“We were so happy with the saddle stitcher 300 that we commissioned 15 years ago and we only had to service twice,” explains Managing Director Ferdinand Berger Jr., “so we were already considering purchasing the same Muller Martini model second-hand as we couldn't find a suitable replacement, but then we heard about the new Primera which sounded ideal for us.”

 
From left-to-right: Ferdinand Berger Jr. (Managing Director of the Berger printing plant) with his three machine operators Thomas Allinger, Martin Hundlinger, and Bernhard Surböck, as well as Roland Henn (Managing Director of Muller Martini Austria), Daniel Langenegger (Muller Martini corporate management), and Daniel Erni (Sales Manager at Muller Martini) as the new Primera E140 saddle stitcher is delivered to the Muller Martini head office in Zofingen, Switzerland.

Frequent Changeovers
The Berger printing plant, founded in 1868 by the great-great-grandfather of the current Managing Director, sets great store by the ability to perform efficient changeovers. The family business located in Horn, which now employs a team of 250, has doubled its capacity for printed paper products in the last seven years and now produces some 250 different magazines. This includes the monthly publication “Auto Touring” with a circulation of 1.4 million copies, while the majority of publications have a circulation of between 20,000 and 50,000 copies. The saddle stitchers need to be reconfigured more and more frequently – in addition to the saddle stitcher 300, Berger also commissioned a PrimaPlus from Muller Martini in 2003.

As well as faster set-up times, Ferdinand Berger Jr. also credits the new Primera E140, which will enter into production at the end of August, with increased ramp-up times, and a more stable production process. “After some successful testing at the Muller Martini Training Center using our original products, our key objective was to increase our net output by between 25 and 30% using the new saddle stitcher with the same number of man hours and the same product structure.”

Onyx Inserting Machine and Quick Transfer Trolley for Feeders
The fully automated saddle stitching line includes a cover folder feeder for large-scale publications, a card folder feeder, seven feeders with bundle loading, two merchandise tippers, and two Perfetto stackers, as well as an Onyx inserting machine. “The number of inserts has increased over the last few years,” explains Ferdinand Berger in support of his decision to opt for the Onyx, which is also used off-line for perfect-bound products.

The Berger printing plant also opted for a quick transfer trolley for each type of feeder. The newly developed trolley provided by Muller Martini switches efficiently between different feeder modules and is the first of its kind. The quick transfer trolley means the Primera saddle stitching line functions efficiently and can be reconfigured more easily, thereby allowing standard feeders, cover folder feeders, and merchandise tippers to be quickly inserted and removed.