More Info on the Big Announcement from Kolbus and Muller Martini

A few weeks ago, I reported on Muller Martini assuming much of Kolbus' perfect binding and hard-cover systems portfolio. So, I thought I would provide an update. Both firms are giants in the postpress field, with many, many years of history of providing continuous bindery innovation. When you think about it, this was inevitable.

The bindery offerings of both Kolbus and Muller Martini are similar (except for saddle stitching), and they competed with each other for almost every opportunity. As the opportunities shrunk along with the general contraction of print, life for the two major players became a bit difficult.

It appears Muller will take over Kolbus' Rahden, Germany, manufacturing facility, largely because manufacturing costs in Germany are lower than in Siwtzerland. Along with manufacturing Kolbus systems, Muller may export a fair portion of its own system parts manufacturing to Rahden also. The Kolbus foundery will remain unaffected.

The deal was evidently in the making for quite some time. Muller basically takes over sales responsibility from Kolbus for their perfect binding and hard-cover finishing systems. This leaves Kolbus America with its Hycorr subsidiary which manufactures high-volume rotary diecutting and press technology for the packaging sector, and its casemaking systems. Both Kolbus and Muller are optimistic about the new structure, which may ultimately optimize market opportunites for both.

I’m hoping the new organization works, and that we’ll continue to see new systems and innovation introduced. Print finishing needs it.