This is the third and final part of my report from this year’s Hunkeler Innovation Days. I’ve already dealt with Hunkeler itself and the various print systems on show so now I’m going to cover some of the postpress solutions from vendors other than Hunkeler.
Much of the attraction of this event lies in Hunkeler’s willingness to open it up to other manufacturers of postpress equipment, which allows for a much more rounded overview of this market sector. That in turn has attracted the leading press vendors and accounts for the high calibre of most of the visitors, with a much higher percentage of senior management from print providers around the world than at other shows.
However, the mix of different manufacturers has sometimes meant for some compromises to avoid too much competition with Hunkeler itself. That’s been less of an issue this year though there were some notable absentees such as Tecnau. Instead Hunkeler has chosen to emphasise partnership, with many lines featuring Hunkeler modules integrated into postpress lines from other vendors.
This year’s event was also the first since Muller Martini acquired Hunkeler back in 2023. Despite this, Muller Martini was content to leave Hunkeler in the driving seat. Muller Martini opted to share a stand with Heidelberg, allowing Hunkeler to demonstrate production lines with both HP and Heidelberg. This included two inline book production lines – one based around a continuous feed HP Advantage 2200 matched to a Hunkeler Starbook plowfolder; the other a sheetfed Heidelberg Jetfire 50 with a Hunkeler Starbook Sheetfolder. Muller Martini completed both of these with a Vareo Pro perfect binder each, feeding into the same InfiniTrim trimming robot. Naturally, Muller Martini’s Connex workflow system also features at the heart of these demonstrations.
Muller Martini also showed off its Prinova saddle stitcher in a nearline set-up with a Hunkeler unwinder and cutter. This is the company’s entry-level solution though it runs at 9000 cycles per hour and can automatically adjust for different book thicknesses. It’s a servo-driven machine that also incorporates a three knife trimmer and only requires a single operator.
Heidelberg
Besides showing off its Jetfire 50 inkjet press, Heidelberg premiered its Fireline nearline postpress solution. This is designed to be used with the Stahlfolder TH 56 B3 and TH 66 B2 models for automated end-to-end production in digital printing. It is fully integrated into the Prinect workflow and offers cutting, creasing and folding in a single line with virtually no operator intervention. It’s suitable for a range of jobs including posters, 4-page pamphlets and 8-page A6 products with concertina, parallel, or letter fold.
Horizon
Horizon showed off a broad range of equipment, including the BQ500 4-clamp perfect binder and its smaller sibling, the BQ300 single-clamp binder, together with a robot to feed the book blocks into the binders. Yoshihiro Oe, director with Horizon, explained, “We wanted to show how a robot can be used for binding, for picking up books and bringing them to the trimmer but with a small footprint.”
Horizon also showed its Stitchliner Mark 5 in a nearline configuration, complete with a Hunkeler Unwinder and cutter, for booklet production. Oe says that it can be used inline but that most people opt for a nearline set-up. For cut sheet work, Horizon showed its SmartSlitter for cutting, creasing and perforating sheets in a single pass.
These devices all use Horizon’s IceLink JDF system which collects data from the prepress or MIS and sends this direct to Horizon’s equipment to enable automatic set-up of the postpress kit. This in turn allows for relatively simple interfaces with equipment from other vendors, such as Hunkeler, because the Horizon units do not require data to be sent from one module to the next in a multi-vendor finishing line.
Oe says that despite Muller Martini’s takeover of Hunkeler there’s been no issues affecting Horizon’s participation in the show, noting, “There’s no change from the Hunkeler side. They still keep their name and they are very happy and welcoming that we present in this exhibition so I can say that so far nothing has changed. Of course there are many discussions going on but we are very happy to be here and we want to continue this in two years time.”
There is some crossover between Horizon and Muller Marrtini but Oe adds, “And we have to be better than Muller Martini or the customers will choose them. So we have to continue with our efforts to make our customers happy.”
Bindwel
The Indian company Bindwel, which specialises in book finishing equipment, made its debut at this year’s HID. The sheer size of the Indian market means that long print runs and conventional printing still dominates book printing there but there is also an increasing move towards digital printing. As Kai Buentemeyer, a director with Bindwel, explains: “In addition to the conventional range we have now also designed and built the Insta machine that connects to a digital printer. It’s a zero makeready device that can run up to 1000 books per hour, and was shown at Drupa 2024.”
Pallippuram Sajith, Managing Director of Bindwel, says, “Our equipment is at the end of line so automating that end connection with the printing can vary from place to place.” He says that in India the machine is often near line with manual loading, adding, “But we can also connect inline. The basic machine remains the same and we can talk to other systems. We have QR codes as standard.” He points out that Bindwel has also partnered with Ultimate Technologies, “so their software can make our machine talk to others.”
