From left: Gerhard Aichhorn (Managing Director of Samson Druck), Franz Harreither (Corporate Partner at Samson Druck), Michael Thüler (member of Muller Martini corporate management), Werner Kuhlbörsch (Sales Manager at Muller Martini) and Peter Cerer (Product Manager at Muller Martini Austria) in front of the new Alegro perfect binder at Muller Martini’s booth at the drupa in Düsseldorf.

Samson Druck, which has relied on Muller Martini solutions for saddle stitching since 1989 and whose most recent investment was a Primera C140 last year, had previously outsourced the perfect binding of their products. However, the company, which was founded in 1978 and has 90 employees, had four main reasons to enter softcover production itself, according to Managing Director Gerhard Aichhorn: “First of all, the number of jobs we receive has increased. Second, we want to keep our value added in-house. Third, this way, we are able to provide optimal quality. Fourth, we can now also control our logistics better.”

It should be pointed out that Samson Druck specializes in high-quality products for various industries, in particular the automobile and jewelry industries. “There is a clear trend towards perfect binding,” says Corporate Partner Franz Harreither. “On the other hand, deadlines are constantly becoming shorter, which means that the production processes have to be optimized.”

Connex Optimizes the Processes
After a convincing special presentation at the Muller Martini Book Binding Academy in Felben, Switzerland, focusing on faster setup times, Samson Druck decided in favor of a new Alegro perfect binder during this year’s drupa in Düsseldorf. The Alegro features a new 3694 gathering machine, a Solit three-knife trimmer and a CB 18 book stacker, as well as a Connex data and process management system. With Connex, it is possible to optimally automate all Muller Martini systems, from a standalone machine to complex production lines. Thanks to this standardization, all machines can communicate with each other and, using Connex, can also be connected to a management information system (MIS). “This is an important aspect for us, as we already have a MIS system in operation,” emphasized Aichhorn. The new Alegro will be commissioned this September.