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Three high-performance folder-gluers give corrugated packaging solutions provider full flexibility for production of bespoke e-commerce packaging
Founded in 2003, WELLSTAR-Packaging GmbH (www.wellstar-packaging.de) is one of Germany’s leading manufacturers of corrugated board packaging with self-adhesive closures.
Employing about 100 people, the family-owned enterprise is a sister company of company is a sister company of Straub-Verpackungen GmbH, a wellknown manufacturer of corrugated board, leveraging that relationship to respond flexibly to individual customer requirements looking for complete packaging solutions, including converting, hazardous goods packaging, and filling and cushioning systems.
In mid-2021, WELLSTAR Packaging decided to invest in a BOBST EXPERTFOLD 165 folder-gluer with e-commerce option, which was installed later in the year.
With that investment, WELLSTAR now has three folder-gluers from BOBST (www.bobst.com)—covering the entire range of formats and applications required by customers in the e-commerce market.
“The overall concept of the e-commerce version of the EXPERTFOLD 165 meets our needs,” says Sebastian Würth, operations manager at WELLSTAR-Packaging.
“With this machine, we have optimized our efficiency in the production of medium-sized shipping packaging,” says Würth, adding the Bräunlingen-based company has been producing corrugated packaging for the e-commerce market since 2013.
Initially, it employed a BOBST MASTERFOLD 145 folder-gluer —configured specifically for its requirements—for this part of the business.
Four years later, it put it started up a MASTERFOLD 230 unit for handling larger packaging formats.
As Würth relates, the excellent experience with the quality and reliability of these folder-gluers made BOBST a natural choice when making a decision about investing in another machine for medium-sized formats.
All three BOBST folder-gluers at WELLSTAR are equipped with a GYROBOX module, which can rotate blanks at any angle from .in the running direction—optionally from left to right or from right to left.With a high degree of flexibility and at speeds up to 250 m/min, it allows single-pass production of very complex shipping
boxes that would otherwise have to pass through the machine twice.
This not only reduces manufacturing costs, but also simplifies the production of packaging that require silicone strips and tear tapes, while boxes that do not need to be rotated can pass through the GYROBOX module at full machine speed.
In addition, WELLSTAR has had additional video cameras installed on the GYROBOX modules of all three folder-gluers, allowing operators to monitor the production process in great detail.
As Würth relates, “From our point of view, this inline variant is the best solution for the production of e-commerce packaging.”
The GYROBOX on WELLSTAR’s MASTERFOLD 230 folder-gluer consists of two large modules, which rotate the blanks of the larger shipping boxes with maximum stability and reliability.
“We achieve very good results with this configuration, and pro-
duction downtime has been reduced to a minimum,”Würth relates.
“Meanwhile, a comparable GYROBOX configuration is available for the EXPERTFOLD 165 format range, and we will probably have our machine retrofitted with this option in the coming year,” he adds.
Noting that BOBST is continuously working on improving its machine technology,WELLSTAR enjoys a growing range of possibilities and new opportunities in packaging production.
“This is also an important element for us in our partnership with the Swiss company,” Würth states.
According to BOBST, the company’s ongoing development of technology and consistent focus on new requirements are reflected in various components of the EXPERTFOLD 165.
For example, the smooth and precise feeding of blanks with the
EXPERTFOLD 165 e-commerce version folder-gluer in the production of packaging with self-adhesive
As a folder-gluer of the latest generation, the EXPERTFOLD 165 e-commerce version offers even greater operating convenience.
integrated ACCUFEED alignment module contributes significantly to the high reliability in the production of medium-sized e-commerce packaging.
With its wider infeed transport, the alignment module guarantees highest folding quality even with heavier materials.
“We generally insert our die-cut blanks in a straight line. ACCUFEED ideally supports the smooth feeding of the blanks and their insertion into the EXPERTFOLD 165,” Würth explains.
From his point of view, the transport belts are optimally designed for processing corrugated board.
The technology for applying silicone strips and self-adhesive tapes is seamlessly integrated thanks to the special POLYVACUUM module. This not only reduces manufacturing costs, but also simplifies production.
