D-PAL aims to solve one of the key problems of the book printing industry and the post-impression process, where the hardcover bookbinding is developed. Traditionally, the depalletization of stacks of signatures to feed the bookbinding machine need to be done manually, resulting in a more expensive, time-consuming, unsafe and inefficient process.
D-PAL has developed a fully automatized innovative solution to accurately depalletize stacks of signatures of different types, sizes and thicknesses. This results in a more cost-effective process by increasing efficiency and productivity, reducing costs and increasing competitiveness, reducing errors and increasing quality of final products and reducing health and safety issues.
During Phase 2 project the technical challenges identified within the preliminary prototype have been overcome, particularly by automatizing D-PAL using an articulated robotic device to integrate the intelligent manipulator. Additionally, the productivity yield has been improved and the machine dimensions have been reduced to be easily integrated into the post-printing process.
Such innovations have allowed a definitive improvement of D-PAL, turning it into a totally automated cutting-edge machine that guarantees an optimum technological performance of the depalletizing process. Furthermore, D-PAL is the only machine in the market suitable to be integrated in every process chain with the current existing methods in the book printing industry. Such positive results will facilitate the product commercialisation and to further deploy Largoiko’s commercial strategy.
The European Commission and INTERGRAF (European Federation for print and digital communication) consider that new technologies will help to increase competitiveness of the European printing industry, a profitable market with a turnover of €98.245 million, and that investments on new equipment for processes automation is a key short-term strategy. In this regard, D-PAL results are expected to contribute to improve the European printing market, which be clearly reinforced thanks to more automation, higher efficiency and increased safety.
