On February 14-17, impressive demonstrations and interesting shoptalk about high-performance production solutions for digital printing captivated visitors to Lucerne, Switzerland.

Muller Martini showcased a powerful digital printing production solution in Lucerne during this year’s Innovation Days multi-day event.  The Primera Digital saddle-stitching system, which opens up the market for full-color digitally printed magazines, periodicals and brochures, was promoted with the slogan “Grow with Digital Solutions.”

Visitors to the Muller Martini booth, which represented an international array of industry decision-makers, voiced their enthusiasm for the future of digital book manufacturing.  Among them, Bill Graushar, Vice President of Post Press Technology at Quad Graphics in Sussex, Wisconsin, who summed things up by saying, “The new possibilities that have been opened up in the field of digital printing are definitely a hot topic, and now Muller Martini is truly showing us what it’s all about.  No other company has developed a system to rival this one.  Muller Martini creates the market.”

Steve Ellithorpe, Operation Manager at O’Neil Data Systems in Los Angeles expressed similar thoughts:  “The Primera Digital from Muller Martini is the perfect combination of traditional finishing methods and new digital technology.”

Alex Chan, Chairman of Iciclegroup, Global Print Management in Hong Kong has no doubt:  “Digital printing is the future and the key theme will be ‘on demand’.  Customers only want to have as many products printed as they need.  And this includes the relevant finishing solutions.”

Roger Schenk, Head of the Printing House at Stämpfli Publikationen AG, Bern, Switzerland, highlights another decisive factor:  “The barriers between manufacturers of printing presses and finishing systems have definitely fallen.  Fully integrated solutions, such as those offered by Muller Martini, increasingly enable the graphic arts industry to offer the customers a complete service and keep the entire value-added chain in-house.”

Muller Martini utilized the Hunkeler Innovation Days event in Lucerne as a forum to demonstrate its high-performance solution for stitched products in the field of digital printing, the Primera Digital saddle-stitching system.  The Primera features a new, innovative processing folder with gathering station, as well as highly automated technology from the Primera modular system, including a cover folder feeder, stitching machine and three-knife trimmer.  The system was demonstrated in conjunction with an unwind unit and a sheeter produced by Hunkeler.  In a continuous cycle, various products were manufactured on the fly at the event.