August 26, 2003 -- McCormick Place, Chicago — Muller Martini will feature a live/multimedia presentation titled "Connect to the Finish" at its Graph Expo exhibit — #1062. Videotaped visits of several facilities that use Muller Martini systems combined with live demonstrations will provide showgoers with a working vision of how CIP3’s PPF architecture is making finishing an integral part of the Computer Integrated Manufacturing workflow. The result: printers and finishing experts who visit the exhibit will learn how they can slash their makereadies while broadening their profit margins. Among the featured finishing systems that Muller Martini will demonstrate at its exhibit are. . . AmigoDigital — This short-run automated perfect binding system is based on Muller Martini’s popular AmigoPlus model. The major advancement is that the AmigoDigital is equipped to connected directly a digital printing system and produce up to 1,000 fully variable books per hour inline. The AmigoDigital brings a new level of commercial quality finishing to the shortest of production runs. It is purpose-built to plug into a facility’s on-demand workflow, so that the parameters of each individual book are automatically transferred to the binder for hands-free setup. When used in-line with a digital press, AmigoDigital sets itself up directly from data supplied by the upstream printer or press. When configured near-line, AmigoDigital takes its settings from a built-in measuring/loading station to automate makeready on conventional short-run jobs. In either case, the electronic book size data is used to adjust the length, width, and thickness settings of the binder. The result – the machine makereadies itself. In the exhibit’s multimedia presentation, executives from RR Donnelley will comment on the AmigoDigital is an integral part of their companies digital book production system — the Inventory Management Solution. (IMS). BravoPlus AMRYS —This saddle stitcher’s Automatic Makeready System automates one of the most time-consuming jobs in the bindery — setting up saddle stitching systems between jobs. Job parameters can be entered by the operator or captured directly from a company’s MIS system and BravoPlus does the rest, utilizing a network of servo motors to adjust itself. Muller Martini’s AMRYS technology received the 2002 GATF InterTech Award as the first system of its kind. Now Muller Martini has taken it a step further by integrating the CIP3 interface into real world applications while others are still talking about it. And today GATF runs an AMRYS-equipped Prima saddle stitcher in its research and training facility near Pittsburgh. George Ryan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for GATF, will comment on what’s in store for AMRYS’s future as part of the presentation. Presto with Inline Die Cutting — Presto makes saddle stitching affordable for short-run and mid-range facilities, equipping them with a valuable profit center. At Graph Expo Presto will connect with a new Multi 450 die cutter to produce miniature and uniquely shaped saddle-stitched books in a single productive pass. The resulting integrated system will provide printers and trade binderies with new business-building opportunities. Examples: the production of mini-booklets that fit into CD and DVD cases, creation of pharmaceutical literature, and the development of scaled-down saddle stitched books of all sizes. The combination makes its worldwide premiere at Graph Expo 2003. CombiStack — This combination stacker/labeler/bundler makes its premier for the commercial printing world at Graph Expo 2003. Designed for use in newspaper mailrooms, the system stacks, labels and straps in one station a high volume of publications coming off a finishing line or press to prepare durable bundles for distribution. In doing so CombiStack eliminates the need for a multi-machine tyline, saving space, doing away with multiple machine makereadies and streamlining the process overall. CombiStack can directly interface with a press or binding line or be fed by a gripper conveyor. The bundle is then wrapped, labeled and strapped in a single process, for speed and packaging integrity. The package is then directed either right or left to match the configuration of the plant’s distribution flow. Partnering Progress Several strategic partnerships have been forged to advance the concept of connectivity at the show and in the bindery. . . Version 2.0 of CREO’s UpFront print production workflow software will feed PPF-formatted job information to a Muller Martini BravoPlus AMRYS saddle stitcher. That connection will automate most manual procedures out of the makeready process. UpFront 2.0 streamlines the flow of production data from estimating right through printing and finishing. The combination of tighter integration with prepress via Preps imposition jobs and templates and the new ability to export binding data directly to the finishing department dramatically increases productivity and reduces errors for printers. SoftSolutions’ productivity software, called FactoryAnalyzer, will be linked to the data stream from the Automatic Makeready System on Muller Martini’s BravoPlus saddle stitcher at Graph Expo. The combination will demonstrate to show goers how they can trim production costs by using the automated analysis tools. In its strategic partnership with Muller Martini, SoftSolutions has implemented FactoryAnalyzer as a measurement and analysis toolkit that completes a facility’s closed-loop connected system. "It’s based on the axiom: If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it," notes John Pecaric, Executive Vice President at SoftSolutions The Chicago Public Schools will be the recipients of books finished on a Muller Martini AmigoDigital at the show. Three classic works of literature will be produced in softcover at the show and donated to CPS as part of the ongoing Books for Schools Program that is conducted by Delphax and Muller Martini. Last March, Muller Martini and Delphax completed a similar partnership with the New York City Department of Education. That school system chose the classics: The Last of the Mohicans, Little Women and The Odyssey. A top Chicago official will start up the AmigoDigital during one of the days of Graph Expo. "Printing makes reading possible," says Werner Naegeli, President and CEO of Muller Martini Corp. " Our Books for Schools program puts an exclamation point on that often overlooked fact, and let thousands of children add classic titles to their home bookshelves. And as everyone knows, when you own a book, you’re more likely to read and enjoy it."