The print and media house Gieselmann in Bielefeld / Germany has expanded its print finishing sector by adding a fully automatic fold system from MB Bäuerle.
The region around Bielefeld is known as the site of many renowned industrial and media enterprises. It is also the location of the company Gieselmann, a print and media house which Hans Gieselmann founded in his private rooms in 1949. In 1963, the constant growth of his business made it necessary to build a print shop in the Bielefeld-Quelle district. Today Henrike Gieselmann leads the company in the second generation. A subsidiary was founded in Potsdam in 1991.
In the full-service print shop at the main location, 100 employees ensure the on-time completion of a large variety of products. The product portfolio is very comprehensive and ranges from low-priced short print runs to large volumes such as brochures, catalogues, company reports with high-quality finishing, and also books and posters. A web2print portal allows customized order processing. Among Gieselmann‘s customers are many well-known and globally active industrial enterprises from the region. “Qualified advice, top quality and maximum speed are the key factors that impress our customers. Many long-term customer relationships are the evidence that we are right,“ explains Henrike Gieselmann, who has been working in the company since 1995. A modern fleet of machinery is indispensable to uphold this performance. Seven black+white and two colour systems are in use in the digital print area, which Gieselmann launched in 1996. They produce personalized prints such as invoices or direct marketing campaigns in three-shift operation. The machinery in the offset printing section is also very innovative with its three machine systems, among them a Komori Greenline 540 HCV which can print a large variety of papers without powder. Immediate further processing is possible because the usual drying times are no longer necessary. In addition, the machine can print open-pored uncoated paper with the highest colour brilliance; protective coating is not needed.
However, even the most up-to-date printing machines are of little use without the appropriate print finishing facilities. The printing house produces operating instructions with different print runs for a large industrial customer on a regular basis. One of these products consists of a 14-page overlapping fold. In the past this procedure was outsourced. As the customer demanded a second backup partner as a production guarantee, Gieselmann decided to carry out this work step in-house. “To realize the special fold, it was necessary to invest in an additional folding machine. We compared several manufacturers and in the end only the prestigeFOLD NET 52 from MB Bäuerle was worth considering. We were so excited with the system that we bought it directly after the demonstration in the plant of MB Bäuerle, explains Henrike Gieselmann. The prestigeFOLD NET 52 is equipped with six fold plates in the first and second fold unit as well as with a gate fold plate. The extension of the flat pile feeder makes it possible to process sheets with a length of 100 cm. The mobile and continuously height-adjustable knife fold unit MS 45 for making cross folds complements the system. The knife unit can be turned by 180°, which means that folding is possible from the top or the bottom. The small format vertical stacker SKM 36 is ideal for the accurate delivery of products with small fold lengths, because the folded products are prevented from opening up. “Folding has become simple with the new folding machine. Through the complete automation in connection with the job memory we have reduced set-up times considerably, especially when making small folds. Our machine operators, whose workload has been reduced by the new concept, are very satisfied with the new system. Moreover, the support by the manufacturer’s sales team together with the professional technical know-how are first class“, describes Henrike Gieselmann her practical experience with the new system.
In addition to the new folding machine, the company has also invested in a Pit-Stop bar creasing system. “To avoid the typical cracking of the toner layer along the fold line, high-quality creasing is absolutely necessary when faced with the increasingly fluctuating paper quality and the use of the Komori printing machine“, adds Henrike Gieselmann. But the company did not just invest in machinery. A large hall covering an area of 700 square metres will house the bookbinding department. The space becoming available in the existing building will allow the merger of the warehouses, thus making the logistical processes even more effective.
Environmental protection is also of great importance for the printing house. As far back as in 2005 offset printing was switched to alcohol-free production. In January 2010 Gieselmann was FSC- and PEFC-certified. Through “climate-neutral printing“, Gieselmann offsets CO2 emissions by investing in climate protection projects. Moreover, machine waste heat which occurs during the printing process is reintroduced in the heating system.
Caption:
The fully automatic concept of the prestigeFOLD NET 52 folding machine has contributed to a considerable reduction of set-up times. The photo shows Henrike Gieselmann (center), shift supervisor Ben Hartwig (left) and MB Bäuerle sales representative Sebastian Scheel.
