Gleaming finish and effective lamination, blind creasing and tactile paper are a treat for the senses – just like colored stitching wire, cover flaps, contour die cutting, a bookmark, merchandise samples or gimmicks. Printed products finished on saddle stitchers and on softcover and hardcover booklines stand out from the crowd due to their added value. That is why the finishing process plays a vital role in the (more) attractive design of printed media.

“As a global market leader in print finishing, we actively support our customers in remaining successful in a constantly changing market,” emphasizes Bruno Müller, CEO of Muller Martini. “In addition, due to the modular structure of Muller Martini solutions, systems can be extended at any time and can grow to face new challenges. Expandable systems offer the greatest level of flexibility and help to increase added value with new, highly differentiated products.”

Bruno Müller, CEO Müller Martini: “The graphics industry must promote its advantages even more consistently.”

Personalizing in the Saddle Stitcher Feeder
For example, the full-service graphic design company ADV SCHODER in Augsburg, Germany can position personalized advertisements even inside magazines and catalogs thanks to a special solution on the Primera C140 saddle stitcher. One of the six feeders has been configured so that the signature can be labeled with an inkjet system. What has long been considered standard in the direct mail industry will become important in other areas of finishing according to Thomas Steigerwald, Director of Design and Executive Committee Member at ADV SCHODER. “Saddle stitching and perfect binding will shift towards more personalized products, as publishers seek to stand out from the crowd in a newspaper market characterized by close competition by providing individually designed products.” 

Eye-Catching Newspapers
Another example of how graphic design business and advertisers can benefit from innovative solutions is the Niederösterreichische Pressehaus (NÖP) in St. Pölten, in Lower Austria, which produces over a dozen newspapers. Using a ValueLiner card gluer and a labeling system from Muller Martini for the cards and labels that are affixed to cover pages, the newspaper publisher increases the added value in its mailroom while, at the same time, making a good return on investment on the two recently commissioned machines. The advertisers also benefit thanks to the prominent positioning of their advertisements.

“Needless to say, labels are somewhat more expensive than the traditional advertising media and they also require a certain amount of lead time,” says Josef Tischer, Head of Sales/Logistics at NÖP. “However, the attraction of having an advertisement on the front or back page of a newspaper quickly makes up for the additional costs. Thanks to the eye-catching effect of the adverts, our customers are reporting higher rates of returns.”

Individualized Products Thanks to Digital Printing
One way for printing houses and finishing businesses to stand out from their competition is to expand existing systems by integrating add-on modules. Another option is to produce completely new printed products by using the latest technology. Digital printing, in particular, enables countless new business models. “The clocks run differently in the digital printing industry,” says Oliver Schimek, Owner and Managing Director of the Digital Print Group (DPG) in Nuremberg, Germany, which in a relatively short time period has made the leap from a corner copy shop to a modern industrial company. “The key to the success of our company is first and foremost our business model that features creative, individual solutions for our customers.”

Finished printed products immediately catch the reader’s eye – many teen magazines vie for attention at newsstands with free gifts on the front page.

In the first month alone after commissioning the machine, DPG produced 800 different digitally printed books for large industrial businesses (personalized company brochures) as well as for individual customers (photo albums) on its new Diamant MC 35 Hybrid bookline from Muller Martini. “Muller Martini is expanding on the possibilities offered by traditional finishing to ensure that the industry can take full advantage of everything digital printing has to offer,” says Bruno Müller. “This shows that the graphics industry can and must promote these advantages even more consistently.”

Optimized Use of the Machines
That goes for niche businesses just as it does for large companies. “We have a range of various perfect binders,” says Martin Wennberg, Managing Director of H. Wennberg in Vaihingen, near Stuttgart, Germany, which is one of the largest bookbinderies in Europe with an annual output of 150 million catalogs, magazines and telephone books. “It is our concept to use the optimal machine for finishing for each job.” Keeping with the optimization of pre-production costs, logistics and technology, H. Wennberg commissioned a Bolero perfect binder from Muller Martini to go with its two high-output Corona lines. This enables the company to produce products that require fewer changeovers on the two Corona lines, while products with smaller and medium-sized print runs that require greater changeovers are run on the Bolero.

“With attractive printed products, innovative business models and the right production systems, graphic design businesses remain successful even despite changing market conditions,” says Bruno Müller with conviction.