The magazine for Muller Martini customers
Winter 2012
The New FlexLiner Inserting System Presented by Muller Martini at the World Publishing Expo in Frankfurt was Received with Great Interest by visitors to the Trade Fair.
Editorial
Contents
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining for Newspapers
Daniel Langenegger, Member of the Muller Martini corporate management
E In 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, sent shockwaves through the print industry with a bold statement: “There will be no media consumption left in ten years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.” We still have some time before 2018, however I am already certain of one thing: Steve Ballmer is wrong. Daily newspapers have indeed lost ground in recent years due to the economic turmoil and the increasingly stronger competition from electronic media. However, there have recently been signs of recovery despite all the gloomy predictions about the imminent migration from print to online media – if nothing else, this is in part due to complementary printed products such as inserts and advertising newspapers. For example, the renowned consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts in a global media study of the most important Western industrialized nations, which have seen the largest decline of newspapers in recent years, that there will be moderate growth in the newspaper market and thus also an increase in volume of advertisements and inserts in the next two years. In Asia and Latin America, significant growth in both circulation and advertisements for newspapers has been predicted.
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That is why, instead of the Microsoft guru, I agree with Austrian publisher Horst Pirker on the topic of printed media when he says that the newspaper will outlast Bill Gates. The fact that many newspaper producers see a silver lining in the clouds is demonstrated by recent investments by numerous Muller Martini customers. This year we have installed considerably more mailroom systems than expected – both at classic newspaper publishers and companies that specialize in direct marketing services. The AlphaLiner inserting system launched by Muller Martini a decade ago has experienced a real renaissance, as it has recently been updated with several innovations and is now a more efficient system. Its sturdy construction and simple operation make our entry-level model attractive for newspaper producers that until now have added inserts to their newspapers by hand. One example of Muller Martini’s continued efforts to place great emphasis on the important newspaper market is FlexLiner, our most recent development. It was wellreceived at its world premiere at the drupa in Düsseldorf last May and also attracted many visitors during the newspaper trade fair World Publishing Expo in Frankfurt this past October. In our live demonstrations we showed its high level of output and flexibility (this is how the FlexLiner proves its met-
tle with advertising newspapers that have a high volume of inserts and many delivery zones) as well as its innovative feeding technology, which ensure high quality in products. We also demonstrated how the FlexLiner offers new possibilities for product design thanks to the selective main product infeed and gluing of inserts on the front or back pages of the main jacket thanks to FlexAd, thereby promoting new and innovative insert marketing. In face-to-face conversations at our booth, many visitors showed how impressed they were by Muller Martini’s great ability to innovate with the FlexLiner, during what has become a difficult time for both newspaper producers and system manufacturers. The World Publishing Expo also confirmed our experience in recent years: many customers have expressed growing interest in services, retrofits, updates and upgrades. This is why Muller Martini ensures with its MMService Program that newspaper producers are able to increase the life span of their mailroom with manageable investments. “A high level of availability of the systems is crucial for us,” says Max Rindlisbacher, Head of Production and Facility Management at Tagblatt Medien in St. Gallen, Switzerland, see article on page 38 in this issue of “Panorama”. Muller Martini systems are predestined for the promising retrofit program thanks to their sturdy construction that is unique on the market. Software updates, modifications of chains and rails, upgrades of feeders at the plant and the regular replacement of wear and tear parts are the ideal recipe to reliably publish your newspaper in the future.
Imprint
Volume 27 Muller Martini “Panorama” Editor Dr. Markus Angst markus.angst@ch.mullermartini.com Publisher Muller Martini Marketing AG Untere Brühlstrasse 13 CH-4800 Zofingen, Switzerland Telephone +41 62 745 45 75 Fax +41 62 751 55 50 www.mullermartini.com
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
21 Walsh is Optimally Equipped for Perfect Binding in Perfect Binder. Offset and Digital Printing with the New Alegro
38 The St. Galler Tagblatt Ensures High Availability of Its Mailroom Systems with a Retrofit Program.
Publication frequency Appears three times a year in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish editions. Reproduction with reference to source is permitted. Printed in Switzerland.
Forum Quality Controls – Keeping the Error Rate As Close to Zero As Possible neutral Printed Matter No. 01-12-763491 – www.myclimate.org © myclimate – The Climate Protection Partnership
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Langenegger, Member of the Muller Martini corporate management
4 Automatic Quality Controls on the Saddle Stitchers Build Confidence in Our Customers.
Sales and Service Muller Martini Ltd. Ridgeway Industrial Estate Iver, Buckinghamshire SLO 9JQ Phone Iver 0845 345 3588 Telefax 65 56 58 (Std Code 01753) info@gb.mullermartini.com www.mullermartini.co.uk Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
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Saddle Stitching Systems Master Print in Bucharest – a Master Plan for Higher Quality Joubert in Nice, France – the Primera C130 Runs at Full Capacity in the Summer P.V.S. in Sopron, Hungary – Europe’s Leading Insert Specialist for Advertising Brochures
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Digital Solutions Dupli Print, Domont – SigmaFolder, SigmaCollator and Pantera Optimize Digital Printing Mediagraf in Monterotondo, Italy – AmigoPlus, Esprit and Ventura for Digital Products
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Softcover-Production Walsh in Castleisland, Ireland – In Shape for Offset und Digital Printing Thanks to Alegro La Pieve in Villa Verucchio, Italy – A New Pantera for In-house Softcover Production
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News
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BRIC-Series Russia – Finishing Will Gain Importance in the Future
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Hardcover-Produktion Grafotisak in Grude – Diamant MC 60 and Ventura MC for Higher Productivity
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Printing Presses Elixir in Bucharest – From Signature to Web Offset Printing with the Concepta
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Services St. Galler Tagblatt – Mailroom Brought Up to Speed with Retrofit
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Newspaper Mailroom Systems Kieler Nachrichten – NewsLiner A and CoLiner Are Ideal for Insert Peaks
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Forum Koni Kyburz (right), Founder and Managing Director at Druckerei Kyburz in Dielsdorf, Switzerland: “Brochures and catalogs can be personalized on all pages and controlled thanks to the security provided by the electronic comparison, which opens up new dimensions for brochures.” Left: Richard Hofer, Sales Manager at Muller Martini Switzerland.
“Automated Quality Controls Build Confidence in Our Customers” In order to ensure the finest quality of stitched printed products, maintain a high net output, keep production waste to a minimum and keep customers satisfied, an extensive product monitoring system is required in print finishing. Numerous quality controls in the saddle stitchers from Muller Martini guarantee that the error rate is kept as close to zero percent as possible. Thanks to the practical setup wizard, quality controls also keep setup times for job changeovers to a minimum.
The Most Important Quality Controls for Saddle Stitchers from Muller Martini E Asir 3 Optical Image and Barcode Recognition System The system is fully integrated into the feeder and control, provides reliable control for fully and correctly assembled products – products with defects are ejected from the system without being stitched. E Copy Control If the copy control detects a missing section, the signature infeed is aborted at the next feeder – thereby significantly reducing production waste. E Semko Lateral Thickness Measurement Each copy is checked for completeness on the basis of a reference value. The measuring system adjusts itself automatically and takes paper thickness tolerances into account.
Michael Pfisterer (right), Authorized Representative and Manager of Technology for GmähleScheel Print-Medien GmbH, a subsidiary of WURZEL Media Group, in the southern Germany town of Waiblingen: “Quality controls play a significant role in minimizing human operating errors.” Left: Peter Stein, Sales Manager at Muller Martini Germany.
E Michael Pfisterer, Authorized Representative and Manager of Technology for Gmähle-Scheel Print-Medien GmbH, a subsidiary of the WURZEL Media Group, in the southern Germany town of Waiblingen (see box) can give an exact figure: “At our plant, we have an error rate of 0.6 percent.” This rate, which is significantly lower than the industry average, applies to the entire production process for printed products. Although Michael Pfisterer cannot exactly say how much this applies to print finishing, one thing is certain: “The sources of error in saddle stitching have been reduced significantly thanks to the numerous quality controls on our Primera C140.” Changing Concepts of Quality Koni Kyburz, Founder and Member of the Board of Druckerei Kyburz (see box) in Dielsdorf in Switzerland’s largest canton, 4
Zurich, has experienced the same thing. “The error rate at our plant has decreased significantly in recent years. This is due to both the automated controls as well as the fact that production is monitored better and conducted with more precision. This builds confidence in our customers – precisely with regard to personalized products.” Quality assurance is also for Pfisterer an unmistakable order of the day: “The concept of quality has changed dramatically, and quality expectations are much higher nowadays.” Minimizing Human Operating Errors Gmähle-Scheel Print-Medien GmbH prints and binds catalogs not only in various languages, but also with and without price quotes. “It is impossible for the machine operators to be able to differentiate the var-
ious signatures with the naked eye. Quality controls play a significant role in minimizing human operating errors.” That is why the Asir 3 Optical Image and Barcode Recognition System on the Primera C140 installed in Waiblingen in 2008 is so important. The specially designed AsirCode from Muller Martini, which, in addition to checking the correct feeding of each signature and cover also checks the sequence of the signatures, and checks for missing, transposed or incorrectly fed signatures, ensures that products are assembled completely and correctly. According to Pfisterer, this has led to both a significant improvement in quality as well as a higher net output at Gmähle-Scheel Print-Medien GmbH: “We hardly have any stoppages on the saddle stitcher, and I would set the increased productivity at a good 10 percent.” Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
World Premiere at Druckerei Kyburz: Signature Matching The Asir 3 Optical Image and Barcode Recognition System is also very important for Druckerei Kyburz – and it has recently become even more important. Kyburz is now the first graphic arts company in the world to use the recently developed Signature Matching from Muller Martini on its two Primera E140 saddle stitchers put into operation in 2010. Using barcodes, this control system guarantees that the correct signatures are placed in the right sequence for the right product in the saddle stitcher. Signature Matching is a textbook example for how a customer and machine manufacturer can work together to develop a new system. The idea for the new control system came from none other than Koni Kyburz. Muller Martini then worked closely with the innovative company owner to Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
bring the system onto the market. As Kyburz, the actual guiding spirit behind the new control system, remarked on the collaboration with Muller Martini in developing the system, “The result even surpassed our expectations.” Developed Together with Muller Martini Signature Matching takes its roots in the complex product portfolio of the Zurichbased company, and helps the customer stand out from its competition. Kyburz uses a manroland from Octoman to print, personalize products in print quality, and fold signatures with 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 pages. “Brochures and catalogs can thus be personalized on all pages and controlled thanks to the security provided by the electronic comparison,” says Kyburz. “This opens up new dimensions and makes in-
E Length and Overhang Controls If displaced or slanted signatures are detected, the product is ejected without being stitched. E Staple Control This continually controls the staple count on each product entered in the setup wizard. E Smart Stitch Control It not only checks for the presence of staples, but also for staple quality. E Trim Monitor During the trimming process in the three-knife trimmer, each individual product is tested with the integrated trim control with an adjustable tolerance value for the required dimension accuracy – and products with defects are ejected from the system without being stitched.
