “Anyone can print in black and white,” says Rodona co-founder and Managing Director Alberto Senosiain. “But what is really interesting is the added value of books produced using digital color printing. We see our future in this market.”
Thin Paper, Thick Books
Rodona, which employs 17 people, focuses on the cost-effective production of short runs. “The high costs of printing plates require minimum print runs in offset printing which are too large for certain book types,” says Senosiain. “With digital printing we no longer need printing plates, and we produce exactly the number of copies that our customers need.”
Rodona, situated just a few hundred meters from its parent company Ona Industria Gráfica, has become a short-run specialist. The average print run of digitally printed softcover books is around 150 copies, with a minimum print run of 50 copies and a maximum print run of 700 to 1,000 copies, depending on the number of pages. Speaking of the number of pages: certain reference books can have several hundred pages. “One of our particular specialties is thick books with thin paper,” says Senosiain.
Complete In-Line System
Customers – predominantly publishing companies and a small number of self-publishers – require not only good printing quality, but also immaculate print finishing. “There cannot be any differences in throughput to books printed in offset,” says the company head. For that reason, Rodona relies on a SigmaLine connected inline with the HP T300, consisting of SigmaControl, SigmaFolder, SigmaCollator, SigmaBuffer, SewingCollator (especially for thread-sewn books) and – a world premiere in this form – also connected inline with a Muller Martini Acoro A5 perfect binder for PUR production with a Merit three-knife trimmer and Easy Fly front trimmer. The entire system is controlled by the Connex process and data management system from Muller Martini.
Only the Diamant MC 35 is Offline
“In addition to the optimal processing of thin paper, we were convinced especially by the fold solution from Muller Martini,” says Senosiain, explaining how the company came to invest in the SigmaLine. It ensures high productivity at Rodona, where the whole line is often operated by just two machine operators. Only the Diamant MC 35 from Muller Martini, commissioned in parallel with the digital system, is operated offline. Thanks to the option of pre-gathered signatures provided by the SewingCollator, its stitching cycles are halved, increasing its output.
Rodona currently still prints Spanish books exclusively for Spanish customers. “However, we’re ready to export, since we have also invested in digital systems with a view to the international market,” says Senosiain. If there is a second segment in our industry alongside package printing that will continue to grow, then it’s digital printing.”