At Drupa 2004, Nipson unveiled its latest application to show the versatility and productivity of its high-speed production digital presses. Lettershop, a total document solutions company based in Niederanven, Luxembourg, uses six Nipson 8000 presses to produce The Official Journal of the European Union every working day of the year. As of May 1, 2004, the journal will be printed in over 20 languages in response to the expansion of the EU.

Lettershop is challenged to produce the journal quickly and reliably and turned to Nipson for the speed and dependability of its presses and its ability to print on extremely lightweight paper. Nipson’s magnetography technology uses long life components and a relatively simple design with fewer moving parts to ensure high duty cycles and dependable throughput. The other advantage of the Nipson product is its cold flash fusing subsystem. This process works by fusing toner to the page with intense flashes of light. This prevents books from fanning open or pages from curling, effects that are commonly associated with heat-fused output. This combination of speed, reliability, and cold fusing gives Lettershop the reliability and quality needed to print the journal under tight time constraints with full online booklet processing equipment connected directly to the Nipson presses.

Content is received late in the evening and the finished documents must be out the door by 4 a.m. for delivery all over Europe. Lettershop uses six Nipson 8000s in twin engine duplex (TED) configuration to print the booklets in conjunction with winding, unwinding, and cutting equipment from Kern as well as stitching supplied by IBIS. The three fully automated production lines are the largest ones in this combination in the world.

The Official Journal of the European Union publicizes the directives, acts, treaties, laws, and agreements of the EU Parliament. It is published daily in all the languages of the EU. Published by the Office of Official Publication of the European Communities, the journal legalizes policies enacted by the EU throughout the Union.

The general daily output is around 750,000 A4 pages (typically around 16,000 booklets at 48 pages plus cover). This number varies because content differs from day to day. The journal is published in the DIN A4 format (210 x 297 mm / 8.3" x 11.7"), the cover is 90 g/m2 paper and the inside is 50 g/m2, saddle-stitched.