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David Strobbe (left): “We chose the Concepta because we are connected with Muller Martini through a 20-year partnership.” At right is Luc Dosselaere, Project Engineer from Muller Martini Belgium.
Anyone who attends a soccer match in the premiere Belgian league carries the same thing in their hand as the spectators at Formula 1 races in Spa-Francorchamps: A multi-colored admission ticket, printed at Strobbe. Since the mid 1990’s, the printer, located in the Flemish town of Izegem, has been considered Belgium’s ticket specialist. However, for a long time Strobbe has not only printed tickets for events in its own country, but also for cinemas, theaters, concerts and trade shows all over the world.
Cinema chains in Kuwait and Israel are customers, as are important auto shows. “The ticket market has been characterized by continuous growth for years, with no end in sight,” says Commercial & Technical Manager David Strobbe, “compensating for the downturn in forms and continuous printing.”
Additional Security Features
In order to protect ticket counterfeiting, tickets have become more and more refined in recent years – featuring personalizations, bar codes, holographic foils, perforations and small holes. It was these additional security features, demanded by customers, that moved Strobbe to invest in a new Concepta web offset printing press from Muller Martini.
With the new Concepta web offset printing press, admission tickets can now also be produced with refined security features such as holes or perforations.
“We put two printing presses under precise inspection,” says David Strobbe. “After a tough process of elimination, both models were about equal. We chose the Concepta because we are connected with Muller Martini through a 20-year partnership and have always had good experiences.”
Four Progress Presses and a Pronto
In 1986, Strobbe invested in a printing press from Muller Martini for the first time – namely, a two-color Progress. In subsequent years, three additional Progress type machines were added (1988 with four print units, 1990 with one print unit and 1996 with six print units), followed by a three-color Pronto in 2002. They are all still in operation today and produce from reel to reel as well as reel/sheet and reel/fold.
Strobbe had initially planned only five print units for the first Concepta in Belgium. But due to the rise in customer needs, the tradition-rich company decided upon an expansion to eight colors while still in the evaluation phase. In addition to tickets, Strobbe also has two other important supporting business segments, calendars and the direct mailing business, which is also gaining in importance. “It became clearer and clearer that we needed an eight-color machine for these products,” says David Strobbe, “Especially in the case of mailings.”
“We Often Run at the Limit”
In addition to the technical options for inline finishing such as hole-punching, die-cutting, trimming, longitudinal and cross-perforation – all of which are particularly important for ticket production – David Strobbe is especially enthused by the speed of the new Q74 sheeter. “We often run at the limit of 300 meters per minute in the A4 range and are then producing twice as quickly as on our second-fastest machine. The greater production speed has given us shorter delivery times and made us more flexible and competitive.”
The quick set-up of the new machine, commissioned in May of this year, is also a considerable advantage for the company, which prints around 100 million tickets annually: “Everything goes very quickly – like plug and play on a computer. What’s more, our machine operators have lots of experience with the other Muller Martini models and quickly became familiar with the new machine, as well.” |