For quality assurance, the individual machine modules are equipped with sensors, which measure the lengths of the boxes and stop the machine if any deviations from the specified parameters are detected.
The control system will indicate on the screen which sensor has triggered the stop, so the operators can quickly eliminate the cause of the problem. In short, the entire technology works together smoothly and seamlessly.
The delivery, which has been specially configured for the production of e-commerce packaging, also fits into this picture. Thanks to its sophisticated technology with separate drive and automatic apron centering, the finished boxes are delivered onto the belt aligned perfectly straight.
According to Würth, WELLSTAR usually produces order sizes of between about 2,000 and 50,000 in two-shift operation on the EXPERTFOLD 165, averaging about four job changeovers
per day.
As a new-generation folder-gluer, the EXPERTFOLD 165 offers even greater ease of operation. For example, all sections have been equipped with individual command panels to shorten the distances for machine operators and enable them to react as quickly as possible.
“This means that our operators do not have to rely entirely on the remote control,” says Würth. “In addition, they can adjust the transport here via toggle switches without having to navigate through the menu on their remote controls.”
Moreover, the infeed transports of the EXPERTFOLD 165 can also be automatically locked and unlocked via a toggle switch, which on its own reduces make-ready times by up to five minutes.
“The machine’s ease-of-operation has been very well-received by our machine operators,” says Würth.
“They really enjoy working on the new folder-gluer,” he states, noting that the new technology has increased the company’s attractiveness as an employer, especially for younger workers comfortable with modern digital computer technologies.
As Würth points out,WELLSTAR stores all job data, including the positions of the transports, in the machine’s MATIC control system.
For repeat orders, accounting for a substantial part of the company’s business, these can be retrieved at the simple touch of a button.
“The EXPERTFOLD 165 makes it even easier for us to achieve the high quality we strive for in our e-commerce packaging,” says Würth.
“At the same time, its ease-of-operation, and the quick intervention of the machine operators in the event of a malfunction, have further minimized waste, which is recycled back into corrugated board production.”
According to Würth, being able to cover the
market’s requirements to the fullest from a single source lies at the core of the company’s business philosophy.
“No matter what formats our customers require and whether they need printed or unprinted packaging, there is hardly anything we cannot do for the corrugated board sector,” states Würth, adding he is highly pleased with the flexibility WELLSTAR has achieved in its production.
In addition to bespoke packaging, the company offers around 350 different standard products, which it ships from stock to anywhere in Germany with the shortest delivery times.
“BOBST will continue to develop its technology and the company responds quickly and proactively to new market requirements—that is unmistakable,” Würth proclaims.
With its cornerstones of digitalization, automation, connectivity and sustainability, BOBST’s vision for the future sets the tone.
For example, WELLSTAR now uses the convenience of the myBOBST online portal to quickly procure spare parts for its folder-gluers, while the new European spare parts warehouse in Genk, Belgium, will further improve availability.
Furthermore, the company’s MASTERFOLD and EXPERTFOLD machines are linked to the Helpline Plus technical support system, which enables BOBST technical experts to respond quickly online to any issues in production
“BOBST’s technicians are very competent and friendly, and we maintain a very open relationship with each other,” Würth concludes. “The machines offer us great flexibility and we can cover the widest range of requirements.
“It all just works.”
www.bobst.com www.wellstar-packaging.de
Branded pizza boxes bring out the best of corrugated packaging producer’s in-house talent out into the market
In 2020, Smurfit Kappa’s Yate containerboard manufacturing plant near Bristol, U.K., was asked to work on an exciting project for its long-standing client Papa John’s (GB) Limited. The pizza giant was in need of exclusive packaging for their limited-time offer in collaboration with the latest release of the wildly popular video game Call Of Duty.
Having been a long-term collaborative supplier to Papa John’s for more than 10 years, and its exclusive supplier of pizza boxes since 2019, Smurfit Kappa Yate produces more than 35 million pizza boxes for the brand every year and, every so often, the brand’ creative teams comes with really exciting new challenges.
