Hans Leuenberger, Director of the Müller Martini Training Center in Oftringen, underscores the advantages of setup time-reducing measures on the PrimaPlus saddle stitcher.

What bookbinder doesn't know the situation: The saddle stitcher was set up fresh in the morning; the long run, a DIN A4 product with 50,000 run length, was able to start to satisfaction – then the bell rings right when it’s starting. Customer XY is at the door with an urgent last minute job. He needs 500 copies of a DIN A5 product …and by evening. What do you do? At moments like these, good advice is precious!

“No problem for a saddle stitcher that is equipped with our Automatic Make Ready System Amrys,” affirms Hans Leuenberger, Director of the Müller Martini Training Center in Oftringen. He is a seasoned expert in matters of high-quality and financially sensible manufacture of wire-stitched production. Because hundreds of saddle stitchers equipped with Amrys from Müller Martini perform this type of reliable service on all five contents. With this Amrys-supported equipment, all the format-relevant parts of the feeder, the chain positioning, the infeed, format, and the thickness setting from the three-knife trimmer up until the various elements in the compensating stacker are adjusted automatically “as if by magic.” And within no time the saddle stitcher is adjusted from A4 to A5 and ready to use.

Adjustments “on the Fly” Save Time and Money
“But it doesn’t always have to be Amrys…,” maintains Leuenberger. “It’s much more a matter of determining in dialogue with the customer what machine best fulfills the customer’s needs.” Leuenberg says it’s a fact that print processing companies these days rely on flexible, quickly convertible saddle stitchers. Because short conversion times contribute to more machine capacity and therefore higher net production results.

He points out that Müller Martini has realized myriad practical developments, including for saddle stitchers that are not supported by the Amrys, which have led to considerably shorter set-up times. This can be with signature drop timings, position findings, or changes that can be realized during the production process. “Before a machine operator had to search for a position for a certain setting x amount of times,” Leuenberger recalls. “Nowadays, for example, he simply presses ‘ridge caliper,’ and the machine goes right to where it needs to be set.” He also underscores the significance of simple, reproducible set-up aids, such as measures or scales, the pneumatic knife clamps, the motorized gathering chain positioning, and especially the possibility of adjusting the settings from outside during operation “on the fly.”“That means that all the settings relevant to the operation can be adjusted during the production process. Subsequent adjustments that can potentially be made in the event of a changed production speed can be carried out without stopping the machine."

Amrys for Maximum Operating Comfort, Optimal Production Reliability, and the Shortest Set-up Times
Müller Martini seeks to offer customers – thanks to the tried and true modular system – the appropriate optimal, custom solution for their company. “The degree of automation can be tailored exactly to the needs. That begins with a simple saddle stitcher with a motorized gathering chain adjustment and goes on to the fully automatic solution with Amrys.”

Saddle stitching systems that are equipped with Amrys, offer optimal user comfort:
-Production is managed and controlled by touch-screen operation
-The operational data can be gathered and analyzed during production
-The format settings for feeders, stitchers, three-knife trimmers, and compensating stackers are adjusted automatically
-Subsequent orders are stored and can be retrieved easily
-Adjusting the equipment to a new order occurs automatically
-The equipment offers maximum flexibility for last minute jobs “on the fly”
-Set-up times can be shortened by 40-70%

Shorter set-up times mean less idle time and high productivity. With clear and transparent presentation of all the data, the Amrys quickly helps the machine operators to achieve high net production speed. Benefits that quickly add up and pay off!

In addition to the full Amrys, Müller Martini also offers affordable partial Amrys solutions (format automation only for feeder or only for stitcher, three-knife trimmer, and compensating stacker).

The color data display immediately shows the machine operator where the optimization measures ought to be taken: here, for example, on feeder no. 3.

The Optimizer is State of the Art
A quick graphic data display on the machine considerably eases the machine operator’s work. That’s why the Optimizer has been standard in all Müller Martini saddle stitchers for years. In addition, it gives a visual overview based on a color code. Green signifies that everything is good to go; yellow means that the machine operator has to pay attention to something, and red shows potential problem areas, in which optimization potentials can quickly be used.

The advantages of the Optimizer:
-The visual overview can be retrieved easily with the touch of a fingertip.
-The system enables permanently high and optimal net speeds.
-It reacts immediately to changes during production and indicates problem areas.
-Optimization potentials can thereby be recognized and employed in a targeted fashion. 

The Optimizer is a small but important building block by which equipment can be run safely with fewer jams and the net production result is maximized.

Result: Any measures that shorten set-up time and avoid machine stops contribute to higher net production and thereby to maximum profit. Nonetheless, Hans Leuenberger's principle is“first to analyze the situation as precisely as possible, only to make necessary investments, and later to expand as needed."

Saddle stitching systems from Müller Martini offer optimal possibilities for this and investment protection over the years. Furthermore, all saddle-stitching systems from Müller Martini (even without Amrys) can be integrated into the digital workflow, and that means saved time through inputting data only once.