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teresting concepts possible. As an innovative company, we are always on the lookout for new solutions.” A Step Ahead For Alexander Strub, software developer for saddle stitcher controls, and André Bläsi, customer service/support for saddle stitchers at Muller Martini’s headquarters in Zofingen, Switzerland, there is no question that such control systems are gaining in importance. “Our customers are under pressure from their customers to offer perfect printed product quality with increasingly shorter delivery times. Control systems for an automated and thus faster referencing of the signatures make for a strong sales argument.” That is why the various quality controls (see box) have been a very important part of Muller Martini systems for years. For example, the highly automated Primera saddle stitcher features up to 46 process and quality controls – some of which ensure a higher quality of the end product while oth-
ers optimize the paper flow. “We are often a step ahead of our competitors,” emphasize Strub and Bläsi. That is why Muller Martini also developed Secure Binding alongside Signature Matching – based on Asir 3. It checks whether the correct signature is placed in the right sequence for each product – and production is given a green light only after every gathered signature has been correctly read in by the Asir sensors. Barcodes Highly Recommended! Of course, a requisite for Signature Matching and Secure Binding is for all signatures to have a barcode. “We recommend to our customers that they use barcodes and find that they tend to do so more and more,” says Kyburz, adding immediately: “However, this requires the highest precision in prepress and in printing.” Despite electronic controls, the human factor also plays an important role, says the former Swiss national league soccer player and multiple champion of the Swiss
league with FC Zurich: “Our machine operators regularly take a look at and inside the products. It is important to have a production that is logged and controlled. We want to know at all times what we have produced. If we have made a mistake, we have to keep it to a minimum so that we don’t have to redo an entire print run.” One aspect that Pfisterer also emphasizes: “Having several quality controls means increased demands on the machine operators.” Only to add at the same time: “The most important factor for a successful company is having a first-rate staff – and we have it!”
Druckerei Kyburz in Dielsdorf, Switzerland With 150 employees, and customers throughout Europe, Druckerei Kyburz in Dielsdorf, Switzerland, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2012, began producing specialized printed material with variable data in web printing 16 years ago. Today, the company uses state-of-the-art digital technology from Kodak on four of its five web printing presses. This technology provides personalized color images as well as variable texts and addresses on the running paper web. As a new development, two Primera E140 saddle stitchers from Muller Martini (one with eight, the other with four feeders) is used to bind personalized, folded signatures to create exclusive brochures. Company founder and Managing Director Koni Kyburz is convinced that “in the future, printed products and electronic media will grow closer and closer. However, such a diverse market environment requires extensive expert knowledge of all new media forms. This means for us as a printing house that we need to bridge the gap between these two worlds and offer
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our customers the advantages of both technologies. For example, a printed catalog can be the stepping stone for online orders.” Druckerei Kyburz also provides optimal address management (regardless whether for 20 or 2 million addresses), a customer and postage-oriented mailroom that features addresses based on the evaluation of customer responses. Kyburz sees a growing market for the future in personalized printed advertising. Example: double-sided personalized mailings are stitched, trimmed and closed with a flap gate on the Primera. That is why he places great importance on the close cooperation with advertising agencies. “We often invite people from agencies to visit our plant and show them the diverse possibilities. Classes from vocational schools also often visit our plant. This is the most important contact for us, for these students are the decision-makers of tomorrow.”
WURZEL Media Group, Germany With 250 employees, WURZEL Media Group not only covers a wide range of printed products with its nine specialized companies, but also features an extensive portfolio in media advice. “With our expertise from a single source, we efficiently combine the various printing processes with consultancy, planning, image generation, media management, finishing (the possibilities in print finishing are becoming more and more innovative and interesting) as well as logistics with our own delivery fleet,” says Michael Pfisterer, Authorized Representative and Manager of Technology at Gmähle-Scheel Print-Medien GmbH, a subsidiary of the WURZEL Group, in Waiblingen, Germany. Over 35 printing units are used to produce high-quality catalogs for artists and international museums as well as guide books for the company’s own publishing
house, Status, in addition to leaflets, newspaper inserts and advertising flyers, with print runs ranging between 100 and 400,000 copies. “Our clientele is diverse – from the art scene to industry customers,” says Pfisterer. The Primera C140 saddle stitcher from Muller Martini put into operation four years ago with a cover feeder, six flat pile feeders, a Robusto compensating stacker as well as banding and film wrapping stations is used to produce brochures, periodicals and annual catalogs in Waiblingen. One of these catalogs appears in 22 languages. “You can imagine just how important the quality control from AsirCode is,” emphasizes Pfisterer. By the second half of this year, GmähleScheel Print-Medien GmbH will have also put into operation a 321 saddle stitcher from Muller Martini – in particular for its
Gmähle-Scheel Print-Medien GmbH uses the Primera C140 to produce a catalog in 22 languages – a clear case for AsirCode.
high-volume web products. At peak times, it stitches 1.4 million products per month. www.w-mg.com
drupa Competition: an iPad for Andrea Bandiera and Alexander Kurz
Kyburz Druck uses the Primera E140 to bind, trim and close double-sided personalized mailings with a flap gate.
www.kyburzdruck.ch
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
“How many quality and process controls guarantee the perfection of end products on the Primera E160 saddle stitcher on display here?”
“How many updates are installed on the PrimaPlus on display?”
Correct answer from Andrea Bandiera, Director of Book Binding at Grafiche Antiga Spa in the Italian town of Crocetta del Montello: 46.
Correct answer from Alexander Kurz, Managing Director at K+B Druckverarbeitung GmbH in the southern Germany town of Lauffen: 23.
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Numerous visitors to our booth took part in the major Muller Martini competition during the drupa in Düsseldorf. Andrea Ban diera und Alexander Kurz were drawn as the lucky winners of an iPad. Their prizes were presented to them by Fabio Casale, Sales Manager at Muller Martini Italy (pictured on the left), and Peter Stein, Sales Manager at Muller Martini Germany (pictured on the right).
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Saddle Stitching Systems
A Master Plan for Master Print The new business philosophy of Master Print in Bucharest is paying off: Thanks to advanced production systems, including a new Presto A90 saddle stitcher and a new stand-alone gathering machine from Muller Martini, the successful Romanian company can offer its customers both better quality and attractive prices.
The new stand-alone gathering machine ensures considerably shorter turnover times in softcover and hardcover production at Master Print.
With its compact layout, the new Presto A90 saddle stitcher fits into the relatively tight production area to the centimeter.
E Since taking on the position of managing director a little over a year ago, Cristian Marin has brought a breath of fresh air to Master Print, a full-service graphic arts company founded in 1994 which has its own pre-press, three sheet-fed offset printing presses, print finishing and logistics. Cristian Marin has given Master Print a master plan focusing on modernization of the machine line-up. “For a long time, Master Print predominantly used older machines,” says Cristian Marin. “However, we now have a new philosophy and rely only on cutting-edge systems.” From Vintage to Presto A90 Master Print, for example, stitched its magazines, including some 20 monthlies, using a secondhand 1960s JGV saddle stitcher from Muller Martini. However, a few months ago Master Print replaced the vintage saddle stitcher with a brand-new Presto from Muller Martini featuring eight flat pile feeders, a cover feeder and a manual delivery station. “The turnover times required by our customers are becoming shorter and shorter,” says Cristian Marin. “The new Presto A90, which, in my view, offers an excellent price-performance ratio, provides considerably higher efficiency and flexibility thanks to its short changeover times.” That is particularly important because the average print run of the magazines and catalogs saddle-stitched at Master Print is around 5000 copies, with a maximum of
Cristian Marin (left), Managing Director Master Print: “The new Presto A90 provides significantly greater efficiency and flexibility thanks to its short changeover times.” Center: Cristian Stoian (Director Print Finishing). Right: Oana Gabor (Sales Manager Muller Martini Romania).
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Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
roughly 170,000 and a minimum of 1000 copies. Installed at Record Speed Since Muller Martini Romania proved to be an excellent project manager, as Cristian Marin explains, the new saddle stitcher was installed over just two weekends, including disassembly of its predecessor. The reason why the work needed to be performed over two weekends is that the company, which has 70 employees, is located in a historical building in the center of Bucharest and the access road could not be closed off on workdays. The installation was also especially tricky because the new Presto A90 is housed on the first floor of the building with many nooks and crannies. There it fits to the centimeter into the relatively tight production area. Its compact layout was one reason why Master Print opted for the solution from Muller Martini. More Cost-Effective Production The same also applies to the new standalone gathering machine with a criss-cross delivery from Muller Martini that was commissioned at the same time. Master Print uses the gathering machine to produce book blocks for perfect binding and thread sewing. The new gathering machine, which like the Presto A90 is operated solely by women, has greatly reduced the turnover times of softcover and hardcover production and significantly increased
cost-effectiveness, says Cristian Marin. “With our earlier solution we needed up to eight people to gather the book blocks, while now we can make do with only two or three.” Art books involving complex production are among the company’s specialties. “In this sector in particular we are anticipating an increase in exports as well as a rise in Romanian customers in the coming years,” says Cristian Marin. Remarkable Growth That will see the successful company continue on its dynamic growth path. The new management philosophy led in 2011 to 30-percent increase in turnover, which is unusual for the graphic arts industry in Romania. According to Cristian Marin, who has worked in the printing industry for many years, Master Print will continue to grow to a similar extent this year. “Since we can offer our customers both better quality and attractive prices thanks to our new, modern production systems, we are excellently positioned,” says the managing director of Master Print.
www.masterprint.ro 9
Saddle Stitching Systems
Joubert’s Primera C130 Works Up a Sweat Over the Summer Joubert Imprimeurs, which specializes in school booklets for collèges, has chalked up a daily record of 41 different jobs. The Primera C130 saddle stitcher at the family business in the city of Nice in Southern France is put through its paces during the summer.
The daily record at Joubert Imprimeurs using the new Primera C130 is 41 different jobs. Joubert Imprimeurs produces school booklets for around 1100 collèges across France.
