A cooperative agreement between Müller Martini and RIMA-System will see the Swiss mailroom specialist selling RIMA equipment in worldwide markets except Australia and New Zealand, from next year.
Full details of the arrangement will be announced at the end of July, and the new sales arrangements become effective on January 1, 2012. However, Australia is excluded from this agreement, with Graph-Pak continuing to represent RIMA-System, and Green Graphics in NZ.
The companies say the ‘close partnership’ will help them provide optimised production processes for press delivery systems and offer a comprehensive support service.
Müller Martini chief executive Bruno Müller says that “for web printers in particular, it is important in today's environment to be able to use the right technology for their production facilities.
“The cooperation with RIMA-System allows our customers to choose their ideal and individual solution from the extensive product line offered by the two market leaders.”
Users will be able to team elements to create the most efficient solution for their situation – for example, a Newsveyor conveyor system from Muller Martini could be paired with a compensating stacker and palletising robot from RIMA-System.
The two partners say they have coordinated and streamlined their joint product lines in accordance with current requirements. This optimised product line includes the areas of conveying, cutting, stack production, bundle production and roll production as well as palletising, and will be supplemented with a professional range of services with comprehensive service being provided by the Muller Martini national companies and the RIMA-System project centres.
RIMA-System chief executive Axel Tübke says the partnership is much more than a cooperation agreement: “It is a commitment to finding the best solution for the customer, which is defined independently of the manufacturer label and must be optimally adapted to the respective application.
“After all, our main priority is that the customer benefits from the solution.”
The companies have worked together on past projects in processing for gravure and commercial web. At Grafiche Mazzuchelli in Seriate, Italy, a Müller Martini Newsveyor conveyor brings printed products from a 96-page press to RIMA-System stackers and robots. Another project – at Milan gravure printer Eurogravure – teams a RIMA palletising robot with a Müller Martini press delivery system.