Greg Clarke, Müller Martini sales manager for New Zealand, with Wayne Romminger, McCollams general manager, pictured with the new system

Future oriented technology elevates McCollams to a one-stop shop

When Auckland-based McCollams decided to extend the control of the prepress and printing processes to high quality finishing of catalogues, directories, magazines and the like, general manager Wayne Romminger embarked on a search for the best perfect binding system available on the market to fulfil its needs. Müller Martini’s future-oriented technology comprising the Acoro A7 binding line, 3693 gatherer, PUR glue system, Merit trimmer and CB16 compensating stacker came up trumps.

“We wanted to bring control in house to save time, increase the quality and ensure we can accurately track the movements of each job,” commented Gordon McKennzie, operations manager. “This is of course all cost saving and we are not relying on outside companies to do our work. It was the easiest installation I have ever been involved in. The Müller Martini engineers working with our staff made it possible for the machine to be producing books within two days of being installed. It was absolutely fantastic!"

The fully automatic 12 station perfect binding line is equipped with touch screen Commander, milling station, two spine preparation stations, hot-melt and PUR glue system with premelter, drum cover feeder, ASIR 3 to cover feeder, ANSY Aqua Nozzle scoring system and two nipping stations. The system handles a wide product range with fast, simple makeready, and produces superior binding quality at a high level of automation that permits the shortest set-up and changeover times.

PUR processing technology enables perfect binding quality, even at high production speed. The glue film can be applied very precisely with constant, minimal thickness and with exact glue break edges. This ensures products with sharp edged book spines and ideal lay-flat properties. “PUR is indestructible and makes a much stronger book. It is ideal for long shelf life books or extremely high quality requirements,” confirmed McKennzie.

“The unit has taken our business to the next dimension. It does a beautifully square spine job. We have never missed a deadline; it just does the job quickly and accurately. Our people love using it. This machine has enabled us to offer our customers a one-stop shop!”