Tried & Tested

Some companies are brash, preferring to scream from the rooftops about their success, but others are a little more understated. Swiss manufacturer Muller Martini is one company taking the latter approach.

After more than 50 years in the business, the manufacturer is now a quiet giant in the finishing arena. Its Merit S trimmer, launched in 2000, was an automated progression from the 3670 three-knife trimmer, developed in 1982.

It was targeted at all printers with a binding line. “The 3670 was an extremely popular machine and was very reliable. People still buy it but, of course, it doesn’t have the makeready of the Merit,” says Peter Freeman, Muller Martini used equipment division manager.

While maintaining the robustness of the 3670, the Merit was more programmable, with faster makeready times and an improved style of cutting. The ‘S’ on the Merit stood for swing cut, a shear cutting action that gave an advanced cut quality and clean trim surface. It was an improvement on the Merit launched in 1993. The shear cutting action for head and foot trim was performed towards the spine to prevent tear-outs, while an automatic control system meant the machine could makeready in just three minutes.

The Merit S uses the same control system as the Muller Martini Zenith S three-knife trimmer, a sister model for the production of case-bound books. Speed of production is at a maximum 4,000 cycles per hour (cph), with an infeed speed of 7,000cph with a standard belt.

Automatic set-up
Basic data for jobs can be automatically set up, while motorised adjustments for size changes can be made automatically after removal of the cutting table.

The main advantages of the Merit include its trim quality, the ability to make fine adjustments on the fly, automated makeready and the variety of sizes the machine can take. The largest format on the Merit is 384x320mm, while there is an option to have larger or smaller size kits, with a sheet size of 445x320mm for large and 104x73mm for a smaller size. Optional extras also include adding air blowers onto the knife cutters and shear cutters.

On the secondhand market, the machines are well sought after because buyers have high expectations of them. Very few become available because trimmers are usually sold with the complete binding line, so the trimmer is rarely split from a line. However, there is a high demand for used Merits, as printers often want to add a refurbished trimmer to a newly bought line as a way of saving money.

The manufacturer takes old machines and refurbishes them. Muller Martini will upgrade the machines with the latest relevant technology, apart from the swing cut, which isn’t retrofittable. The cost of a new model is up to £165,000 and a factory refurbished model is around £85,000.