From classic prepress and print service provider to a full-service marketing partner for SMEs: What began in 2010 with a merger between the Swiss companies Ast & Jakob, Vetsch AG and Fischer AG has continued to grow ever since. With offices in Wabern near Berne, Ast & Fischer AG today counts 65 employees. Partnerships and strategic cooperation agreements are the basis for constant expansion of the service portfolio.

AST & FISCHER lives for individualised marketing. The company provides its customers with support across the whole spectrum, from systematic data processing and enrichment to individualised communication utilising print and digital channels. It is out of conviction that AST & FISCHER invests in interfaces, automation and end-to-end workflows, enabling customers to benefit from faster and simpler processes. Sustainability at all levels is one of its trademarks. With its label ‘ASTrein’, a play on a German word meaning ‘on the level’, AST & FISCHER shines a spotlight on issues related to social, ecological and economic sustainability, and is in this respect has now become one of the leaders in the Swiss printing industry.

Smiles after commissioning the new Rapida 106 (l-r): Peter J. Rickenmann, CEO Koenig & Bauer (CH); Daniel Büsch, key account manager, Koenig & Bauer (CH); Samuel Messer, technical manager, AST & FISCHER; and Olivier Zeier, PPS/offset production manager, AST & FISCHER

Innovative: the new Rapida 106

To further broaden the service portfolio and to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction, innovative ideas need a foundation of visionary, high-performance and high-quality means of production. With a high-tech medium-format Rapida 106 press, AST & FISCHER is setting standards well beyond its local region. The new Rapida 106, which replaces two existing Rapida 106 models, is a highly automated five-colour press with inline coater, sidelay-free infeed (SIS) and the facility to disengage unused inking units. It also accepts unbent printing plates. Further highlights are the extremely fast and precise inline measuring and control system QualiTronic Color-Control, and extensive networking capabilities with the management information system (MIS) at AST & FISCHER. No other Swiss commercial printer had previously incorporated the PDF-Check feature for inline sheet inspection. This system uses the QualiTronic camera to compare every printed sheet with the pre-press PDF first and then with a defined reference sheet during production. This is an especially interesting option as it enables errors on the sheet to be spotted before actual production begins and thereby helps to avoid cost-intensive re-runs. In addition, process-related flws such as blanket damage, hickeys or smearing are detected and reported to the operator. This ensures maximum production reliability and gives customer satisfaction a corresponding boost.

Support for digitalisation

AST & FISCHER maintains a focus on topics such as networking, cloud solutions and digitalisation. Over recent years, the company has built up comprehensive know-how in this field. Koenig & Bauer provides support for such endeavours with tools like PDF-Check and integration of the Rapida 106 into the printshop workflow by means of the production management system LogoTronic Profes-sional. The LogoTronic Cockpit provides immediate overviews of relevant performance data – whether for analyses or for KPI benchmarking. The Rapida LiveApp (ErgoTronicApp) even allows the press to be monitored and controlled using mobile devices.

Manuela van Husen

Background photo: Swiss premiere: Inline sheet inspection in commercial printing with QualiTronic PDFCheck