Zechini was among the companies that made the 56th Bologna Children’s Book Fair a success. Once again this Show has proven to be the most important international event of its type. The the number of visitors is continuously on the rise and this year it reached 29,000, up 5% from the year before. The number of foreign visitors rose by 20% and has almost equalled that of domestic visitors.*
For Zechini this is a well-established event – they have been presenting their personalized solutions for the production of board books there for over 10 years. This year the number of European visitors who showed interest in starting this type of production using our machines has exceeded our expectations. This is a consequence of various factors such as the continuous increase in production costs in China, the difficulty to order medium-sized runs in that country and last but not least, long transit times which make it impossible to react swiftly to the demands of the marketplace.
Zechini’s new Red Arrow 2 is the right answer to all these problems. This machine allows cost-effective production of high quality children’s board books, even when compared with Cina. This is especially valid for the more complex products such as books containing jugsaw puzzles or windows in variable positions on every page.
The Red Arrow 2 has exclusive features such as in-line folding, insertion of reinforcing board, a software for selective gluing, and a book block building station where every book block is aligned individually so as to ensure a perfect spine.
As usual with Zechini machines, the Red Arrow 2 has a modular build so that it can be tailored according to each customer’s individual needs. For example, it is possible to add up to 12 signature feeders so as to perform collating in line.
And what if the book is composed of more signatures than the number of feeders? Zechini have thought of this as well: the machine can be equipped with a book block feeder so that you can produce the book block in two passes and combine the two parts automatically.
Zechini have also thought of the customers approaching children’s book production for the first time. The entry-level model Red Arrow 2 Kappa requires a moderate investment while offering the same high production capacity and rapid changeover as the larger models.
For high volume production there is the Red Arrow 2 Omega, a full-option automatic line.
Upon request our technical department can modify a standard model of the machine in order to enable a different product size range or cater for other individual needs.
All visitors to the Zechini stand at 56th Bologna Children’s Book Fair have appreciated the Red Arrow 2 concept due to its versatility, flexibility and “made in Italy” creativity.
This year we had a special guest at our stand: Unisoft Printing House of Kharkov, Ukraine. Unisoft is one of the leading graphic arts companies in Ukraine and renowned beyond its boundaries. It boasts the latest generation machines for book production and a highly qualified personnel.
In December 2018 Zechini successfully installed a new Red Arrow 2, which, thanks to its high performance, has enabled Unisoft to offer its services in the European market. At Bologna Show Unisoft exhibited books with windows, puzzles and moving object of impeccable quality, all made in automatic mode with Zechini machines. The cooperation has been pleasant for both parties.
The success achieved at this exhibition has prompted Zechini to work on new projects. In order to offer a complete solution for the production of board books, Zechini will soon be presenting a new casing-in machine that will complement the Red Arrow 2.
Like in fairy tales that its machines produce, Zechini makes the impossible possible!
(*) http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/media/libro/press_release/2019/21_BCBF_2019_conclusivo_2.pdf