E July and August are the traditional vacation months at the Côte d’Azur. But while ten thousands of tourists are enjoying their summer at the French Riviera, Yvain Joubert and Nicolas Joubert are doing anything but relax at the beach. The printing presses and print finishing systems at Joubert Imprimeurs run by the two brothers operate at full speed at the height of summer. The family business, which was founded by their father Bernard Joubert in 1980, is one of the few in France specializing for 15 years now in a product delivered shortly before the start of the new school year. 10
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Per Day – 41 Jobs! Joubert Imprimeurs produces school booklets for some 1100 collèges across France. They contain regulations, information for students, class schedules and slips with which teachers can inform parents about the behavior of their offspring or students can register sick days and exemption requests. The production of the school booklets, which are mostly printed in A5plus format and have an annual total print run of over a million copies, is complex. It involves multicolor printing, perforations and in many cases plastic covers – a challenge in terms of both printing and
Joubert Imprimeurs’ School Booklets in Numbers E Number of collèges supplied to: 1100 E Annual production >1 million E Daily production (ø): 24,500 E Copies (per job) (ø): 880 E Jobs per day (ø): 35 E Jobs per day (record): 41
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Saddle Stitching Systems
Saddle Stitching Systems
“I Can Sleep Much Easier Now” Prospekt Versand Service (P.V.S) in the Hungarian town of Sopron is the first graphic arts company worldwide to commission an Integro 300 inserting system with two-up production. Europe’s leading inserting specialist for advertising pamphlets has thereby greatly increased its productivity, production reliability and capacity.
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P.V.S. Managing Director Erich Romano (left): “The new Integro 300 gives us much higher production reliability.” Center: Horge Ciprian (Production Director P.V.S.). Right: Gerhard Urban (Production Manager Muller Martini Austria).
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1 Yvain Joubert (center): “With the old saddle stitcher we received ten error reports from our customers for every 800 copies. With the Primera not a single error report has been made so far.” Right: machine operator Nicolas Vuillemin. Left: Pascal Brun (Sales Manager Muller Martini France). 2 The Apollo compensating stacker reliably places the saddle stitched products in diagonally positioned stacks. 3 The reverse large screen display of the Primera C130 facilitates production overview.
3 print finishing. In addition, the average print run per school booklet, with four staples for optimal resistance, is 880 copies, which means Joubert Imprimeurs has to change over its saddle stitcher correspondingly frequently. The printing house’s daily record is 41 different jobs. Before: Eight People in Three Shifts – After: Five People in One Shift After using a model from another manufacturer for 30 years, in spring 2011 the company invested in a Primera C130 saddle stitcher from Muller Martini with six flat pile feeders, a cover feeder, an Apollo compensating stacker and a large screen with a reverse display. According to Yvain Joubert, who operates the Primera himself together with a second machine operator, the results are astonishing in terms of both productivity and quality. “Before commissioning the Primera, we needed to have eight people working in three shifts at the saddle stitcher during the 12
peak times in August. Now, although the volume concerned is slightly higher, we need only five people working in one shift. With the old saddle stitcher we received ten error reports from our customers for every 800 copies. With the new saddle stitcher not a single error report has been made so far.” Joubert, whose father, grandfather and great grandfather all worked in the printing business, is particularly taken with Asir 3: “To us reliable signature control is extremely important in view of the many titles involved and the high production speed.” (See also the article on page 4 of this issue.) “We couldn’t manage without it” In August, when the printing house engages six temporary workers in addition to its 24 permanent employees, Joubert Imprimeurs’ turnover from the school booklets alone is three times as high as its turnover in a normal month. As the height of summer the company only prints other
products in exceptional cases. Outside the peak months in summer, Joubert Imprimeurs produces brochures, pamphlets, flyers, and documents for authorities and calendars and packing slips for pharmaceutical products for its mainly regional customers. The print runs for these products are between 300 and 400,000 copies, with an average of 5000 copies. The high degree of automation of the new saddle stitcher is also an advantage for such products. “To tell the truth, the Primera is almost somewhat excessive for such production. But for our peak times we need a high-performance machine and we couldn’t manage without the Primera because of delivery deadlines down to the exact day.”
www.joubert-imp.fr Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
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Saddle Stitching Systems
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3 E The figures are mind-blowing: P.V.S. processed over a billion pamphlets with a total weight of 33,356 tons in Sopron last year. That corresponds to almost four million copies or almost 130 tons per day! Those staggering quantities are the result, 21 years on, of a simple business idea that Erich Romano and his business partner Johann Ungerböck came up with in 1991. To enable advertisers to save on delivery costs, Romano and Ungerbück bundled pamphlets for their clients. They sorted and ordered them and delivered them, affixed to a cover, to households. Two decades later, the business model has been refined, but the basic principle remains the same. Pamphlets with Inserts P.V.S., run by Erich Romano and presently headquartered in Müllendorf, Austria, today produces advertising pamphlets with inserts at its plant in Sopron (seven kilometers from the Austrian border), which opened in 2007. Numerous prominent re14
systems from Muller Martini for many years. At the end of last year, six Biliners and two AlphaLiners were joined by a brand-new Integro 300 with two twin feeders and three single feeders, loaded using stream feeders, and a Robusto compensating stacker. It is the first inserting machine of this type worldwide. “Since we have been very impressed by Muller Martini over the years, naturally the Integro was at an advantage when it came to evaluating which new machine to buy,” says Romano. However, in addition to the automatic signature infeed (“which makes life easier and less stressful for operators”), it was above all two technical innovations of the size variable inserting system that made up Romano’s mind. “First, the special construction with two openings enables two-up production, which means we can produce much faster. Second, the system uses the channel principle, instead of the pockets as in the past. It really comes into its own with thin paper in particular.”
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Higher Level of Production Reliability When Romano technically inspected and approved the two-up Integro 300 in fall 2011 at the Muller Martini plant in Zofingen, he set out an ambitious goal: “We want to achieve net production of 50,000 copies per hour, which, as far as I’m aware, would be a record on the market using suction opening technology.” P.V.S. has not
4 tail chains such as XXXLutz, Kika and Leiner have advertising pamphlets produced at P.V.S in print runs of between 100,000 and 10 million copies for households in Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia. In Germany and Austria, the products are almost always inserted in newspapers. Up to eight inserts and inserted cards draw attention to special offers, enhancing the attractiveness of the advertising pamphlets. The number and type of the inserts, which occasionally are even larger than the main jacket, vary depending on regional sales offers and geo data, which likewise have a great influence on the up to 125 different zones. The main jacket varies in form from a thin folded A4 sheet to up to 96 pages. Main Post Office in Operation “Many printing houses don’t have the machine line-up to insert such large quantities,” says Romano, explaining his company’s success. “What’s more, we’re able to
produce those large quantities extremely quickly,” says the innovative businessman. To ensure the pamphlets are up to date (because of price wars between chains of stores), our customers need them to be delivered increasingly quickly or for larger print runs to be delivered in the same timeframe.” The first main post office of Österreichische POST AG (the Austrian postal service) outside Austria has been located at P.V.S. in Sopron since 2008, ensuring that both the inserting process and delivery are faultless. “It’s a win-win situation for the postal service and for us,” says Romano.
Perfect Stack Formation Thanks to numerous quality checks (double and misfeed control, Casac signature thickness measurement) inserting quality is “sensational”, as is stack formation with
a Robusto compensating stacker and a cross strapping solution from Scheider & Ozga, Romano says. “It’s important that the stacks are formed quickly and cleanly, otherwise even the quickest inserting machine is of no benefit,” says Romano. The ability to store jobs on the new Integro 300, which was not possible with older inserting models, also contributes greatly to high productivity. For P.V.S. that is a great advantage given its numerous repeat jobs. Romano is thrilled with the menu navigation of the Integro 300: “Once it is set, it runs extremely reliably, and fine-adjustments are barely necessary throughout the shifts.” www.pvs-austria.at
P.V.S. in Numbers* E Total number of pamphlets: 1,034,517,983 E Pamphlets in kg: 33,355,693 E Inserting processes: 307,558,442 E Pallets: 60,853 E Truck journeys: 1853 *Annual production 2011
1 The channel principle of the Integro 300 really comes into its own with thin paper in particular. 2 The stream feeders make life easier and less stressful for the Integro operators. 3 Without quick and clean stack formation, even the quickest inserting machine is of no benefit. 4 P.V.S. also has six Biliner inserting systems . . . 5 . . . and two AlphaLiners from Muller Martini in operation in Sopron.
Six Biliners and Two AlphaLiners are Joined by an Integro 300 In order to be able to process the constantly increasing quantities (Romano explains that “advertising brochures are undiminished in popularity”), P.V.S, which employs 55 people in Sopron from Monday to Friday in three shifts, has relied on inserting Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
quite achieved that target in the first months of operation, but Romano is very satisfied with the introductory phase. “Earlier we occasionally had to turn down jobs, because we had no more free capacity. Thanks to the new Integro 300 we not only have greater capacity, but also much higher production reliability. That has been particularly evident in months with a large flow of jobs. I certainly have far fewer headaches and can sleep much easier now.”
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Digital Solutions
“Finishing Is Just as Important as Printing”
1 Frédéric Fabi (right) has made Dupli-Print the leading company for digital print solutions in France. Left: Philippe Michelon, Sales Manager at Muller Martini France.
Founded in 1993 as a digital printing house, Dupli-Print in Domont near Paris is the leading company in France for digital solutions thanks to its many innovative products. The most recent investment to optimize its inline print finishing behind an HP T350 digital printing press is a SigmaLine from Muller Martini featuring a SigmaFolder, SigmaCollator, Pantera perfect binder, Esprit three-knife trimmer, Uno compensating stacker and a film-wrapping unit.
2 Machine operator Jessica Plantin operates the new production system from the Connex line control – the heart of the SigmaLine. 3 The Pantera perfect binder is used to bind products from the SigmaLine as well as other digital printing systems. 4 From the HP T350 digital printing press, the paper web goes to the SigmaFolder and moves via the SigmaCollator onto the Pantera perfect binder. 5 The Esprit three-knife trimmer ensures the clean clean cutting of perfectly bound print products.
