The Antaro binder platform, available in a digital specification at 2,000 cycles per hour, or 4,000 cycles per hour for the offset specification, represents Muller Martini’s targeting of mid-size industrial production.

Both specifications are fitted with a continously running swing clamp system that grabs the blocks for binding; the offset machine is fitted with 12, and the digital six. 

The wider gaps between clamps in the digital version means that the Antaro is capable of binding up to 2,000 books per hour, even if every one of them were to be a different book with varying size and pagination.

On real-life production floors, this still translates to between 1,500 and 1,800, according to Adrian Mayr, head of product management and partner management at Muller Martini.

He told Printweek: “[The space between clamps] gives us the time to react to and accommodate variations in book thickness of up to 20mm, which is of course crucial in bulk digital applications.

“And at up to 2,000 copies per hour, there is no other system available on the market like it.”

He added that some customers had found that the digital Antaro had been able to take the place of several other machines.

“One Antaro can easily replace three to four smaller binders,” he said.

The conventional Antaro, capable of 4,000cph, is aimed squarely at the mid-range offset market, taking up a position between the manufacturer’s 1,350cph Vareo and flagship Alegro, which can achieve up to 7,000cph.

“We’re looking at mid-range offset market customers who need high flexibility, with high variability in terms of glue types and formats,” Mayr said.

Released alongside the Antaro was Muller Martini’s Sigmaline Compact, another attempt to corner the mid-range market.

Muller Martini’s existing Sigmaline blocker, capable of converting 300m/min of 1m wide web, provided more capability than much of the market actually needed, Mayr said.

“It was dedicated to the top of the pyramid,” he explained, “and we realised that the sales potential for the 42-inch [1m] market segment is not as big.

“That’s why we developed the Sigmaline Compact, based on all the experience and technology we knew already from the Sigmaline, but dedicated to the 22-inch [560mm] market.”

The Compact, capable of blocking 200m/min of 571mm web, is aimed at digital printers looking to build up their production line, with a floorspace of just 40sqm.