After major work completed in January, Imprimerie Pollina, located in Luçon in the Vendée, has just installed several new machines. The publishing company, which employs 220 people, is thus strengthening its finishing operations at a cost of 3.7 million euros.
At the beginning of July, 10 lorries came to deliver an Alegro de Müller Martini broaching line. "This new chain allows us to do inline flap stitching, explains Laurent Pollina, who runs the printing works with his two brothers. While n hile two Bolero chains can run at 9,000 copies per hour, this one only reaches 7,000 copies, what counts nowadays is the 'make-ready', i.e. a quick start. And this new line has automated settings, which is perfect for short runs. With this Alegro, the printing house has five stitching lines.
A Stahlfolder TX 96 folder from Heidelberg also arrived in June, equipped with a two-armed robot from Fanuc. This new equipment brings the number of folders at the printing plant to 14. And in January, a Multiplex sewing line from Meccanotecnica with 16 assembly stations and two fully automated inline sewing machines was also installed.
"The book is well on its way."
These investments were decided before the coronavirus health crisis, but the printer does not regret signing these purchase orders: "Surely we would have made those investments anyway. We are affected by the covid epidemic like everyone else, but the book business is not doing too badly. We are experiencing a drop in sales of around 10%, mainly concentrated in the months of March-April and May. Today, the book business is doing well again, especially cookbooks and children's books."
These investments in machinery follow on from major works started last year. The plant was modernised and extended by 4600 m at a cost of 2.5 million euros 2 to reach today 42?000 m 2 . And since January, the company has recruited six new people.
