(August 19, 2008) At the recent drupa event in Europe, a worldwide audience was impressed by the leading-edge engineering and versatile capabilities of Muller Martini's all-new Primera saddle stitcher line.

Soon, the North American graphic arts industry will witness the excitement surrounding innovative Primera stitchers.  During Graph Expo 08, visitors to the Muller Martini booth, #3822, will get a look at this latest advancement in saddle stitchers as the company will feature live demonstrations of the Primera E140 machine equipped with full automation.

"Our customers' product mix has changed over the years, and Muller Martini saw the need for a new generation of saddle stitching technology designed to address those changes and create extensive growth and profit opportunities for printers and binderies," said Doug Stryker, Muller Martini Division Manager, Print Finishing Systems.

Today's print production operations are producing a wider array of products and many of those products – involving such challenges as smaller sizes, thinner and lighter-weight stocks and perforations – are presenting challenges for operations who are still using older saddle stitching equipment.  "Muller Martini engineers, as they have done so many times before in setting new productivity benchmarks, recognized the need for more efficient handling of signatures and as a result, we designed revolutionary new feeders for our Primera saddle stitchers that will enable our customers to produce a larger variety of products in the fastest and most profitable way possible," continued Mr. Stryker.

At the heart of what makes the feeders on the new Primera stitching line so special is Muller Martini's "Magic Wheel" feeder technology, engineered to hold signature tolerances with much better control as well as provide easy inline adjustments and virtually eliminate costly line stoppages.  Also key is the fact that small and large size kits are built into the feeder design, allowing a broader size range of products to be stitched without adding optional attachments.

At Graph Expo, Muller Martini will have its new Primera E140 saddle stitcher up and running on the show floor. In addition to seeing changeovers completed live, visitors to the Muller booth will also find out about the many other state-of-the-art features Primera stitchers provide.  Those features include the availability of varying levels of automation – from partial to full automation – that can be tailored to the individual needs of a print finishing business, enabling operations to maximize the set-up and changeover productivity of Primera machines depending on the kinds of jobs they run.  Job preparation is made even more efficient with enhanced HMI (Human Machine Interface) technology engineered into Primera stitchers, including HMI controls at each pocket. Furthermore, new touchscreens and an intuitive set-up wizard take the operator step-by-step through the various phases of readying the equipment for production. 

Each machine in the Primera saddle stitcher line is ergonomically designed to provide such important benefits as more convenient access to controls and a smoother interaction between operator and machine, as well as a higher level of safety.  Primera stitchers also have Muller Martini's new laser blue color.  Besides the Primera 140 (maximum running speed 14,000 c/hr.) which will be shown at Graph Expo, Muller Martini also offers the Primera 130 (max. 13,000 c/hr.) and the Primera A110 (max. 11,000 c/hr.).