It will provide a "dashboard" to show the status of the Cerutti gravure presses, Ferag Unidrum stitching and inserting lines and the CMC Jetwrap film-wrapping systems that staff can access via a web browser.

Technique managing director Paul Cooper said it was the first time Polestar had used shop-floor data collection in the bindery.
"At the end of the day publishers want to know about pallets coming off the binder," said Cooper. "Publishers' demand for real time information is driving this."

It is a coup for the firm, which has won over Polestar from rival QTMS for shop- floor data collection.

"This is a significant move for Polestar to choose a new vendor for data collection systems," said group operations director Mike Young. "This capitalises on our previous investments in the core Technique software and will provide excellent visibility of our production performance against plan."

Technique also recently completed an installation at Artisan Press in Leicester, replacing six QTMS systems.

Story by Barney Cox