Oppermann: Over a Billion Inserts per year

08/22/2016

A company that inserts over a billion inserts into newspapers each year is reliant on flawless processes in the mailroom. That explains why Oppermann Druck und Verlags GmbH & Co. KG in the German town of Rodenberg will commission two new Muller Martin ProLiner inserting systems in a few weeks’ time to supplement its two existing SLS3000 systems.

Last summer, it was announced that the MADSACK media group would close its printing center in Hanover and allocate print jobs for the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” and “Neue Presse” daily newspapers, and all its advertising journals and weekly newspapers to Oppermann Druck und Verlags GmbH & Co. KG as of 2017. That has prompted the experienced print business in Rodenberg to make an investment in the double-digit million euro range to provide it with the capacity to process the additional volume. “We’re doubling our production space, as well as our tonnage and insert volume,” says Managing Partner André Schäffer. In terms of inserting volume that means that in the future more than a billion supplements will be inserted into daily newspapers and advertising journals in Rodenberg each year, compared to the current figure of 500 million, making Oppermann one of the largest companies in Germany in the inserting segment.

The delegation of Oppermann with (from left to right) Dirk Nagel, Niels Rohrsen, Werner Rohrsen and André Schäffer together with the Muller Martini representatives at Print Finishing Center.

To ensure it can process such vast (additional) quantities reliably, Oppermann will commission two new ProLiners managed by the Connex.Mailroom control system in a newly built, 7,000 m2 hall in October. The two Muller Martini inserting systems are identically configured with 20 feeders each, automatic main-section and preprinted-section feeding (the newspapers are conveyed to the two ProLiners from the press via two NewsGrip-F conveyors of the latest generation and two FlexiRoll buffer systems) and three FlexPack stack formers per line.

The six FlexPack systems are the first in the world to be equipped with an integrated film wrapping function. Oppermann will also become the first to use the mini feeders that have been newly developed by Muller Martini for the efficient feeding of inserts. In addition to optimization of layout and costs, the cost-effective mini feeders also provide major benefits in terms of production for small zones.

According to the company’s senior executive Werner Rohrsen, Oppermann decided to follow up its previous investments in several 227 inserting lines and Biliners, and the SL3000 systems that it currently uses in Rodenberg, with another Muller Martini solution because, “We’ve had excellent experiences with such systems in the past 30 years”.