Finishing 4.0 Allows For Efficient and Sustainable Book Production
The soon-to-be expanded SigmaLine machine series by Muller Martini Group aims to take the sustainable and efficient production of books, brochures and magazines to the next level.
Finishing 4.0 stands for the fact that increasing individualization can be efficiently handled by end-to-end workflows, a high degree of automation, and precision mechanical engineering. The Swiss Muller Martini Group now combines these features for increasing sustainability in digital book block production by upgrading their SigmaLine series, coming in combination with their workflow system Connex as standard. True to the motto “PDF in, Book out”, this workflow system fully automates the production flow from pre-press to the final product, thus providing a significant economic advantage.
Air Knife Technology and Dynamic Trimming Mode
For its SigmaLine machines, the Muller Martini Group relies on its patented air knife technology for folding. Its dynamic trimming mode can produce much more stable folds at high speeds and also brings benefits for customers in terms of economy and sustainability. While the process of producing book blocks used to result in a cross fold, for example, this can now be bypassed by the SigmaLine III cutting twice in succession. This halves the page divisibility and results in fewer blank pages. In addition, multiple signatures can be pre-gathered in the longitudinal folder before being folded together, which turns various signatures into a single signature. Due to these higher production options resulting from SigmaLine’s multifunctionality, customers gain much more investment protection.
The SigmaLine Compact, announced for 2023, integrates these advantages in a space of only 40 m2 and also comes with simpler operation and lower maintenance. Given the current high material and energy prices, it is a clear plus point of the soon-to-be-released product extension for customers that changing folding schemes takes only a few seconds and leaves not even 10 meters of waste.
All in All, these features and functions of SigmaLine enable digital printers to produce more semi-finished products for softcover, hardcover, thread-sewn and saddle-stitched print products with less waste in a smaller space with fewer staff and a lower make-ready rate.
Did you know that the first SigmaLine had its premiere at drupa 2004? What other technologies did you get to know in our halls that are still being updated and whose development do you still follow today?