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E “Digital printing is a dynamic business that is constantly undergoing development,” says Frédéric Fabi, President of Dupli-Print. “That’s why we need to continue investing to keep pace with the latest technology. However, ultimately it’s not the machines that make the difference, but the market first, followed by sales. We need to be not only innovative, but also successful with our solutions.” Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Three Business Segmentsr Marketing and sales: these comprise three business segments at Dupli-Print, which was founded 19 years ago by Fabi and today has 104 employees working in three shifts on six workdays. E Personalization: The company’s own 123mailings.com website allows it to manage the printing of mailshots and transactions both offline and online. In just a few clicks, customers can have their communication and administrative documents personalized, printed, placed in envelopes and mailed thanks to net-printing technology from DupliPrint. E Communication and Printing: DupliPrint’s machine line-up for digital and offset printing covers ultra-short print runs up to industrial protection – both for classic printing as well as unique jobs. Thanks to its extensive machinery, Dupli-Print can cover the entire production process – from desktop publishing to sorting according to mailing routes. E Service: “Clicalbum” and “Dupli-card” are just two examples of new products from Dupli-Print that fulfill customers’ digital printing needs. These e-printing solutions, which are often coupled with the company’s net-printing technology, are easily accessible online. Main Focus on B2B Dupli-Print has an increasing number of private customers – for example, the company directly produces books for several customers. However, the main area of business is clearly its B2B segment. Dupli-Print produces (photo) brochures, magazines and books for businesses, publishing houses, universities and schools. Thanks to its strong design and advisory department, Dupli-Print supports its customers during the entire process, from the initial idea to distribution. “We want to offer our customers improved, comprehensive solutions,” says Fabi. “That’s why we often sit down with them – even when most of our contact takes place online – to discuss the many opportunities presented by digital printing and digital technology.” A More Efficient Line In addition to three sheet-fed printing presses for classic commercial work, Dupli-Print uses no fewer than eight digital printing presses for its diversified range of products – including three color printing
presses. Its latest investment is a T350 from HP. Put into operation this past summer, it is part of a complete inline production system together with a SigmaLine from Muller Martini, consisting of a SigmaFolder, SigmaCollator, Pantera perfect binder, Esprit three-knife trimmer, Uno compensating stacker and a film-wrapping unit. This system is much more efficient than the company’s previous system. “We conducted an extensive evaluation involving technical studies and also looked at the SigmaLine in several plants,” says Fabi. “That convinced us that the solutions from Muller Martini are just the right ones for us, as finishing in the sense of added value is just as important as printing – that goes for both production speed as well as the quality of the end product.” According to the company’s president, another important aspect of the purchase decision was the after-sales service from Muller Martini: “Our machines have to run around the clock, which is why it’s im portant to have any problems remedied quickly.” Digital: Up to 2,500 Copies The new production system is controlled by the data and process management system Connex and enables Dupli-Print to increase the size of its print runs in digital printing considerably and offer customers more attractive prices. The T350/Sigma/ Pantera combination is used for the digital production of books and brochures with print runs of up to 2500 copies, which are bound using the Pantera machine. The new system, which the machine operators at Dupli-Print have learned to run smoothly despite the great technological challenge, also allows the company to target new customer segments directly and open up new markets. “Ultimately, we made these investments to expand our customer base and increase our business volume,” says Fabi. The company’s main efforts are focused on expanding its customer base in its own country. At present, a large proportion of Dupli-Print customers are located in France. “However, we also have customers in neighboring countries, and we have set a clear goal to increase our exports,” says the company’s president.
www.dupli-print.fr 17
Digital Solutions
“We’re Impressed by how Muller Martini has Further Developed its Digital Systems” A year ago, the Mediagraf Group, with its headquarters in the Italian city of Padua, established a subsidiary in Monterotondo near Rome that focuses solely on digital printing. The books are produced using an AmigoPlus perfect binder, an Esprit three-knife trimmer and a Ventura book sewing machine from Muller Martini.
From left: Davide Dei Rossi (Director Mediagraf), Francesco Bertuzzo, Fabio Casale, Dott. Stefano Vecchi (all Muller Martini Italy) and Edoardo Valente (Production Manager Mediagraf).
The AmigoPlus binds softcover products efficiently, ensures top quality, and is simple to use.
Mediagraf Director Davide Dei Rossi (left) and Production Manager Edoardo Valente checking the high production quality of the books.
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Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
E Until the middle of this year, Mediagraf in Rome produced digitally printed books for the Catholic Church and for roughly 30 publishing companies across Italy. On 12 June 2012, however, the Mediagraf Group’s subsidiary, which was created from the company Sograro and established in 2011 specifically for digital printing, began the operation of its own web portal for private customers. “Digital printing currently accounts for two percent of business in the Mediagraf Group as a whole,” says Director Davide Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Mediagraf is impressed by the Esprit three-knife trimmer, which produces a high trim quality previously only possible with three-knife trimmers in the upper performance range.
Dei Rossi. “We’ve developed a three-year business plan for the plant in Monterotondo. It’s always been our aim to expand in the digital segment, but we wanted to do so prudently. Now we can also target private customers via the Internet. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we’re confident that specialized and customized print products will gain in importance in the future. Our new web portal will undoubtedly help us to expand our range.” While offset jobs are performed at the factory in Padua, Mediagraf in Monteroton-
do is dedicated solely to the production of digitally printed books using two fine particle toner-based Xerox machines – a 1300 Continuous Feed for black-and-white printing and an iGen4 for the printing of colored covers. “Print runs have decreased significantly in recent years,” says Dei Rossi, explaining why Mediagraf, established in 1989, entered the digital age a year ago. While the lowest print runs consist of around ten copies, the upper limit is highly dependent on the number of pages. 19
Digital Solutions
Softcover Production
Walsh Colour Fit for Offset and Digital Thanks to New Alegrol At the beginning of September, Walsh Colour Print in Castleisland, Co. Kerry, Ireland became one of the first graphic arts company worldwide to commission the new Alegro perfect binder from Muller Martini. The innovative family business is now optimally equipped for the finishing of offset and digitally printed products.
E Tony Walsh, who founded and owns Walsh Colour Print together with his wife Pat, does not hesitate for a second when asked why Ireland’s leading offset printing house, which has been in business since 1991, spontaneously decided to invest in the Alegro perfect binder, which was unveiled in May at the Muller Martini stand at the drupa (see “Panorama” 2/12) and an-
swers: “Short setup times and high quality of end products.” Three Aims High quality is of particular importance to Walsh Colour Print, which employs 102 people, because the innovative business entered the Irish school textbook market as a newcomer three years ago with the label
Eighty percentof the books printed at Mediagraf in Monterotondo are thread-sewn using a Ventura.
“The Right Partner” The 15 employees at Monterotondo produce softcover books (Mediagraf does not produce any digitally printed hardcovers) sized between 12 x 18 and 24 x 30 cm using an AmigoPlus perfect binder, an Esprit three-knife trimmer and a Ventura book sewing machine (between 70 and 80 percent of the book blocks are thread-sewn). “Mediagraf has had a partnership with Muller Martini for many years in the fields of press delivery systems and saddle stitching,” says Dei Rossi. “To tell the truth, for a long time we only thought of Muller Martini as a conventional offset supplier. Then in February 2011, we visited the Muller Martini stand at Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne and were impressed by how Muller Martini has further developed its digital systems and offers the same high quality as in offset printing. We realized then that Muller Martini is also the right partner for our new product division.”
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Ideal for Repeat Jobs According to Production Manager Edoardo Valente, the new systems, which were installed a few months later, have lived up to expectations also in terms of short setup times and the quality of the end products. “Often we only print 20 copies of a book, which are delivered, and then produce the next 20 copies the following week,” says Valente. “The simple operation of the print finishing systems is a particular advantage when it comes to such repeat jobs.” Mediagraf has also been impressed by the production quality, Valente says: “Since we have toner-based printing presses, we don’t experience the problem of waving, and so we place great emphasis on perfect quality also in print finishing.” Tony Walsh (left), owner of Walsh Colour Print in Castleisland: “The Alegro meets all our requirements for both long runs and short runs.” Center: Machine operator Arik Surzyn. Right: Michael Murphy, Director of the Irish Muller Martini agency Central Press Services Ltd.
www.mediagrafspa.it
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
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Softcover Production
1 For three years Walsh Colour Print has been successfully selling Irish school textbooks under its own label. 2 Walsh Colour Print’s new Alegro is used to bind large and small print runs of both offset and digitally printed products. 3+4 Thanks to on-the-job training, the operators got to know the new Algro perfect binder under production conditions and quickly got the hang of it.
1 educate.ie. Tony Walsh set himself three aims: E “To produce high quality school textbooks at prices parents can afford.” E “To help teachers meet the challenges of today’s classrooms.” E “To create jobs in Ireland.” Success Comes Quickly By way of explanation: first, in Ireland parents have to pay for the their children’s school textbooks, which Tony Walsh considers highly overpriced, second, each school can decide which publishing house to order textbooks from, and, third, many Irish school textbooks are imported. Tony and Pat Walsh have contracted not only 25 authors, but also ten sales representatives to convince schools of the high quality of their products in terms of both content and print finishing. Success has come quickly. Walsh Colour Print sold 250,000 school textbooks published in-house last year, with the number set to rise to half a million this year and 750,000 in 2013. “We’re more than satisfied with that progress,” says Tony Walsh. Large and Small Print Runs, Offset and Digital Short setup times, the second key reason for investing in the new Alegro, are important because Walsh Colour Print produces the majority of jobs for other publishers and performs print finishing for other printing houses across Ireland, typically in A4, A5 22
2 and B5 formats. “We’ve observed that print runs have fallen significantly in some cases,” says the company owner. Moreover, Walsh Colour Print entered the digital printing business four years ago and currently operates two HP Indigo 5500 machines. Since then the family business has regularly delivered books with a print run of just one copy. Walsh Colour Print therefore required a solution for the finishing of sheet-fed offset and digitally printed products as a successor to its aging Monostar perfect binder from Muller Martini. “We also need a highperformance system because we often print several tens of thousands of copies per title in offset printing,” says Tony Walsh. “The Alegro meets all our requirements for both long runs and short runs.” In addition, as Tony Walsh explains, Muller Martini provides an optimal aftersales service through its local agency Central Press Services, also for the Monostar and the printing house’s three saddle stitchers from Muller Martini (two Primas, one 335). Training on the job Just four months after signing the purchase contract at Muller Martini’s drupa stand, Walsh Colour Print, located at Europe’s westernmost tip, began production with the new Alegro featuring an 18-station gathering machine, PUR binding, splitting saw for two-up production, a Merit threeknife trimmer, a CB 18 book stacker and a
film wrapping unit. The three machine operators familiarized themselves with the new system during the first two weeks of production with help from Muller Martini technicians. “The on-the-job training was absolutely perfect,” says Tony Walsh. “Our operators got to know the Alegro under production conditions right from the start. None of them would like to go back to the old ma chine.”
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Made Possible by Motion Control Technology
www.walshcolourprint.com www.educate.ie Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
The new Alegro perfect binder from Muller Martini meets high demands in offset and digital printing using innovative Motion Control Technology. It involves stations with separate drives, a highly flexible machine concept and a rigid design for precise settings, ensuring quicker setup and production times and higher product quality. Motion Control facilitates extremely short processing times, resulting in maxi-
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
mum profitability. The Alegro, which stands out due to special sizes and production methods, also provides the basis for a large range of uses. At the heart of the intelligent machine concept is the fact that all stations of the Alegro are driven directly and controlled individually thanks to Motion Control. That means the settings have a direct effect on the product, leading to maximum quality.
Motion Control optimizes the individual process steps, reduces setup times and allows for maximum production performance in the shortest time. With Motion Control, the readjustment of settings is reduced to a minimum.
