The digital book printer is now looking to achieve its aim of same-day turnarounds for short-run book jobs, referred to by its managing director Andy Cork as the “book of one”.
The InfiniTrim, which last month gained Muller Martini the Novel Manufacturing Award at the Stationers’ Innovation Excellence Awards, was installed at Printondemand’s Peterborough premises three weeks ago, joining a Xerox Trivor inkjet web press and a Muller Martini Vareo perfect binder, both installed in late 2016. The line is utilising Printondemand’s in-house BookVault software and is also connected to a second Vareo.
The Trivor is running nearline rather than inline with the InfiniTrim and the two Vareos, which Cork said gives the business flexibility. The 55-staff company has also brought in a new operations director to oversee the new line.
Cork revealed to PrintWeek that next year he will be looking to invest around £1.3m in another high-definition inkjet line with Hunkeler finishing system.
He said: “This is the formula that should get us to the book for a same-day/next-day service. What we haven’t got now is much waste. Traditionally, I had 19 processes to produce a book, now I’ve only got a handful, which means fewer people, fewer errors and more importantly we can get it out the door quicker to the market for the demand of our customers.”
Launched at Drupa 2016 as part of Muller Martini’s Finishing 4.0 concept, the InfiniTrim can process up to 2,000bph regardless of run length. It uses barcode software to import data and reduces makereadies as there is no setup time when changing spine length and block width and no setup time in the feed zone.
Muller Martini UK sales manager David McGinlay said: "Printondemand required the highest levels of integration, automation and connectivity for this project. The Vareo and InfiniTrim touchless workflow give Printondemand the edge in short run production. Muller Martini are very proud to work in partnership with such a forward thinking organisation."
Cork added: “Business today is not about printing, it’s about manufacturing and it’s about service levels. We’ve got to delight our customers first, that’s not a case of meeting expectations that’s about delighting them.
“It has been a partnership between both Xerox and Muller Martini. It has been a journey but both parties are on board and we’ve all been focused on the same thing.”
Printondemand, which has sales in excess of £5m, is no stranger to investing in automation and last year it became the first UK company to take an MIS-linked Kolbus Casemaker. It also runs a 2015-purchased Hunkeler Book Block Line, a Ricoh Pro C9100, a Xerox iGen 150 and a range of Canon Océ cutsheet equipment.
