Three new-generation digital folding systems are central – quite literally – to a new production unit at Bertelsmann Marketing unit GGP Media.

The setting is Pößneck in Thuringia, Germany, where the latest of manroland Goss’s FormerLine systems, inline to HP PageWide inkjet presses are running at up to 305 metres per minute on short to medium runs.

The Augsburg, Germany web and newspaper press maker says its systems are “redefining the finishing of digitally printed books”, raising efficiency and production quality to a new level.

The FormerLine system can produce signatures between four and 16-pages, accommodating different web widths and stabilising book blocks with head and foot glueing. The new production speed ensures a significant increase in efficiency and opens up new possibilities.

GGP Media has been using the technology at Pößneck since 2017, with the two companies working to further develop digital workflows and folding technologies.

One milestone was the commissioning of a new FormerLine generation last year, working with a 1067 mm digital printing system to process short to medium runs.

The technology is also in use at the Berryville site of Book Printing in the US.

At GGP, production/technology head Martin Hawich says the system allows them to take full advantage of the flexibility of digital printing without compromising on speed and efficiency. “It’s the perfect solution to consistently deliver the highest quality and most efficiently produced print products to our customers in the shortest possible time.”

GGP Media is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann Marketing Services, offering customised publishing solutions along integrated service chains to business customers from the publishing sector as well as from industry, agencies, public authorities and the public sector.

Pictured: The three lines feature HP PageWide presses, FormerLine folding production with RimaSystem trimming and stacking (Photo manroland Goss)