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Softcover Production
“During the Demos at the Bookbinding Academy We Lost our Fear of Perfect Binding” La Pieve Poligrafica Editore Villa Verucchio s.r.l., located in Villa Verucchio near the Italian seaside resort of Rimini, is now producing softcover products in-house using a Pantera perfect binder from Muller Martini. E Even before, La Pieve performed almost all production steps in-house, from pre-press and printing to folding and wire stitching (using a 335 saddle stitcher from Muller Martini). The family business, which has 18 employees working in two shifts, only had the perfect binding of books, magazines and brochures done by a partner until a few months ago. According to Giuseppe Pedrosi, who, alongside his brother Filippo and sister Sabina, runs the business founded by his father Silvano in 1974, there were three main reasons for closing this last in-house gap in March: “We want to have the entire value-
La Pieve Poligrafica has entered softcover production using the Pantera perfect binder.
added chain in our own company and have better control of deadlines and quality”. Fears Put Aside However, La Pieve did not make the decision lightly. “We were wary of entering this new market segment with our own production system,” Pedrosi freely admits. La Pieve’s decision to enter perfect binding and to do so with the Pantera from Muller Martini owes a great deal to the visit that Pedrosis made to the Muller Martini Bookbinding Academy in Felben, Switzerland. “The large machine line-up there reassured me that we can count on Muller Martini as
Very thick and very thin books are among the specialties of La Pieve Poligrafica Editore Villa Verucchio (picture shows co-owner Giuseppe Pedrosi).
Claudio Scotto (Muller Martini Italy), Giuseppe Pedrosi (co-owner La Pieve Poligrafica), Luca Nicoletti (machine operator) and Roberto Albo (Muller Martini Italy/from left) at the quality control of softcover products produced using the new Pantera.
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Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
an experienced partner also in perfect binding. The excellent demos using the Pantera gave us the final push to invest in the machine. During the tests, we became familiar with the simple operation of the Pantera and entirely lost our fear of perfect binding,” says Pedrosi.
The innovative company, whose three sheet-fed offset printing presses with between four and ten colors are also state-ofthe-art, is now able to receive PDFs from customers in the morning and deliver the finished books, magazines and brochures in the evening.
PDF in the Morning, Delivery in the Evening The company’s experiences after commissioning the new perfect binding line with a 16-station gathering machine, criss-cross delivery, a VPN/PUR nozzle, an Esprit threeknife trimmer and a Uno compensating stacker confirmed the positive impressions from the demo center. Following a oneweek training course in Felben, the two Pantera machine operators had such a good grasp of the machine that “changeover times exceeded our expectations”, says Pedrosi.
Book Spines from 1.0 mm to 5.1 cm La Pieve’s print runs are mostly between 1000 and 5000 copies. Ninety percent of those are produced for customers from all across Italy, several of which have been working together with La Pieve for years. La Pieve prints the remaining 10 percent of products (mainly manuals for companies and the public administration, as well as street directories) for its own publishing company and sells them via its own web portal. The company specializes in colored art books, as well as very thick (up to 5.0 cen-
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
The simple operation of the Pantera made the decision to invest easier (picture shows machine operator Luca Nicoletti).
timeters) and very thin books with a spine of just one millimeter, which is even below the official machine specification of the Pantera. One Hundred Percent PUR Perfect binding is performed solely using the PUR procedure. “The VPN nozzle is very user-friendly and contributes significantly to our high productivity,” says Pedrosi. “That’s particularly important to us because we’re new to perfect binding.” The magazines, brochures, comics and books with sizes from 10 x 12 to 30 x 30 are frequently given flaps, for which La Pieve runs them through the Pantera twice.
www.lapievepoligrafica.it www.libriutili.it 25
News from Muller Martini World Publishing Expo in Frankfurt: FlexLiner and MMServices Take Center Stage
Trade fair visitors in Frankfurt were impressed by the high production speed and clean bundles of the FlexLiner.
After attracting great interest when first unveiled at the drupa in Dusseldorf last May, the new FlexLiner newspaper inserting system from Muller Martini also pulled in visitors during the World Publishing Expo for the news paper industry in Frankfurt. For
lfons Ahland, Managing DirecA tor of Alpa GmbH in the city of Geldern, Germany, one thing was certain during his visit to the Muller Martini stand: “If the market were more stable, I would purchase the FlexLiner immediately. I’m impressed by its high
The Inline-ProLiner Gives British Industries a High Level of Flexibility for Inserts
From left: Reyad M. Abu Daqer (General Director of British Industries), Enrico Farinacci (Sales Director at Muller Martini) and Samer M. Hachicho (Al-Jawad Photo & Trading Co.) sign the agreement for the new ProLiner.
As British Industries Printing & Packaging Co. in Shuwaikh, Kuwait expands and has plans to print high-quality newspapers, magazines as well as additional heatset and coldset products in addition to their traditional commercial products, it decided last
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year to install a combined press delivery system/newspaper mailroom system from Muller Martini. The system consists of two NewsGrip A lines, a Preciso rotary trimmer as well as two packing systems with a Listo compensating stacker and an Orgapack strapping machine. British Industries had already planned to expand its mailroom with an inserting machine. Due to delays in commissioning the new press delivery system, all systems from Muller Martini were simul taneously put into operation in October. British Industries chose the ProLiner with two main product feeders and six insert feeders because of its high level of flexibility for inserts. The main products are fed from the press delivery system directly into the ProLiner (press to hopper method).
Westfalen-Blatt Once Again Relies on Mailroom Technology from Muller Martini production speed and the clean bundles.” The FlexLiner was also the focal point for Eugene van Rensburg, General Manager of CTP Newspapers in Cape Town, South Africa. “Since I made such a long journey and didn’t attend the drupa, of course I was particularly pleased that Muller Martini showed this machine at its stand. What I especially like about the FlexLiner are its compact design, its ability to process smaller sizes, and the small bundles.” He sees the FlexLiner as a Muller Martini development that has come at the right time, just like the SigmaLine in the Digital Solutions segment. “Muller Martini’s solutions meet market needs.” In addition to the FlexLiner, Muller Martini also showed the advantages of its MMServices program in Frankfurt. “Because of newspaper deadlines, the high degree of availability of production systems is vital. Our ma-
chines have to be running at all times,” underlined Jerk Hammelsvang, Production Director of Fynske Medier in Odense, Denmark. At the stand he signed a contract right away for the inspection of the com pany’s NewsLiner inserting system, which was installed five years ago. “It means that we will know exactly what measures we need to take afterwards.” For Urs Binkert, Managing Director of Mittelland Zeitungsdruck AG in Aarau, Switzerland, there is no question that the service and retrofit aspect will continue to gain in importance: “This has potential for both sides. System suppliers gauge how (new) business relations can be created, while we newspaper producers depend on immediate support in cases of stoppages and have a vested interest in having our systems operating for a long time.”
Slobodna Dalmacija: The New AlphaLiner Increases Productivity From two into one: At the end of this year, Slobodna Dalmacija in Split, Croatia will replace two AlphaLiner newspaper inserting systems from Muller Martini that were put into operation in 1998 with the newest generation of the AlphaLiner with an output of 18,000 copies per hour. Jurica Galic believes the new solution will lead to significantly higher productivity. “In the past 14 years, we have had the greatest experience with both AlphaLiners,” emphasizes the production manager. “This also applies to the reliability as well as user-friendliness and services of Muller Martini. However, both inserting systems are now beginning to show signs of age, which is why we decided to invest in the new machine.” At its plant that was put into operation in the industrial zone
Jurica Galic (left), Production Manager at Slobodna Dalmacija: “The AlphaLiner impresses us with its high production output and security.” Right: Željko Pokupec, Managing Director of Muller Martini Zagreb.
on the outskirts of Spilt just four years ago, Slobodna Dalmacija not only publishes its own flagship newspaper under the same name, but also prints 16 additional newspaper titles.
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
From right: Günter Billmeier (Project Manager at WestfalenBlatt), Thilo Grickschat (Managing Director at Westfalen-Blatt), Volker Leonhardt (Managing Director at Muller Martini Germany) and Matthias Kandt (Sales Representative at Muller Martini Germany) sign the agreement for the two ProLiner inserting systems.
The “Westfalen-Blatt” is one of the largest regional newspapers in the German region of Westfalia and is published in a total of 27 local editions in eastern Westfalia with an overall circulation of
approximately 120,000 copies. In addition, the publishing house also publishes several other advertising newspapers. The newspaper group in BielefeldSennestadt, located on a greenfield site, is investing in a completely new plant, based on Managing Director Michael Bes’s conviction “that printed newspapers are and will remain an indispensable cultural good even in the age of the Internet and the number one medium for local information.” The traditional publishing house decided in favor of solutions from Muller Martini for its print finishing needs. Two NewsLiner inserting systems were previously used in production; the new plant will now feature two identical lines with FlexiRoll buffers, ProLiner inserting system each with twelve feeders plus an automatic infeed for preprinted sections and a NewsStack compensating stacker.
Buchbinderei Scherrer: The Alegro and the Bolero Make for a Strong Duo This summer, Buchbinderei Scherrer in Urdorf, Switzerland installed a new Alegro perfect binder from Muller Martini – along with the revamped Solit three-knife trimmer. The successful family business has already had a Bolero machine from Muller Martini in operation for two years now. Together with the new Alegro, whose trademark is the innovative Motion Control technology with separate drives for each station, they make for a strong duo. “With two lines we not only have a backup, but also a higher level of flexibility, enabling us to offer our customers even faster delivery times,” says Peter Scherrer. On top of that, the new Alegro features a few signi ficant technical advantages, according to the managing director: “Thanks to Motion Control, we now have reduced setup times and lower maintenance costs.
The new Alegro perfect binder is lifted with a crane into the third storey of Buchbinderei Scherrer’s plant.
In addition, we can now bind even thinner (down to 1 mm) and smaller sizes (70 x 82 mm).”
Wilco Opts for the Bolero Perfect Binding Line and the Diamant MC60 Bookline
Wilco, the largest printing and print finishing business in the Netherlands, has opted for systems from Muller Martini as its latest investment, laying the foundations of a strong partnership for the future. Two new production systems will be installed – a Bolero perfect binding line and a Diamant MC 60 bookline. Both systems can be used independently or linked together. The Bolero has over 31 clamps and high frequency drying. All gluing procedures can be used. The Bolero produces softcover books when used independently
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
and book blocks when used inline with the bookline. The integrated Orbit three-knife trimmer cuts books and book blocks perfectly using the new SmartPress technology. Brochures with flaps can be produced in a single operation thanks to the Frontero front trimmer upstream. Wilco’s Diamant MC 60 features the latest EP 680 MC joint forming and pressing machine, likewise using SmartPress technology. That further improves book quality and makes changeovers even quicker. There are no more interchangeable parts when
it comes to size changeovers or changes from a straight to a curved spine or vice-versa. There were three key reasons for Wilco’s investment decision. First, the excellent book quality facilitated by Muller Martini’s solutions. Second, Wilco was impressed by the cost-effectiveness of the quick changeovers and virtually waste-free production. Third, Wilco was convinced by the high degree of automation that frees up machine operators and ensures high quality and cost-effectiveness.
The high degree of automation of the Bolero (left) and the Diamant MC 60 ensure high quality and cost-effectiveness at Wilco.
