Vision becomes successful business model

Spanish printer automates production sequences with SigmaLine from Muller Martini

To speed up the production sequences for its books and magazines, all of which are printed digitally, the Spanish printer Publidisa – Publicaciones Digitales SA – has invested in a SigmaLine from Muller Martini. The line is able to change the thickness and size of each individual book on-the-fly at full production speed of 1000 cycles per hour. A sophisticated sensor system monitors and controls the coherence between the contents and the cover as well as the variable trimming.

Exactly ten years ago, Luis Abril decided to apply the ‘just in time’ philosophy to the book market and combine it with digital printing and e-commerce, which was quite a visionary idea at the time. That is why he founded Publidisa, a company that offers services to the publishing industry and has specialized in on-demand production of books and electronic sales. Abril’s foresight has paid off and just four years after its inception, Publidisa reached the milestone figure of 10,000 ‘ready-to-print’ titles saved in their system, and by 2009 the number of copies the company could prepare for printing in less than 72 hours increased to 98,000. These products can be printed at all partner production facilities in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina and the US.  “Our extensive knowledge of publishers’ requirements and our continuous investment in the development of customized tools have contributed to this strong growth over the last ten years,” emphasises CEO Luis Francisco Rodríguez with a certain pride.

Along with the number of titles, the customer base also grew, increasing from 100 in 2004 to over 1500 today. Until a few months ago the books and magazines, which are printed on a total of ten digital printing systems (five monochrome and five colour), were processed in ultra-short runs on two perfect binders and manually cut with guillotine cutters. Publidisa has automated its production processes by installing a sub-line of the Muller Martini SigmaLine digital book production system, which consists of a SigmaBinder, SigmaTower and SigmaTrimmer. “We spent a long time searching for the right solution and expect great things from the SigmaLine, which is replacing our manual machines thereby increasing production,” says operations manager Antonio Martín Guerrero.

One of the key factors behind Publidisa’s decision to purchase the Muller Martini system was the fact that its individual subprocesses integrate logically into the company’s finishing processes. “Another reason was our positive experience using Muller Martini processing systems in some of Luis Abril’s previous projects,” conveys production manager José Gálvez Giordano.