Groundbreaking technology, available in late 2019, will speed production of ultra-short run hardcover books.

The “Success with Automation” theme of this year’s Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne, Switzerland, was illustrated by a preview of Muller Martini’s latest finishing advancement: a first-of-its-kind endsheet feeder for the industrial processing of hardcover book blocks in runs of one.

The application of endsheets is problematic in the short-run book world as hardcover book-of-one production often involves tedious manual work due to multiple production steps. However, Muller Martini’s new endsheet feeder automates the entire hardcover book block process for either round or straight spines. It can be utilized as a standalone or nearline solution.

Other advantages of the endsheet feeder include:

• Suitable for all book block types (e.g., thread-sewn, signatures, single sheets, pre-glued).

• Offers unique processing flexibility when producing hardcover book blocks, softcover brochures, and layflat/open spine brochures.

• Ready for digital and conventional applications.

During the show, the endsheet feeder was demonstrated in conjunction with Muller Martini’s highly popular Vareo Perfect Binder and InfiniTrim three-knife-trimmer configuration. Developed in line with Muller’s Finishing 4.0 philosophy, this investment provides bookbinders with the major advantage of being able to produce ultra-short runs of as little as one copy per job much more economically, not only in softcover but in hardcover as well.

Also at Hunkeler Innovationdays, German print service provider Schatzl Druck & Medien became the first global printing house to invest in this new hardcover book block solution. According to Managing Director, Ulrich Schatzl, “Because our main focus is on full automation, and we need scalable and automatable capacities due to the seasonal fluctuations in our operations (think Christmas business), we looked for a new solution.” The endsheet feeder/Vareo/InfiniTrim solution is “exactly what we need. It’s a hybrid system for softcover and hardcover, ensures automatic signature infeed, provides high size variability, and reduces manual intervention, just as described by Muller Martini and its Finishing 4.0 strategy.”