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“Panorama” Interview Series BRIC Countries
Brazil, Russia, India and China are commonly referred to as the BRIC countries. According to prominent economists, the four emerging markets can overtake
the seven most important industrial nations (G7) in two decades. Parallel to a healthy economy and a high level of dynamic economic growth, the graphic
arts industry is flourishing in all four countries – for “Panorama”, the aim of an interview series is to take a look behind the scenes at printing houses
Interview with Pavel Arseniev and Michael Masinovsky
and finishing businesses in the BRIC countries. See Panorama 2/11 (Brazil), 3/11 (China) and 1/12 (India).
“In my view, many businesses still need to invest in new machinery, because they haven’t yet recognized how important print finishing is.” Michael Masinovsky
“Print Finishing Will Gain in Importance in the Coming Years” After experiencing strong growth up to 2009, the graphic arts industry in Russia has experienced a marked decline in the past three years. Pavel Arseniev, CEO of Russia’s largest independent printing house, Pareto-Print in Tver, and the Managing Director of Muller Martini Russia, Michael Masinovsky, are confident, however, that improvement will soon be seen following consolidation this year.
Two experts from the Russian printing industry: Pavel Arseniev (left), CEO of Pareto-Print, and Michael Masinovsky, Managing Director of Muller Martini Russia.
E “Panorama”: Figures from Russian and Western sources indicating the current situation of printing houses in your country vary. How is the graphic arts industry in Russia actually faring today? Pavel Arseniev: Until 2009, the graphic arts industry in our country experienced continual and, in part, strong growth. As the industry couldn’t avoid the effects of the international financial crisis, the volume of business has declined since then. However, that doesn’t apply to all businesses. Our company Pareto-Print is a good example, in particular with regard to hardcover books, of how a business can be successful in difficult times, and we’re satisfied with our performance in the last three fiscal years. Our success is based on our high level of flexibility and, in particular, on 28
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
our commitment to providing excellent quality to our customers. In fact, quality is of particular importance during times of crisis. In the boom years there’s a market for everything, including poor quality. Michael Masinovsky: Russia’s GDP has increased by over 4 percent each year in 2010, 2011 and 2012. However, this continual economic growth unfortunately has not resulted in investments, particularly in the printing industry. Due to economic and political uncertainty, many private investors are currently preferring to take out their profits, rather than reinvesting their money in companies. It’s a trend that’s not limited to our industry. Investments in state-owned printing houses also leave something to be desired. However, the situation is beginning to stabilize this year and I’m confident that the graphic arts industry will gradually pick up again. Are the various segments of the graphic arts industry in a similar situation or are some printed products more successful than others? Michael Masinovsky: Magazines, in particular, have been hard hit because they are highly dependent on advertising. The number of titles published remained pretty much constant between 2008 and 2011, but the total quantity of printed books decreased in the same period by about 20 percent. On the other hand, Russia has also experienced an increase in package printing in recent years.
Pavel Arseniev: As far as our company, Pareto-Print, is concerned, we are well above the industry average with regard to both hardcover and softcover books. Our customers evidently value our investments in modern production systems. I should also point out that there are very few businesses in Russia that produce high-quality softcover books. Looking to the future, what is your forecast for the graphic arts industry in Russia in the next couple of years? Pavel Arseniev: I believe the market will stabilize soon. We’re expecting an increase in demand for high-quality books, enabling us to sell at better prices on the market. That’s why Pareto-Print has planned to expand its capacity in all areas of production in the coming year. Where is the graphic arts industry focused in Russia geographically? Michael Masinovsky: As Russian financial power is largely concentrated in Greater Moscow, that’s where over 80 percent of graphic arts businesses are found. Eleven percent are located in Russia’s second largest city, Saint Petersburg, and the rest are spread throughout the country – stretching all the way to Vladivostok on the border to Japan, over 9000 kilometers from Moscow. How important are exports to the Russian printing industry? Pavel Arseniev: At present, exports unfortunately play a very insignificant role. That’s primarily due to tariff barriers, which is why Russian printed products are not competitive in the West, despite the high standards of our company. Michael Masinovsky: With very few exceptions, exports do not play a role for Russian printing houses. As Mr. Arseniev pointed out, this is due to the significant barriers at our borders. What is the situation with regard to production machinery in medium-sized to large Russian printing houses? Michael Masinovsky: In my view, many businesses still need to invest in new machinery, because they haven’t yet recog29
Interview with Pavel Arseniev and Michael Masinovsky
nized the importance of print finishing, and the idea of finishing printed products hasn’t fully taken hold yet in Russia. Do you expect print finishing to con tinue to gain importance in the coming years? Pavel Arseniev: I’m convinced it will. For example, our customers of softcover books are increasingly asking for brochures with flaps. That’s why we’ve combined our perfect binder with a Frontero front trimmer. Die cuts and special book covers are also increasingly in demand. Michael Masinovsky: Local companies (which incidentally are exclusively full-service companies offering pre-press, printing and finishing) are also clearly trying to
stand out from their competitors. The importance of print finishing is not yet as great as in Western countries. That’s why I regularly visit foreign bookbinderies with my customers in order to show them new production options. However, the mentality here in Russia is still quite different from that in the West. Often not enough thought is given to the fact that modern systems can significantly increase both quality and productivity. That’s why many company leaders only look at the acquisition price of machinery and not at the associated reduction in personnel costs. Does that mean that personnel costs do not play a particularly large role in investment decisions?
Michael Masinovsky: I wouldn’t say that exactly. Salaries in Greater Moscow play a significant role. However, for graphic arts businesses, they must be commensurate with the level of investment. Wages have remained relatively stable since 2008, and, when taking inflation into consideration, they’ve even shrunk. Pavel Arseniev: Regarding personnel, it also needs to be kept in mind that it’s very difficult to find machine operators here. There are few qualified workers on the graphic arts market in Russia. That’s why we have to invest in training our personnel each time we commission new machines. We can only take advantage of the higher productivity enabled by the modern machines once our employees have become
“I am confident that printed books will maintain their importance due to the emotional associations and feel of books, which faceless electronic readers cannot compete with.” Pavel Arseniev
“Our Service Competence Greatly Contributes to Higher Customer Loyalty”
“Panorama”: Unlike in the three other BRIC countries, Brazil, India and China, the worldwide economic crisis in 2009 brought the growth of the graphic arts industry in your country to a halt after years of continual increase. What does that mean for Muller Martini Russia? Michael Masinovsky: We now have to fight harder for each and every customer. Our great advantage is that Muller Martini Russia doesn’t act as a middle man. Instead Muller Martini is a system provider that offers complete, technically advanced and reliable solutions and that supports its customers after installation of the machines. In recent years, our service competence has contributed greatly to a high level of customer loyalty, and we receive a lot of positive feedback from graphic arts businesses. In general, the Russian market is very price sensitive with regard to investments. What does that mean for the graphic arts industry?
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Michael Masinovsky: In the graphic arts industry it is particularly important to show our customers the added value that they can achieve with new production solutions. Of course, money is less readily available for investments than before. However, our customers are willing to invest if they are able to see how they will benefit. If a Russian customer decides in favor of a new machine, the project must be carried out quickly. Muller Martini can take optimal advantage of the cooperation between our highly competent representation in Russia, our division managers and our plants. Stretching out over 17 million square kilometers, Russia is the largest country in the world. How do you guarantee service and the delivery of spare parts to such a widelyspread customer base? Michael Masinovsky: As Muller Martini Russia has its head office in Moscow and 80 percent of graphic arts businesses are located in Greater Moscow, we are able to visit most of
Michael Masinovsky: “It is important to show our customers the added value that they can achieve with new production solutions.”
our customers relatively quickly without having to get on a plane. However, when necessary, we can travel the 9000 kilometers to Vladivostok to provide our customers there with advice and service support.
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
“Often not enough thought is given to the fact that modern systems can significantly increase both quality and productivity.” Michael Masinovsky
familiar with the new systems. A good example of this is our inline thread sewing system, VenturaConnect, the first of its kind in Russia. Together with Muller Martini, we ensured the ideal training for operators. We invested considerably in training to enable us to take full advantage of the system’s high degree of automation now. How are Russian daily newspapers developing? And what about other newspaper products such as advertisement, sports and business papers? Michael Masinovsky: The circulations of Russian daily and weekly newspapers are considerably lower than in other industrialized or emerging countries. I hope, however, that will change as the economy recovers. Newspapers in Russia play a less important role than in other large countries, partly for historical reasons. The number of private subscriptions in particular is very low and most newspaper subscribers are companies. That’s why many commuters read books instead of newspapers.
belt width of 850 mm, seven printing units and a flat die cutter. As rotogravure printing is too expensive, more and more package printers want to switch to offset printing, which is why I see great potential for further VSOP printing presses in Russia.
digital printing. Photo albums are becoming more and more popular in Russia. However, as we only print medium-sized to large print runs and don’t offer printed products directly to end customers, we don’t yet have a need for digital solutions.
How important is digital printing in Russia? Michael Masinovsky: There’s a great deal of interest in digital solutions in the industry. However, many Russian printing houses are somewhat deterred by costs per unit that they consider too high. For short print runs, however, digital systems will increasingly become an option. Pavel Arseniev: As Pareto-Print specializes in large and medium-sized print runs, we currently have no plans as yet to invest in
How strong is the competition from electronic media (for example e-books or tablets) in Russia today? Pavel Arseniev: The number of electronic readers in Russia is significantly lower than in, say, the United States. I’m certain that the number won’t grow all that quickly, as they are still rather expensive. Regardless of the sale price of e-books and tablets, I am confident that printed books will maintain their importance due to the emotional associations and feel of books, which face-
How important are newspaper inserts? Michael Masinovsky: Advertisers often use other channels of distribution, which means that advertising brochures are mostly delivered as standalone products to mailboxes or stairwells. That’s why I believe there’s still potential for newspaper inserts in our country. Mr. Masinovsky, you mentioned earlier that package printing has increased in Russia in recent years. Could you describe what that means exactly? Michael Masinovsky: Many producers in Russia still need to make up a lot of ground when it comes to presentation of their products at the point of sale, i.e. attractive packaging of foodstuffs. That’s why package printing is currently experiencing a boom. For example, Muller Martini Russia recently delivered the first VSOP printing press for cardboard packaging, featuring a Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Thanks to their high quality, Pareto-Print books enjoy great success on the Russian market.
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Hardcover Production
Interview with Pavel Arseniev and Michael Masinovsky Pavel Arseniev: “The service from Muller Martini Russia impresses me not only in terms of competence, but also by how quickly they react.”
