Touchless workflow functions enable uninterrupted print finishing without manual intervention. With Finishing 4.0, Muller Martini will demonstrate the touchless manufacture of print products in a single pass live at drupa 2016.
Muller Martini’s machines combine a high degree of automation with seamless connectivity, providing numerous functions that reduce or even remove the need for manual interventions. With uninterrupted production of digitally printed products in particular – such as using the Vareo perfect binder or SigmaLine book production system – product parameters can be modified during a job without operator intervention or interrupting production. Job changes can be performed without manual intervention (using the dynamic job change function at the perfect binder) or require only minimal operator input (pre-adjustment via Connex LineControl). Such functions are either controlled as part of the machine control system using barcodes applied to the product or through integration with the Connex data and process management system.
Barcode: Variable Data Production (VDP) at the Saddle Stitcher
Thanks to VDP, fully variable products, such as customized and personalized magazines, can be produced on the Presto II Digital saddle stitcher. All the parameters needed for production are controlled touchlessly via a barcode to ensure that every product is complete and correctly compiled. The sequence of the individual products is also controlled in order to form individual bundles that are optimized by mailing route. The barcode likewise triggers the selective feeding of signatures and covers via the feeders and checks that they match the digital content. The thickness can vary from product to product – the stitching machine and three-knife trimmer are set fully variably. Finally, the whole production run can be recorded in a reporting log file to enable full production control.
Connex: SigmaLine with On-the-Fly Format Changes
This innovative function developed by Muller Martini ensures that format changes are performed at the SigmaLine in a seamless, touchless workflow, without the printing press being halted or the machine operator having to intervene. Once job A is completed, the Connex data and process management system triggers the digital printing press, which briefly suspends printing at full speed. Connex LineControl meanwhile takes care of all changeovers fully automatically (the cycle speed of the cross cutter, perforation, cross/length folding, web division, funnel positioning, reference positions of the camera) and of size settings in the SigmaCollator. Job B is then produced seamlessly. The machine therefore ensures the fully automated changeover of the entire in-line system in perfect interaction with Connex.
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