During this year, the Primera MC commissioned in summer 2018 at Precision Colour Printing Ltd (PCP) in Telford, England, will break the magic barrier of a quarter of a billion stitched products. In addition to eight stream feeders, the Mini Pluton palletizer from Solema has a major influence on the high output of the Muller Martini saddle stitcher.
Adam Walker (left), Operations Director at Precision Colour Printing: "The Mini Pluton palletizer plays a big part in our high output and is instrumental in minimizing costs." On the right, David McGinlay, Sales Manager Muller Martini UK.
When Joe Chuchla, Project Manager at Muller Martini UK, took a look at the counter of the Primera MC at Precision Colour Printing on 26 October 2022, he was amazed. In just over four years, the Muller Martini saddle stitcher, which went into operation in August 2018, had produced no less than 205,715,271 products. That equates to around one million magazines, catalogues and brochures per week and a remarkable average of 9,555 copies per hour.
Streamfeeders and palletizer
Two peripheral systems that complement the saddle stitcher line have a major influence on the high production figures of the Primera MC with eight flat pile feeders, cover feeder and Robusto stacker, which runs around the clock at PCP and will break the quarter-billion barrier in the course of this year.
- On the one hand PCP has a streamfeeder for each feeder for automatic signature feeding from logs.
- Secondly, PCP uses a Mini Pluton palletizer from Solema at the end of the line. "This back-end solution is a big contributor to our high output and is a major factor in minimizing costs," says operations director Adam Walker.
High efficiency and reliability
In other words: PCP needs just two people per shift to operate the highly automated and, thanks to the clear touchscreen, user-friendly Primera MC – one machine operator and one assistant. "That was the goal of our investment in the Mini Pluton," emphasizes Adam Walker.
Eight streamfeeders ensure automatic signature feeding from logs on PCP's Primera MC....
The Primera MC is one of four Muller Martini saddle stitchers in Telford, along with a Primera 14,000, a PrimaPlus and a Prima S. Stitched products for publishers, companies and individual customers in the UK and Ireland are PCP's core business and account for around 70 per cent of the volume – a trend that has been rising since the Corona pandemic due to falling page counts and higher production and distribution costs.
...and the Mini Pluton from Solema for automatic palletizing.
Wide circulation range
As an important cornerstone of its business, PCP produces numerous periodicals with a wide range of print runs. This starts at 4000 and goes up to 400,000 copies, with an average of 22,000 per job.
In perfect binding – where PCP specializes in voluminous catalogues and high-quality brochures – the company, which was founded in 1991, employs 238 people in 7/24 mode and is part of the
Claverley Group, relies on Muller Martini press and postpress equipment too. In addition to a Bolero with PUR binding, a KM 412 is used for softcover products.
Read in this blog how you can increase the productivity of your saddle stitcher with a palletizer.