With its production volume having tripled within just five years, Grafotisak in Grude (Bosnia and Herzegovina) replaced its Diamant 30 a few months ago with a comprehensive Diamant MC 60 bookline from Muller Martini. Shortly afterwards the company also commissioned a new Ventura MC book sewing machine.
less electronic readers cannot compete with. Michael Masinovsky: Smartphones are indeed widespread in Russia, but tablets are still considered luxury items and status symbols for the well-off. These two types of electronic devices are barely used for reading in Russia. Mr. Arseniev, in May you were at drupa for several days. What were your impressions of Muller Martini’s stand? Pavel Arseniev: I would give an A+ both for presentation and technical solutions. At drupa, I was interested primarily in the stability of the systems, rather than the high level of automation. For me, quick changeovers are only worthwhile if products can be reliably produced. Our machines need to run so reliably that they hardly need to be serviced. What’s more (Pavel Arseniev
Grafotisak’s Success Story Continues
grins), the system’s electronic components should be able to manage the fluctuations that we unfortunately still have in our pow er grid. www.pareto-print.ru
In addition to the various other systems from Muller Martini, Pareto-Print has the first Diamant MC 60 bookline (left) as well as the first Bolero perfect binder to be installed in Russia.
“I Can Recognize a Pareto Book from Ten Meters Away” With the first Diamant MC 60 bookline, the first Collibri backgluing machine, the first Bolero perfect binder and the first VenturaConnect integrated book sewing system from Muller Martini in Russia, Pareto-Print is not only the largest independent Russian printing house, but also the most modern. The company in Tver, which is situated on a greenfield site, has 600 employees and runs its production line 24 hours a day, every day of the year except January 1, put a completely new production line into operation three years ago. According to Pavel Arseniev, one key factor in particular determines the success of the young company in this city of culture 170 kilometers from Moscow: quality. “In a bookstore, I can recognize a Pareto book from 10 meters away,” the CEO says with a grin. Only to add in the same breath: “We make the same high demands of our machines as our customers make of us.” Muller Martini meets those demands, which is why we’re very satisfied with our machines.”
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By “demands”, Pavel Arseniev means both the technical components of the production systems and after-sales service. “I consider it very important that our system providers continue to support us even after our warranty has expired. The service from Muller Martini Russia impresses me not only in terms of competence, but also by how quickly they react.” The most recent example was Muller Martini offering additional training to the machine operators of the Diamant MC 60 bookline. “As a result, we were able to increase our net output in hardcover production by 20 percent,” says Pavel Arseniev with satisfaction. Hardcover books are the main focus of the Pareto line of products. “There’s a trend towards printing Russian hardcover books in Russia instead of abroad,” says Pavel Arseniev, modestly omitting to mention the important role played by “his” company in this development. Pareto-Print – with minimum print runs of 1000 and maximum print runs of 200,000 cop-
ies per title – produces exclusively for the free market and does not sell any products under its own name. Although the annual production figures have remained stable for several years, the number of copies per title has decreased from 10,000 to 4500 in the last two years. According to Pavel Arseniev, as significantly more jobs can be processed per shift, high availability of the production systems is all the more important. Pareto-Print, which also offers its customers saddle stitching on a Presto machine from Muller Martini, relies on the MMRemote online service solution from the MMServices package for its Diamant MC 60 bookline and its Bolero perfect binder. “It’s an ideal tool, which enables us to react immediately to a problem, and we no longer have to wait for a service technician,” says the CEO.
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Grafotisak’s print finishing hall in Grude resembles a Muller Martini showroom.
E Grafotisak’s success story has continued in all fields in the past five years – its hardcover and softcover book production has tripled to 5.5 million copies annually, its export share has doubled from 40 to 80 percent, its production space has increased by 7000 m2 thanks to the construction of an additional hall, and its workforce has almost doubled from 130 to 250. Three Pillars of Success According to Stipan Vranješ, who founded Grafotisak in 1983 with a small letterpress machine and cutting machine as a oneman business in the town of Grude, which has a population of 15,000 and is situated near the border to Croatia, three key factors have contributed to the company’s success. “First, we impress our customers with high quality. Second, as a family business we’re flexible in every regard. Third,
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
employees who’ve been with us for many years lend a familial atmosphere to the company, which is reflected in our production quality. Core Business: Books Of the four business segments E book production (hardcover and softcover), E cardboard box production (for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and tobacco industries), E security paper printing (postage stamps and revenue stamps, often with holograms) and E ring binders, books are clearly in first place, although print runs per title have fallen by 25 to 30 percent in the past five years according to Managing Director Marko Vranješ (who 33
Hardcover Production
The Acoro A7 Can Now Focus on its Core Task like his brother Nikola has followed in his father’s footsteps). Thanks to its increasing customer base across the European Union and in the neighboring countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Grafotisak, which has had its own stand at the book fair in Frankfurt for years and was also present for the first time this year at the book fair in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, is continually increasing its production volume. Long-Standing Partnerships That has also had an impact on the company’s investment volume. In order to increase its capacity accordingly, Grafotisak, which is also the largest trader of graphic arts materials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has invested some EUR 7 million in new production systems this year alone, namely a state-of-the-art eight-color XL printing press, which means that 36 presses are now in operation in Grude, 24 of them in the B1/XL format, and new print finishing systems. “Just as we have long-standing
The second showpiece in Grafotisak’s print finishing hall, besides the Diamant line, is the Acoro A7 perfect binder featuring a 24-station gathering machine, crisscross delivery, a book block feeder, a PUR nozzle, a mull feeder, a Merit S three-knife trimmer, a cooling section and a CB 16 book stacker. “It continues to deliver high quality even in its fifth year of operation,” says Managing Director Stipan Vranješ. Until the purchase of the new Diamant MC 60, book blocks for the Diamant were also produced using the Acoro line. However, in 2010 Grafotisak invested in an additional 24-station gathering machine with a Universo stacker delivery from Muller Martini. That left the Acoro free to process the significantly increased number of perfect binding jobs.
partnerships with our customers, we’re also loyal to our system suppliers,” says Stipan Vranješ when asked why the company again opted for Muller Martini. Diamant 30 Makes Way for Diamant MC 60 In April Grafotisak replaced its Diamant 30, which was installed in 2007, with a new Diamant MC 60 bookline. The complete production line consists of: a Solema book block feeder and hand feeder, a RPM/GPM roller pressing/full-surface pressing machine, an endsheet feeder, a Collibri backgluing machine, a cooling section, a second RPM roller pressing machine, two cooling towers, a Merit S three-knife trimmer, an EP joint forming and pressing machine, a BLSD 650 book stacker and a Ribbon inserting machine. “Capacity, speed and quality” are the words that Marko Vranješ uses to express his enthusiasm for the Diamant MC 60. He has nothing but praise for the machine’s
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4
1 From right: Marko Vranješ (Deputy Managing Director Grafotisak), Stipan Vranješ (Founder and Managing Director Grafotisak) and Željko Pokupec (Managing Director Muller Martini Zagreb) in front of the new Diamant MC 60 bookline from Muller Martini. 2 By adding a new production hall to its facility, Grafotisak has increased its production floor space by an additional 7000 m2.
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performance in the first few months of operation: “Our new line runs with absolute reliability, the quality of the books is excellent and the changeover from the old to the new model was extremely smooth thanks to on-site training of our machine operators. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would award the Diamant a 10.” As with the Diamant MC 60, Marko Vranješ is especially delighted with the motion control technology and servo motors of the Ventura MC book sewing machine, which was commissioned two months later. “They make operation much easier.”
3 For capacity reasons Grafotisak replaced the Diamant 30 with a comprehensive Diamant MC 60 bookline in April. 4 The Ribbon inserting machine is also used inline.
5 The Ventura MC is the second book sewing machine from Muller Martini at Grafotisak. 6 At the end of hardcover production, the BLSD book stacker stacks the books in countless stack combinations.
www.grafotisak.com
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Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
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Printing Presses
From Sheet-Fed to Web Offset Printing With the new Concepta web offset printing press from Muller Martini, Elixir Press in the Romanian capital Bucharest can kill three birds with one stone: The company can switch from sheet-fed offset printing of its crossword magazines to web offset printing, capture new market segments, and strengthen its position as a partner to external companies.
Elixir Press now prints its rossword magazines using c the Concepta. Unsold saddle stitched copies are gathered, perfect bound and sold as an omnibus edition.
because we use very thin paper for the crossword magazines.” A New Concepta in a New Hall Elixir Press therefore installed a Concepta web offset printing press with four ink fountains, a QS 74 cross cutter and a Unistack 3000 stacker last spring after successful tests at the Muller Martini Training Center Presses in Maulburg, Germany. A new, spacious production facility was set up in the industrial zone of Bucharest for that purpose. Company director Tirsolea decided in favor of the Concepta for two main reasons: “First, we have been partners with Muller Martini for a long time in the field of print finishing. Second, I attended Muller Martini’s open house last year in the Czech city of Opava and was convinced by the wide-ranging possibilities offered by the Concepta.”
Vasile Tirsolea (founder of Elixir Press): “With the Concepta we can also focus on security printing, labels and pharmaceutical inserts in the future.” Right: Simona Mazilu (Managing Director Muller Martini Romania)
E Solving crosswords is a popular pastime in Romania. Before the change of regime in 1989 there was just a single, stateowned crossword magazine, but their number has grown rapidly in the past two decades. Elixir Press alone, in addition to 40 other titles, publishes eight illustrated crossword magazines of varying degrees of difficulty. Their print runs have been sta36
ble for years and range between 20,000 and 50,000 copies depending on the title. Quicker and More Cost-Effective Previously these magazines, which are stitched on a Presto from Muller Martini or perfect bound using a Pantera also from Muller Martini (see box), were printed using sheet-fed offset technology. Now, how-
ever, Vasile Tirsolea, who founded the company in 1994, is switching to web offset printing. He gave several reasons for that: “I’m counting on a quicker and more cost-effective printing process that will significantly increase print quality. Web offset gives us much more versatility in terms of paper weight. That is particularly important to us Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
New Market Segments The business plan of the full-service company includes not only the switch from sheet-fed offset printing of crossword magazines to web offset printing, but also the acquisition of new customers in new market segments. “With the Concepta we can also focus on security printing, labels and pharmaceutical inserts in the future,” said Tirsolea. It is the declared objective of the ambitious company, which presently has around Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
The new Concepta web offset printing press gives Elixir much more versatility in terms of paper weight.
100 employees, to increase its volume of contract work. “Currently we are predominantly producing the titles of our own publishing company,” explained Tirsolea. “However, we aim to change that, because the new Concepta has made us significantly more attractive as partners to other publishers.” The Country Needs New Ideas According to Tirsolea, it makes sense that Elixir Press has invested in a new hall and modern and production machinery precisely in an economically difficult period. “During a crisis it’s particularly important to search for new ideas and make print products more attractive.” The innovative businessman is therefore planning to finish his magazines with gimmicks, stickers, inserts and scratch cards and to film-wrap them. To that end, Elixir Press commissioned an Onyx/Rubin inserting and film-wrapping line from Muller Martini a few months before the Concepta.
