First hardcover short-run book line in Africa

FULL STORY

Sahara Printing Company SAE, based in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, produces hardcover books; lately on a Diamant 30, Muller Martini's first short-run book line on the African continent.

Sahara Printing was founded in 1995 by Nadim Elias and is located in the Nasr City Free Zone, Cairo's industrial area. By purchasing the short-run book line the company killed two birds with one stone. Firstly, hardcover books which used to be passed onto partner companies can now be finished in house. Secondly, Sahara Printing, with its 200 employees, has managed to further increase its previous export share of over 50 per cent.

Hardcover predominantly for export

In fact, nearly all of the books manufactured on the Diamant 30 are destined for export. ‘Whilst we produce the majority of the 40 monthly magazines for the Egyptian market, many of our book and catalogue customers come from Europe, Africa and the Middle East,’ said production manager Sherif Boshra. ‘The new bookline has allowed us to further increase our position with our longstanding partners. It is our clear aim to increase our export share even further.’

Technology, price and service

As well as thoroughly testing the Muller Martini bookline at the Hardcover Forum in Bad Mergentheim, Germany, Sahara Printing also evaluated a competitor's machine. According to Boshra, there were three clear reasons for choosing the Diamant 30, ‘Firstly, the technology. Secondly, the price. Thirdly, the after sales service from Kheiashy House, Muller Martini's representative in Egypt. We learnt to appreciate their service with our Starbinder, Inventa book sewing machine and MM 1509 saddle stitcher,’ commented Boshra.

Talking about the Starbinder: Sahara Printing produces the book blocks on the Muller Martini perfect binder before they are transferred to the Diamant 30 and stacked on the BLSD 650. The book cases are manufactured on the BDM Compact, the most modern casemaker on the African continent.

Optimum training

Sherif Boshra is just as overwhelmed with the product quality as his customers are, ‘I am particularly impressed with the perfect rounding of the books." His machine operators quickly got to grips with the new machines. Boshra put this down to the excellent training provided by Muller Martini. Said Boshra, ‘For one week we had an excellent instructor from Bad Mergentheim in house who showed us all the finer points of the book line. This was very important for us as our machine operators had had no previous experience with hardcover systems.’

Aim: Three-shift production

Having started production over a year ago, the Diamant 30 is still producing in one shift. However, Sahara Printing aims to have the bookline running in three shift, like its other machines. Boshra is confident that this will soon be the case, ‘Of course it also difficult to predict what the future will bring. But looking back at the last years I am optimistic. Since 2002 we have developed our turnover by 2.5 times - thanks to fast customer service and our high product quality. Unlike many of our competitors in our country, we don't just invest in the latest technology; we also constantly invest in training our employees. This is why we deliver one of the best production in the region,’ Boshra concluded.

Pictured above: (From left to right) Machine operator Sameh Fathi; Samir A Gadalla, project & marketing manager, Keiashy House; Sherif Boshra, production manager, Sahara Printing.

For additional information, please visit: www.mullermartini.com. In Southern Africa, Muller Martini is represented by Thunderbolt Solutions at: www.thunderbolt.co.za for more details.

© Graphic Repro On-line, 14 January 2008