The perfect binding system, Libra 800 B2, which is custom-built by Tecnau to Pixartprinting’s specifications, has been installed to enhance the company’s print setup for short-run digitally printed books, catalogs and magazines. “After assessing our production needs, we realized there were no machines currently on the market that could guarantee the performance we were aiming for,” said Alessio Piazzetta, plant manager at Pixartprinting. “Tecnau proved to be a reliable and well-organized company with the right approach to business, and which has produced a system that did not exist before.”
The new Libra 800 B2 combines digital presses upstream and finishing systems downstream to cut the blocks of sheets and glue the covers, finishing off with a three-side trimmer. After cooling, the books and magazines are ready to be dispatched. As well as standard modules taken from the Libra 800—the softcover binding and variable three-side trimming units—the system also includes a series of innovations, most notably the dynamic book block cutting and gathering system, which can process paper up to 50 x 70 cm in B2 format. In addition, the Tecnau system can automatically handle the parameters for various formats, ranging from A5 to 17 x 21 cm and from 21 x 21 cm to A4, both in landscape and album format, making the manufacturing process even more efficient.
“This project was challenging. The Libra 800 B2 is a high-tech modular solution that offers multiple input and output channels for a constant production flow, mixing not only different formats but also papers and covers of different weights and qualities and with various finishes, owing to the flexibility offered by the sheetfed press and the line’s ability to adapt to the quality of the input material. The solution was designed in close collaboration with the Pixartprinting team, who outlined their needs and monitored the implementation stages step by step,” said Stefano de Marco, sales and marketing director at Tecnau.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
