The Training Center in Oftringen, the Bookbinding Academy in Felben and the Hardcover Forum in the German town of Bad Mergentheim – for the first time, a total of 50 Swiss trainees in various disciplines from the field of bookbinding were given the chance to visit all three Muller Martini sites over the course of several days, and therefore gain an overview of the entire print finishing process.

At the Hardcover Forum in Bad Mergentheim, the Swiss trainees discovered the secrets of hardcover production.

In Oftringen, Muller Martini’s instructors gave special demonstrations on the Primera E160 saddle stitcher and the two high-performance lines Tempo E220 and Supra for the trainees and their tutor, Jorge Ruiz, who organized the trip. Richard Hofer, Sales Manager for Muller Martini Switzerland, also presented Muller Martini’s latest print finishing solutions for digital printing.

An insight into machine production …
In Felben, the trainees not only had the opportunity to watch the Corona perfect binding line in action and see for themselves how efficiently and economically softcover books can be produced these days, they could also look behind the scenes of machine production. In Bad Mergentheim, the aspiring print media processors took a factory tour and were given an in-depth insight into the assembly of the machines. The visitors were shown how books are produced on the Ventura MC Book Sewing Machine, the VenturaConnect Book Sewing system, the Collibri Backgluing Machine, the Merit S Three-Knife Trimmer, the Ribbon Inserting Machine and the Diamant MC Hybrid and Diamant MC Digital booklines.

…and two printing companies
The three visits to Muller Martini were rounded off with two company tours. At Ringier Swissprinters in Zofingen, the trainees discovered how the sheets are fed into the saddle stitcher from the rotation printing press via the stacking center in a highly automated process. In Altusried, Germany, the trainees visited Kösel, one of Europe’s leading book producers, where they were even allowed a glimpse into the test laboratory. “We were impressed by the wide range of products this company makes,” said one of the trainees. “And it’s remarkable how many patents Kösel has for book production.”