Autonomous Production – MBO has the World’s most Reliable Finishing Process
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Optical Fold Quality Control and Automatic Signature Change
Today, folding machines are already producing autonomously and the physically strenuous task of stacking the folded signatures is handled by the CoBo-Stack robot from MBO. But there is currently no talk of a completely automated finishing line. For example, who will take care of fold quality control? The MBO VT50 has recently become available for this task.
Optical Fold Quality Control VT50
The VT50 fold quality control system is unique on the market. Monitoring takes place directly behind the folding machine. Two cameras measure the folding tolerances of the folded sheets. These tolerances can be set by the customer to fit the specific job. Incorrectly folded sheets or sheets not within the tolerance range are ejected from the outlet of the VT50. This ensures that only perfectly folded sheets are transferred to the subsequent delivery system.
Automatic Signature Change with the MBO Autopilot
In addition, MBO is launching another innovation, namely the Autopilot. The Autopilot works with a camera at the palletized feeder and processes the information from the MBO Datamanager in combination with an MIS system. The camera reads a data code that was printed on the signature in advance. Each signature gets its own code. If the signature changes, production is briefly interrupted. The A80 delivery system is informed of the signature change by Autopilot and automatically places the new signature on a new pallet using the CoBo-Stack. This prevents mixing of the folded signatures and automatically saves the counter readings.
With these two highlights – automatic fold quality control and automatic signature change – this finishing solution is the safest, most efficient and most productive folding machine set-up in the world. Work that used to be performed by the operator is now automated. Human error is now a thing of the past and the operator can attend to other work or even operate two folding machines simultaneously.
Druckerei Kohlhammer is a Pioneer
The first customer, Druckerei Kohlhammer in Stuttgart, is already working very successfully with three autonomous finishing lines. It is not unusual for just one employee to operate all three folding machines on his or her own. Owner Steffen Franzisi confirms with satisfaction: “The bottleneck in the folding plant had been completely resolved. We hoped that would happen, but we didn’t really expect it.”
Autonomous Production at the Alliance Days 2021
Anyone who wants to see the performance and reliability of this line for themselves is cordially invited to the Alliance Days 2021 of the Postpress Alliance. The event will take place in two parts. From 16 to 19 November 2021, the Alliance Partners will be presenting themselves and their machines live during an Open House in Solms. Visitors are expressly welcome to attend and can look forward to personal, face-to-face meetings.
The second part of the event will take place on 30 November 2021 and 1 December 2021 as a virtual VIP event via live video transmission. Here, interested parties can make individual, non-binding video appointments with the Alliance Partners. The advantage compared to similar concepts is that these are not webinars with several participants. Instead, participants are offered an exclusive, one-on-one VIP meeting with the Alliance Partners, allowing them to profit from very personal machine demonstrations.
