Presented as a world premier, the Vareo was the center of attraction at Muller Martini's stand at the Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne. A large numbers of visitors wanted to see the perfect binder, where each of the three clamps is equipped with its own servo motor and is driven individually for the first time, live in action.
Muller Martini displayed the Vareo, which offers maximum flexibility with a mechanical output of up to 1,350 cycles per hour, in Lucerne together with its partners Hunkeler, Heidelberg, ATS and Polar in a flexible machine configuration with which a complete brochure was produced on site. It consisted of digitally printed content (web printing) and a cover, was bound using hotmelt and was given a final three-side trimming in a final step. In this configuration, the comprehensive monitoring of the content and cover by barcode was demonstrated. All modules involved used the same barcode system to ensure that the product had the right composition and is bound correctly.
Ideal for Short Runs
"The Vareo is a brilliant machine," said Gottfried Leuenberger, Head of Finishing at the printing and media company W. Gassmann AG in Biel (Switzerland). "Such solutions are needed because the runs are becoming ever smaller. I particularly noticed the outstanding quality of the end products." Trond Erik Isaksen, founder and Managing Director of Livonia Print in Riga (Latvia), was also enthusiastic about the new Vareo: "The perfect machine for digital printing - ideal for short runs."
For Samir Graba, Managing Director of Société Imprimerie Beta in Ariana (Tunisia), the Vareo is «the ideal À-la-carte solution because it is both predestined for smaller runs in digital printing, but also for the medium run segment from offset printing. I think the new technology of the Vareo is very interesting – a small, but clever machine," Beta, which has two Acoro A7 perfect binders and a 335 saddle stitcher from Muller Martini, still prints exclusively in offset. But it is important for Samir Graba "that we prepare for the future. That's why the Hunkeler Innovationdays were an excellent opportunity for me to inquire in what direction the market is going and what solutions are on offer."
The All-Rounder for Offset and Digital Printing
In doing so, Samir Graba noted that, with its excellent price-performance ratio, the Vareo all-rounder comes into its own not only in digital printing for ultra-short runs right down to one copy per job, but also for medium runs, regardless of whether the brochures are produced using offset or digital printing. This makes it the ideal perfect binder for bookbinders and printing houses that work with conventional printing methods and plan to enter digital printing or are already active in digital printing.
Vareo's flexible equipment enables varied applications. Photo books, personalized catalogs and high-quality brochures can be produced cost-effectively thanks to short setup times (e.g. in less than one minute from A4 to A5), which are indispensable for ultra-short and one-copy runs, and short production times. That enables producing high-quality books extremely quickly, with the very first copy being sellable.
"A small, but clever machine": the Vareo perfect binder presented in Lucerne as a world premier is predestined for smaller runs in digital printing, but also for the medium run segment from offset printing.
The Presto II Digital as a Gathering Machine
In addition to the Vareo, Muller Martini demonstrated at its stand at the Hunkeler Innovationdays how the Presto II Digital saddle stitcher is also perfectly suitable for the gathering of signatures. It can be used for the production of both digital and offset printed products. The digitally printed signatures were folded on the TH 56 steel folder and gathered digitally on the Presto II Digital before the finished book block was finally perfect bound live on the Vareo.
"Because we are now also active in the digital area," explains Gottfried Leuenberger, "I am, of course, looking into this matter closely. Our Primera saddle stitcher is prepared for digital printing, for which reason I had a close look during the trade fair at the inline finishing solution presented by Muller Martini in the Presto II Digital. Because there is no doubt for me that digital is the future." Although Livonia, which has nearly 20 Muller Martini systems (of which only one is older than five years), does not produce any short runs but minimal job sizes of 500 copies, it was nevertheless interesting for Trond Erik Isaksen "to see what is happening in the market for short runs. As there is no other significance trade fair in 2015, the Hunkeler Innovationdays were a golden opportunity for me to have a look what enhancements machine manufacturers were presenting since drupa 2012."
"Shorter Runs is the Clear Direction"
ABC Press in Eppindust is also linked to Muller Martini as part of a long-standing partnership on the basis of three Ventura book sewing machines, two Acoro A5 perfect binders, a Diamant bookline and a 335 saddle stitcher. The South African company now wants to enter digital printing. "Because we are seeing the same trend," says Roger Gladwell, Computer-to-Plate Manager, "of a clear movement toward shorter runs and more repeat orders. That's why it was particularly interesting for us to see live in Lucerne what finishing solutions Muller Martini offers."
Mail Ordner Solutions India PVT Ltd. in Mumbai (India) has been in the area of digital printing for a long time. "We specialize in direct mailing," says Director Prithviraj M. Desai, "but we sometimes also produce books. At the Muller Martini stand, we saw impressively in what direction the technology in digital magazine and book production is going."
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