Müller Martini invited German customers to a Finishing Focus Day at its Print Finishing Centre in Zofingen. The factory tour through the assembly halls and training facility started things off, followed by machine demonstrations on the Prinova Digital and Primera PRO saddle stitchers.
The Vareo PRO and Alegro perfect binders also showed off their advantages in live production. Moreover, there were detailed explanations of the possibilities offered by the Connex workflow system with its various modules and the MPOWER customer portal.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the new compact book block production line, which consists of SigmaLine Compact, the Antaro Digital perfect binder and the InfiniTrim cutting robot. The audience was impressed by the details. The output of this highly automated line is 2000 copies per hour with a thickness variance of 20mm from book to book, without any loss of speed.
This corresponds to a tripling of output compared to previous solutions. Continuous barcode-based production enables completely touch-free conversion. This happens de facto on the fly and offers the flexibility that small runs or book of one production require.
Availability and operating personnel costs were also an object of the demonstration, as only two people are required to operate the entire production line: a machine operator and an assistant. The space required for the entire process chain, from folding to gluing to cutting, is just 170sqm, whereas before, a person would have needed much more than 300sqm for all this.
‘Müller Martini proves that as a partner to the print industry, it has understood the transformation that is taking place in the entire graphic industry and serves as an innovative partner to printing plants and bookbinders despite the massively changed conditions,’ said Tobias Kaase, summarising his impressions of the focus day. ‘The path for all developments is heading increasingly toward small runs, machines that can be changed over quickly, and hybrid production – which reflects what we’re already doing.’
Müller Martini invited Tobias Kaase to give a lecture on the topic of future-oriented production with artificial intelligence. He reported how his company has undergone a digital transformation in recent years and what experiences he has had with the establishment of a smart factory with regard to infrastructure, organisation, and personnel. His conclusion: ‘Artificial intelligence is a wonderful tool, but (for) it (to) be used successfully, people, in particular, employees, are needed who can apply it sensibly.’
THUNDERBOLT SOLUTIONS
+27 11 657 7000
www.thunderbolt.co.za
