From the 20th to the 28th of September, 9 days of live demos, real production and new solutions for selected customers and prospects
Meccanotecnica’s Open House has just come to an end. During the invite-only event, more than 300 visitors from 36 countries had the chance to discover the full set of innovations showcased.
Two areas, two fully automated book production lines.
The showroom set in the main assembly hall in Bergamo (Italy) showcased two complete book production lines.
Digital Print Finishing Area
In the Digital Print Finishing Area, more than 7.000 books were produced during the event. Two workflows showed the capability of the line in term of automation and versatility for short run production.
The line featured a new generation of UNIVERSE, a successful book folding and sewing solution for the production of PREMIUM QUALITY digital books. The new “sheet-fed” unit outdoes the previous version in terms of performance and productivity levels by improving the process efficiency. Set up time is now reduced along with enhancements in ergonomics and internal visibility.
Downstream, INLINE, multifunctional back gluer, automatically performs the set-up according to the book thickness for hardcover preparation, with the application of endpapers and lining or it completes the book block with the soft cover application. The new NIPPING module assures the quality of the books is higher and more uniform by pressing the book spine with a force up to 4 tons.
The new TRIMMING, Meccanotecnica’s automatic three-knife trimmer, completes the line. The unit demonstrated great adaptability and aroused lots of interest for its level of automation and its capability to change format without operator intervention and removal of parts. Two separate demos showed the capability of the three-knife trimmer, as a stand-alone unit, to automatically change format on the 3 dimensions and process short runs to one book or to perform the front cutting of books with flaps.
Offset Print Finishing Area
In the Offset Print Finishing Area, more than 125.000 books were produced by the Uniplex-asterPRO gathering and sewing line. The production, in collaboration with Rotolito S.p.A., showed the line as if it were in a customer plant with real jobs.
The new version of asterPRO featured the FULL-CYCLE Technology, enabling the sewing of books without the lock stitch. This new capability increases the efficiency of the machine and reduces the unit cost of the books produced. The thread is locked mechanically without interrupting the sewing process. It allows the use of threads of any kind and thickness and in compliance with the highest standard of the book industry.
Ultimately, the event was not only the opportunity to demonstrate new solutions but also a moment to exchange ideas with customers and to gather their thoughts and considerations on the evolution of the book industry.
