Orders in finishing are assigned from this workplace (ECON screen with Connex) to the corresponding saddle stitchers, and these stitchers then report back. Right: Tobias Müller, Head of IT Systems Development at Evers-Druck; left: Matthias Kandt from Muller Martini Germany.

Evers-Druck has connected four Muller Martini saddle stitchers and two saddle stitchers from another provider to its new Connex digital workflow system from Muller Martini. "Our desire to improve process transparency and gain more information about our operational sequences started a decade ago now," says Matthias Langenohl, Head of Technology at Evers-Druck in Meldorf. "We hoped to use this objective data to optimize the industrial production of our printed products. This is why we have been in contact with Muller Martini for years now regarding the workflow."

"As Little Programming as Possible for us"

After drupa '04, Evers-Druck initiated an upheaval with the JDF workflow, a system manager and a large-scale display for all saddle stitchers in use. "As a result, we received a significantly larger amount of information about the work in progress," says Tobias Müller, Head of IT Systems Development at Evers-Druck.

The largest web printing house in north Germany, which employs 350 people and has a further three locations in Germany besides Meldorf, made a further investment last November with the installation of the Connex digital workflow system. According to Matthias Langenohl, the company opted for Connex from Muller Martini with its prepress, printing and finishing process for the full service it offers because "we wanted to do as little programming as possible ourselves and also purchase as many components as possible from one provider."

Optimized Process Control

As well as two saddle stitchers from another provider, four Prima series Muller Martini saddle stitchers along with 5 to 12 feeders, a card gluer and a Biliner inserting system are connected to the Connex system via the Connex.Link tool (see text box). "The installation was carried out without any trouble whatsoever," stresses Tobias Müller, "and the advantages we had hoped for were soon apparent. Connex has proven itself to be a flexible and user-friendly system – one glance at the computer is enough – and enables us to react quickly without any difficulty."

According to Tobias Müller, Evers-Druck now has a smoother production procedure and a significantly better managed and more optimized process control system. This is important when you're dealing with 40 million stitchings a month. "This is because the processes in finishing are much more complex than those in the printing press," says Matthias Langenohl. "The significant increase in our process transparency has had a huge effect on many areas of the system, such as the delivered inserts."

It is also important to know that many catalogues and brochures are produced at Evers-Druck with runs between 500 and 5 million copies and also feature special covers and cards. "We already have a high level of finishing in printing to some extent," says Matthias Langenohl. "We also pay attention to producing high added value in processing. As a result, individual products can contain up to five glued-in inserts."

Connex: An Open System with Five Modules The Connex digital workflow system from Muller Martini acts as an interface between the Management Information System (MIS) and individual machines or an entire production system, and is an open system that functions with five different modules (see also "Panorama" 3/08): - Connex.Info provides transparency in production by displaying the current status of the production lines and the status of the orders. - Connex.Edit makes it possible to create orders in JDF format for customers that don't have MIS or the corresponding software. - With Connex.Plan, orders can be scheduled and even assigned to machines that aren't JDF-compatible. - Connex.Prod runs JDF and communicates with all of the machines involved. The program gathers all incoming operational data on an ongoing basis. - Thanks to Connex.Link, machines and products from third-party manufacturers that are not JDF-ready can be integrated into the workflow.

The large-scale display makes it possible to gain an overview of the production status of all saddle stitchers at any time.