Friedheim is taking on UK distribution of Digibook, a Swiss company that makes book production under the Mitabook brand. This covers perfect binding, through to case making and casing in equipment. The sweet spot is digital batch production of children’s books or phonebooks, namely books where the format remains the same while the content varies.
This is a slot beneath the production capabilities of a traditional perfect binding line from Muller Martini or Wohlenberg, which Friedheim also sells, and above the one off production of books where its partner Zucchini sits. “There’s a bit of a gap in our portfolio which Digibook fits quite well,” says Friedheim marketing manager Seth Morgan. “It suits people that have quite a bit of output in short runs.”
The equipment occupies a relatively footprint. The casing in unit is 2.0×2.6 metres while the case maker is 2.7×3.4 metres. Production is seven units a minute from 150x130mm with a 6mm spine to 750x420mm and a 45mm spine. These can be PUR or hot melt glued books, including layflat styles.
Freidheim anticipates establishing a couple of reference sites for prospects to see the technology in action. There are currently around ten customers in the UK, some with multiple machines. Friedheim hopes to add to this during 2026.
Demand for short run book production is increasing driven by a number of factors. The children’s books market is one of the sectors in book publishing that is expanding.
Freidheim says the opportunity is increasing as printers having invested in digital print capabilities are looking at short run book production. The Mitabook products suit as high levels of automation reduce the training requirement, rapid make ready suits wide range of different formats, encouraging print on demand models for publishers and a quality that is aligned with traditional book production.
Friedheim’s finishing systems national sales manager Howard Cherry says: “This partnership reinforces our commitment to equipping printers with best in class technologies that enable profitable short run an book on demand production.”
