LayFlat Production

In 2021, Elanders Print & Packaging acquired Schätzl Druck & Medien, a digital printing specialist based in Donauwörth and one of Germany's most successful digital printing service providers in the field of mass customization. “This dynamic company has reinvented itself in recent years and completed its transformation from an offset printer to an agile digital printer,” reports Manuel Stefan, Chief Sales Officer of the company, which will be renamed “Elanders Donauwörth” in 2023. The dedicated sales representative has been part of the workforce, which now numbers 180 employees, for 15 years.

Ulrich Schätzl himself, second-generation managing director, became a member of the management team at Elanders Print&Packaging in 2023 as Chief Operating Officer (COO), thereby strengthening Elanders' position in the rapidly growing market for customized print products.

LayFlat

Client

Elanders Donauwörth

Fully equipped, fully integrated

“Ten years ago,” Manuel Stefan continues, "we focused on book production and purchased a Muller Martini bookbinding machine. We then took our first steps with LayFlat bindings in 2017/2018 with a smaller machine. In 2023, we had the opportunity to thoroughly test the sixth generation of ISAG's fastBlock system at the Imaging Solutions Open House and the Hunkeler Innovationdays."

The fastBlock 06 enables book block formats from 100 x 150 mm up to an astonishing landscape format of 320 x 457 mm. Although highly productive, the machine is very compact. The machine parts are fully integrated, enabling easy operation and a high speed of 2'750 gluings per hour (equivalent to 5'500 pages).

Elanders has equipped the machine with all available options: Robatech's external pre-melter eliminates the need for manual refilling of the internal glue tank. This saves time and increases productivity, as the machine does not have to be stopped for refilling and the melting unit is integrated into the machine control system.

A carton separator for feeding in interleaves, which can make a book thicker and stiffer, simplify the hanging process, and give the book a pleasant, high-quality feel, is included, as is a barcode printing ribbon for printing barcodes or 2D codes and the perfectPress book press for inline pressing of the book block.

The hot melt device of the fastBlock 06 binding system features active glue head adjustment for precise and uniform glue application.

High-quality LayFlat bindings are in vogue

Elanders Donauwörth serves the B2B market with both individually produced quantities of 1 in bulk and the advertising market, which is increasingly using high-quality LayFlat-bound books for marketing, for example for cars or boats.

With an enormous increase in capacity of almost eight times the volume, Elanders Donauwörth now has every opportunity to increase production in the LayFlat sector. The market and customers for this niche product are there. After a very busy Christmas season, Donauwörth is already considering upgrading from sheetfed to web printing.

“Fully automating this complex binding method was definitely a smart strategy on the part of Imaging Solutions,” concludes Ulrich Schätzl.

The Elanders Mission - from end-to-end and beyond

As the leading print-on-demand producer, Elanders aims to offer customers worldwide the opportunity to deliver their products on demand in the perfect quantity, at the right place and at the right time.

Elanders strives to provide an end-to-end service – customer-focused, global and bold. A one-stop service, from implementation to delivery, from idea to unparalleled customer experience, from one end to the other and beyond.

Print-on-demand enables Elanders to respond to customer preferences regardless of time and location. Elanders complements the scaling of the customer's core project with its expertise in print-on-demand as the final piece of the puzzle in the customer's end-to-end process – professionally and future-proof.