Bernie Gruber

OPPENWEILER, GERMANY—Imagine a manufacturing operation where various MBO folding machines are custom-made to order. Where highly skilled engineers still produce spiral fold rollers by hand—just as they have done since the first MBO machine was built in 1967. And where even the electrical panels for the sophisticated Navigator control system are made in-house. That's just the world a group of U.S. printers and trade binders saw recently during a tour of MBO Binder GmbH & Co.'s manufacturing plant here in this quaint German community located near Stuttgart. MBO also has a large manufacturing facility in Porto, Portugal, used for mass production, whereas equipment assembled in

by Chris Bauer PORTO, PORTUGAL—More than 500 MBO equipment users assembled here recently, including a contingent of American customers, for an open house and tour of the company's production facilities. Upon arrival in this sleepy, old-European city of 300,000, the attendees were whisked off on a trip they are sure to remember. A tour of the MBO facility was at the top of the to-do list for the American visitors. The U.S. contingent was represented by members of the following companies: A.J. Images, NJ; A-Plus Printing & Graphics, FL; Overnight Bindery, OH; Premier Press, OR; and Shapco Printing, MN. A trio of Massachusetts-based companies were also