Buentemeyer continues, “And we have also built the Trimit 30SRS that can run with zero makeready as long as the trim sizes don’t change more than one inch.” It can handle different formats up to A3 but the operator would have to stop and change some parts for the different sizes. He adds, “But if the format is the same and only the page count changes then it can run without stopping. We are now testing this machine with customers and will be ready shortly.”
Bindwel Technologies is the first Indian equipment manufacturer to take part in the HID event. Sajith explained, “We came here to understand the ecosystem better. If you want to enter into a large ecosystem globally then you have to understand all the players and where you can fit in. We know that we are at the entry level for small digital printers and not at the top of the line for very large print shops. Most of our customers need a lot of hand holding and customization so that’s where our strength lies.”
Sajith says that he is talking to potential partners rather than end users at HID, adding, “I have had good connections from Eastern European countries.”
Kurz
Kurz showed off its small sheetfed DM Maxliner 2D for adding embellishments and effects, such as metallics. This device was first introduced at last year’s Drupa show and Kurz already has more than 10 installed.
It’s a digital device that uses inkjet heads to place adhesive directly to the back of the effects roll. This is then applied to the pre-printed sheets, pulling the foil onto the sheet precisely where it’s required. The adhesive is cured via UV light. This system will handle sheets up to B3. Christian Schumacher, product manger for digital metal for Kurz. Explains, “We print the adhesive to the back of the transfer film and so we have a really broad range of substrates that we can use.” He adds that it will work with both coated and uncoated substrates, noting, “We have more freedom than cold foiling because we are printing to the back side.”
The machine will only hold one transfer film at a time so that you need to pass the sheets back for additional effects. It uses registration marks to line up the sheets and a QR code to check that the right file has been loaded for each sheet. The system will cope with full variable data for personalised effects. The standard machine will take B3 sheets up to 350gsm and Schumacher says that it could take heavier materials but the feeder would need to be adjusted. It can produce up to 3500 sheets per hour.
IBIS
IBIS Integrated Bindery Systems showed off a new Smart Label binder, which is a variant of its existing Smart-binder. Managing director John Cracknell told me, “It’s been optimised for Extended Content ECL labels which are mini book labels. And this is the big growth market for this machine.” He estimates this market is worth US$ 10 billion worldwide, adding, “There are 12 big companies that dominate most of the market and we are already selling to many of them which is why we put so much focus on this show.”
He notes that this variant has been optimised to run very light paper, “We can run 40gsm paper. These booklets have to have these very light thin papers to get as many pages in as possible.”
Otherwise it uses IBIS’ unique cold glue approach rather than stitching, and can run at 100mpm. Cracknell adds, “Also we have made it more operator friendly. So there is a large screen to give feedback to the operator.”
He says that as well as the pharmaceutical market, these labels are also used for chemicals. It was shown on the Screen stand, using rolls printed by Screen but fed via a Hunkeler unwinder and cutter.
Meccanotecnica
Inevitably I did not have time to visit all the exhibitors but there are a few others worth mentioning. The Italian company Meccanotecnica has developed the Universe automated sewing machine for short run book binding. This was shown in both its Sheetfed variant and the Web version for continuous feed, running from a preprinted roll with a Hunkeler Unwinder and Cutter.
Plockmatic Group, Bowe and Kern
The Plockmatic Group showed off its Morgana PowerSquare 7000 booklet maker as well as the DigiCoater Pro 400, which offers an alternative to laminating sheets and runs at 45mpm. The stand also featured the Intec ColorCut FB9500 cutting and creasing machine. Plockmatic was also present on the Riso stand, with a PL450 booklet maker, including stapling, folding and spine forming, shown with the Riso Valezus T1200 inkjet printer.
Overall, the show highlighted the continuing transition from transactional to book production for continuous feed printing. Both Bowe and Kern brought along inserting machines for the transactional market but the bulk of the solutions on show were for book production with a smattering of lines for direct mail and brochures. This reflects improvements in print quality over recent years that have allowed continuous feed presses to challenge for higher value applications.
Otherwise, this year’s HID broadly followed the same format as previous shows but with one notable difference. The exhibition still used the two main halls of the Messe Luzern, but moving the catering to a third hall helped to open up the main halls. This in turn allowed for a different layout, with more freedom to move around and more exhibitors, with a lot of smaller booths dotted around the main stands. So the main takeaway for me was that I should have set aside another day and spent more time at some of these smaller booths, which mainly covered various workflow and related software solutions.
You can find the first two parts of this story, on Hunkeler, and on presses, by searching for HID2025. The event returns in two years time on 22nd to 25th February 2027, back at the same location at Messe Luzern, Switzerland. (Note: They are also available on the Indian Printer and Publisher website.)
First published on the Printing and Manufacturing Journal www.nessancleary.co.uk 7th April 2025. Republished by permission.