When Saddle Stitched Products are Perfect Bound Elixir Press has come up with an innovative way of bringing unsold crossword magazines (back) onto the market. Three saddle stitched magazines are gathered, given a cover, perfect bound and then sold at a discount price at kiosks as an omnibus edition. For such special and other softcover products, Elixir Press uses a Pantera perfect binder from Muller Martini as well as a stand-alone gathering machine with a criss-cross delivery. Elixir purchased the gathering machine, the Pantera and all other printing presses and print finishing machines brand-new from the factories of the manufacturers. “I always want to have the latest systems, which is why secondhand machines don’t fit in our concept,” emphasized Tirsolea.
www.elixirpress.ro 37
Services
MM
“High Availability of Systems is Vital to Newspaper Printers”
Retrofit Stages in the St. Gallen Mailroom
A decade after the commissioning of its Muller Martini mailroom, St. Galler Tagblatt in Eastern Switzerland is submitting it to an intensive retrofit program, so that the company can continue to produce efficiently using the existing transporter, buffer, inserting and stack formation systems for a further eight to ten years.
E “We made a smart investment in 2002,” says Max Rindlisbacher. “Our mailroom has proved itself and still absolutely satisfies our requirements – especially as newspapers are not a growth market.” Nevertheless, the Head of Production and Facility Management at Tagblatt Medien in St. Gallen has no doubts that “a mailroom needs to be brought up to date in the middle of its economic life-time”. Software Elements Require Updates One reason is that certain parts wear out with time. The other is that not all components are still available for aging control modules. “Modern machine generations have considerably more software elements, which necessitating regular updates.” says Rindlisbacher.“That applies both to printing presses and to print finishing.” A retrofit program is the obvious choice instead of a new investment for economic reasons alone. “Ultimately a mailroom is not a cell phone that you change every three years, but a major investment that is amortized over many years, not to mention the complexity of replacing existing machinery from a production perspective,” says Rindlisbacher.
Installation 2002: 2 NewsLiners, 2 NewsGrips, 6 PrintStack CN 80s, 2 FlexiRoll buffers, 6 TABA IS top sheet feeders, 6 Imaje inkjet printers, 6 SMB strapping units, a ramp system, 2 three-fold lines with addressing system, top sheet feeder and integrated stack formation.
Retrofit E 2007 Ramp: Modernization of hardware/software. E 2009 Ramp Control System: Upgrade to Mailroom Production Control (MPC). E 2009 NewsGrip/NewsLiner Chains and Rails: Training by Muller Martini, modifications by St. Galler Tagblatt.
E 2011 PC FlexiRoll: Operating system upgrade to Win XP Embedded. E 2012 Feeder Retrofit: 4 peel-off feeders (main product/preprinted section) were reconditioned in the factory. E 2012 PrintStack CN 80 Control Retrofit: Pilot project conversion of control to B&R.
Overhaul at the Muller Martini Factory After a number of control and operating system components were modernized in 2007 and modifications were made to the chains and rails of the NewsGrip/NewsLiner, it was the turn of the first NewsLiner feeders this year. Four feeders were completely reconditioned at the Muller Martini factory in Zofingen. “The remaining six will follow in 2013 and 2014,” explains Stefan Kocher, Product Manager of the Muller Martini Service Program/Head of Support. He has been in touch with Rindlisbacher for some time to clarify in detail the retrofit needs of the mailroom in St. Gallen. “Naturally we have our standardized MMServices catalog, but an individually tailored service program is indispensable for complex newspaper mailroom systems,” says Kocher. Rindlisbacher also regards that as imperative. “It’s important for us, the users of the machinery, to sit down with the manufacturer and analyze the current weaknesses and then introduce the necessary measures together.” High Availability is Paramount According to Rindlisbacher, the latest updates and upgrades have two objectives:
Max Rindlisbacher (Head of Production and Facility Management Tagblatt Medien, St. Gallen): “A mailroom needs to be brought up-to-date in the middle of its economic lifetime.”
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Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
39
Services
Newspaper Mailroom Systems
MM
NewsLiner with CoLiner: Time for New Solutions and New Products Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG, based in Kiel, Northern Germany, has become the world’s first newspaper printing house to couple one of its three existing NewsLiner A newspaper inserting systems with a CoLiner pre-gathering unit from Muller Martini. That enables the company to stay on top of insert peaks during the production of a large number of advertising journals.
Stefan Will (right), Director of Print Finishing Process Organization Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG: “Since the CoLiner does not have any chains, we need fewer wear parts and have lower maintenance and lifecycle costs.” Roland Prieske (left), Branch Manager Muller Martini Germany.
E By combining the NewsLiner A (five stations) with the CoLiner (ten stations), the newspaper printing house in Seglerstadt, Northern Germany, is treading new technological territory together with Muller Martini for the second time within four years. On the previous occasion, Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG was the
first newspaper publishing house worldwide to commission the ProLiner with CoLiner combination inserting system, which was unveiled at the drupa trade fair in 2008. “Our three NewsLiners have only reached half of their economic life-time,” says Sven Fricke, Managing Director of Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck
To ensure that the two NewsLiner inserting systems continue to produce reliably, all feeders are being completely reconditioned in the Muller Martini factory.
“In the medium and long term we want to keep using these machines for a further eight to ten years. In the short term we need to ensure their availability day in, day out. That’s vital for a newspaper printer. We can’t risk a crash of our systems.” For that reason, as both Rindlisbacher and Kocher underline, the primary aim of the mailroom retrofits is stability of the systems, rather than higher performance. “However, a certain increase in efficiency can also be achieved with upgrades,” says Kocher.
Regular Maintenance Makes Retrofit Easier To ensure stability, Rindlisbacher attaches great importance to periodic replacement of wear parts and sensible replacement parts storage, as well as observation of the maintenance concept. The individual elements are cleaned and overhauled weekly, monthly, quarterly or half-yearly. “That makes a retrofit much simpler,” says Rindlisbacher, who has worked for Tagblatt Medien for 25 years and knew the predecessor mailroom from Muller Martini that
was in operation in St. Gallen from 1985 to 2002 inside out. The results of that maintenance philosophy are impressive: in ten years the St. Gallen mailroom has not experienced a single major system failure and newspaper production has been ensured at all times.
www.tagblattmedien.ch
Some 25 Newspapers are Produced in St. Gallen In addition to the seven regional editions of the St. Galler Tagblatt with a total print run of 122,000 copies, Tagblatt Medien produces two dozen further weekly, fortnightly and monthly newspapers. The print runs of these newspapers, most of which are printed for outside publishing companies, range between 2500 and 600,000 copies.
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According to Head of Production Rindlisbacher, the number of commercial inserts has been stable for years. “Or rather, newspapers rarely have more than four inserts. The insert business has never been as developed in Switzerland as in, say, Germany,” says Rindlisbacher with a grin. However, selective inserting is highly pop-
ular. The Mailroom Production Control (MPC) system from Muller Martini is extremely valuable in that respect, adds Rindlisbacher. “MPC is highly reliable and has low running costs. It simplifies data processing and the handling of shipping data.”
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
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Newspaper Mailroom Systems
KG. “In terms of manageable investment costs, it made sense to upgrade one of the existing inserting lines.” Fricke explains that the modular design of the Muller Martini systems positively invites such additional investments. “What’s more, the layout of the new CoLiner also fits optimally with the NewsLiner in terms of the space available in our mailroom.”
Sven Fricke (Managing Director Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG): “Our three NewsLiners have only reached half of their economic lifetime. “In terms of manageable investment costs, it made sense to upgrade one of the existing inserting lines.”
First CoLiner in 2008 Fricke explains that, in addition to the modular design, layout and investment costs, the company’s positive experiences with the ProLiner with CoLiner installed in 2008 played a “significant” role in opting for the new combination solution. “In those four years we have found the CoLiner to be a reliable system expansion. In my eyes it is a cost-effective solution for tackling growing requirements in the field of inserting.” Even combined with the NewsLiner, the pre-gatherer does not cause “any mechanical problems”, says Stefan Will, Director of Print Finishing Process Organization at Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG. “Since it does not have any chains, we
need fewer wear parts and have lower maintenance and lifecycle costs. The coupling of the two control systems was challenging, but “Muller Martini solved that.” On the subject of control, Will describes himself as a “fan” of the Mailroom Production Control (MPC): “We were already satisfied with the predecessor system called GCS. MPC works flawlessly and is a reliable component of our production planning environment.” New, Innovative Products Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG’s decision just under a year ago to expand its existing equipment, rather than invest in an entirely new inserting system, has also proven to be well-judged for another reason. In recent months, the number of advertising inserts has declined slightly after rising for many years. Inserting Processes – 664 Million Nevertheless, the figures of the Kiel-based newspaper publishing house are still impressive. The number of advertising inserts is likely to amount to some 486 million cop-
The very first ProLiner with CoLiner was installed in Kiel four years ago.
ies this year. Together with an increasing number of editorial preprinted sections, there will be as many as 664 million inserting processes. “Thanks to new advertising strategies with new, innovative products, we can compensate for the slight decline in traditional advertising inserts,” says Fricke. Maximum: 25 Inserts, 1 kg Advertising material and preprinted sections are inserted in Kiel E in the flagship Kieler Nachrichten with four regional editions for Kiel, Plön, Eckernförde and Neumünster (total print run from Monday to Friday of 100,000 copies and on Saturday of 120,000 copies), E in four daily newspapers printed for external customers with a total print run of 42
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
ed consistently into the newspapers even at high speed.
The NewsLiner/CoLiner combination in Kiel is the first solution of its kind worldwide.
Muller Martini Panorama Winter 2012
270,000 copies (including the Hamburger Morgenpost with a print run of 140,000 copies), E in 35 advertising journals with a print run of roughly a million, of which all except two titles are contract work (Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG produces nearly all advertising journals in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region). The number of inserts fluctuates widely between 0 and 25 per newspaper with an upper weight limit of one kilogram per finished product. “It is indisputable that the two CoLiners enable us to stay on top of insert peaks on Tuesday and Friday when we produce the advertising journals, while also reducing personnel costs,” says Will. The inserts are electrostatically blocked at the CoLiner to ensure that they are insert-
Employees Have a Say The department management decides which of the four inserting lines is used for which product. However, it is the machine operators that decide whether all inserts are inserted on the main machine, whether a combination of the main machine and the CoLiner is used or all inserts are fed solely from the CoLiner. The active involvement of employees at Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG in decision-making processes was also shown during the evaluation of new mailroom equipment suppliers at the brandnew production facility 11 years ago. The machine operators drew up their own final report independently of the management and opted for the solution from Muller Martini despite having been accustomed to an other system for years.
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Fit for profitability. Surprise your clients and increase your earning power. State-of-the-art technology from Muller Martini creates competitive advantages: your clients will appreciate the high-quality products and the creative added value. Connex ensures your profitability by providing the highest level of availability, unbeatable changeover times and intelligent production flows. Our modular product program, hybrid systems and extensive equipped for the markets of today and tomorrow. Muller Martini – your strong partner.
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