Bobst showed guests its new Digital Inspection Table
Converters from the folding carton, corrugated board and flexible materials industries gathered to see live demonstrations at Bobst’s Competence Center in Mex, Switzerland, 5-8 June 2018. Michal Lodej reports.
Keeping one step ahead of the game is key for all manufacturers and so Bobst held its Competence Days to show its customers precisely how it can help them in today’s market.
Guests were welcomed by the company’s CEO Jean-Pascal Bobst, who said, ‘We believe that the line-up this year offers the most comprehensive collection of future-ready innovation available in the industry today. For the first time we will showcase substrate processing, printing and converting in one single event, as we believe that the integration of these three processes is key for our clients who each day cope with the new requirements of brand owners.
‘Bobst remains committed to innovating in all sectors. But innovation is painful, it takes time; you can work on 10 different ideas with only one ever becoming valuable. Our intention is to expand our leadership in the market and to set top trends in the market, not just in the next six months but for the long term and in all regions. Different regions have different needs.’
Something for everyone
Mr Bobst continued, ‘We are still committed to the flexo market but now we have digital inkjet technology and can offer the full range of printing processes except for litho offset. So we see which technology fits best for which application. With so many options sometimes the challenge can be picking the right technology.
‘The enemy today for digital is the lack of trust in its capability, so we have to bring this belief to the market.’
The next part of the company’s sustainability aims is to improve its water based inkjet capabilities in the next few years but to do so it must collaborate with a technology partner.
Mr Bobst continued, ‘We need to partner with people to help improve our range. With the water based digital press the research will be done in house but the production will be done by a different supplier. In truth we are nobody [in digital printing] we are only just starting, but with the right DNA we can grow.’
Printing equipment sales accounts for just over a third of the company’s total turnover at €500 million, and it looks as though providing digital printing technology alongside its conventional printing equipment, where it is so well established, is a key target for the company.
The company already has dipped its toe in this arena in 2017 when it set up Mouvent with digital technology provider Radex.
Attendees were shown a wide range of folding and cutting machines
Multi tasking
Federico D’Annunzio, strategic products and marketing director flexible materials at Bobst, said, ‘The challenge of tomorrow is how do we stay related to the trends of tomorrow. People today can choose, they have more applications available to them than ever before and they can choose which ones to interact with. This has changed the use of packaging.
‘This is variable in many different ways but we are also asking the packaging to do many things; it has many different jobs to do and then once it has served its purpose it needs to disappear. It has to protect the goods through the supply chain whilst still being profitable and work across different changing demographics.
‘The packaging also has to protect the environment too. But the dilemma is we can not sacrifice health and safety while creating less waste at the same time as creating less food waste.
‘There is a huge question over what is to be done with the huge amount of data, e-commerce is the new big word and the numbers are growing. But it means the packaging experience is completely different and for now it remains to be seen what the best way to add value here is. Brands do not expect printers to foresee the packaging future, but they do need them to enable it.’
Speaking more about meeting brands’ expectations, Emillio Corte, head of sales, sheet fed, said, ‘We know if you look to the brand owners they are calling for differentiation and personalisation, which means short runs with more change overs and more downtimes.
‘We get around the problems associated with these with automation. It’s not just the speed of the machine but the combination of many things.
‘e-commerce is a big driver on the future of packaging, we are working to meet this need so our customers can meet the challenges of the market. One such solution is the Masterfold 230 – the flexibility enables printing of special boxes which can help to give the customer a positive experience when opening the box.’
Mr D’Annunzio, added, ‘Bobst is a leader in packaging printing, we produce packaging for labels, flexo packaging, some folding carton and now corrugated. So we know better than most that the whole architecture of the printing industry has to change. Less energy, less waste and more degradable substrates.’
Factory tour
After the presentation, attendees were given a tour of the facility and were shown demonstrations of different production machinery. The company also unveiled its Digital Inspection Table for the first time.
Appearing like an ordinary light box, the Digital Inspection Table projects a colour accurate image of the PDF onto the table for the proofing of printed sheets and die-cut blanks. It uses HD projectors to illuminate the product sample with quality control imaging, enabling the operator to easily see if quality standards are matched or compromised.
Since then UK corrugated sheet plant The Cardboard Box Company has become the first site in the world to take delivery of the inspection table. Ken Shackleton, managing director, said, ‘The Digital Inspection Table was an absolute must in terms of our investment plans. It demonstrates our commitment to getting jobs right the first time, every time. It also offers our customers reassurance in that the table makes quality checking much more precise and all checks are recorded and stored, plus they can be sent to the customer should they require them.’
Other machines on show included the Expertfold 110, a versatile folder-gluer which can produce a number of box styles in a wide range of materials at speeds of up to 450m/min. SpeedWave 2 can be added, mainly for the production of crash-lock bottom boxes, and dramatically reduces the set-up time and ensures maximum productivity. A range of other modules can be installed, including Impack packers.
A Masterfold 75 was shown running with EasyFeeder / Batch Inverter 4 + Cartonpack 4 / Case Erector. This is a fast, automated, versatile and ergonomic folder-gluer line.