Timed to coincide with the much-anticipated launch of the Call Of Duty: ColdWare edition, the project posed a number of technical challenges for the Smurfit Kappa (www.smurfitkappa.com) design team.
According to theYate plant’s print manager Dave Whittle, “The detailed imagery and artwork for this project was a huge roadblock for our print team.
“We had to think outside the box and come up with a solution to deliver packaging which was striking and bold.”
AddsYate site’s key account director Lee Gammon: “Our client wanted pizza boxes with amazing, striking imagery that made a lasting impression on their customers.
“The aim was to create pizza boxes which differentiated and disrupted the marketplace,” Gammon elaborates.
“This project came with various complications, but at Smurfit
Kappa Yate we’ve got many years of experience working with unique artwork and packaging colors, so we were up for this tasty task.”
As Gammon recalls, the key challenge with the brief provided by Papa John’s and its creative agency Cygnus was related to the reprographics.
challenges by working closely with the external supplier converting the supplied CMYK artwork to spot colours,” Whittle relates.
“With this approach, large areas of color were created from single spot colour.
With the artwork for this Call Of Duty collaboration being supplied as untagged CMYK—with no color profile or target on how the imagery should appear—producing the desired final result was a tricky endeavor, according to Whittle.
“Printing onto an uncoated board for pizza boxes will always deliver a different result than printing onto coated bright white paper,” Whittle points out.
As he explains, “The CMYK artwork provided did not take into account the total ink coverage limits (260 per cent) of a pre-print flexo process.
“This meant our team had to re-separate the artwork in order to reduce ink coverage to a usable limit.
“Not only that, but the artwork did not allow for the mis-register movement of a flexo process, which could have left the text on the design unreadable,” Whittle adds.
“Their creative agency worked hard to create the striking imagery for these pizza boxes, but the artwork files left our specialists with many challenges to overcome.”
But overcome they did, Whittle relates.
“Our team was able to overcome many of these reprographic
“This eliminated the total ink coverage problems,” he says, “as well as the issues with mis-registering.
“Our design team then worked to manually retouch the images so elements such as text and details would appear correctly,” Whittle continues.
“We are always happy to deliver this extra level of support and care for our client projects to achieve the best possible results.”
According to Pap John, the limited-edition boxes helped it to a 30-percent sales increase during the promotion, while also picking up the Gold medal at FIA Print Awards 2021 competition of the Flexographic Industry Association (FIA) UK.
Says Papa John’s senior director of marketing Giles Codd: “We have been working with Smurfit Kappa for more than 10 years, and once again they have produced incredible pizza box packaging for our latest limited-time offer.
“This collaboration with Call Of Duty: Cold War was one of our most successful yet,” Codd says, “and we are over the moon to have boxes which leave a lasting impression on our customers.”
www.smurfitkappa.com
Just named as one of the world’s most sustainable corporations, Kingsey Falls, Que.-based paper packaging and tissue manufacturer Cascades Inc. (www. cascades.com) has announced the commercial launch of a new closed basket made of recycled and recyclable corrugated board for the produce sector.
Developed as an alternative to food packaging that is difficult to recycle, the new multifold basket is the latest addition to the Cascades Fresh line of eco-friendly packaging.
Designed using recognized eco-design principles, this product is in keeping with a Circular Economy approach by using recycled corrugated board in its design, according to Cascades, thereby supporting its customers’ efforts to reduce their environmental impact while meeting consumer demand for increasingly eco-friendly packaging.
The result of the expertise and work of a multidisciplinary team, the innovative design allows for flat shipping, thereby reducing transportation costs and the need for storage space. A mounting jig, designed specifically for both basket formats (two- and three-liter) will also speed up and simplify operations for producers.
“The multiple customization options offer a competitive advantage and will make produce brands stand out on the shelf with high-quality flexographic, lithographic and digital printing
options,” according to Cascades.
“This new corrugated basket for fresh fruits and vegetables reiterates our commitment to offer innovative products that meet the highest standards of environmental responsibility,” says Cascades president and chief executive officer Mario Plourde. “This launch is also in line with the commitment we made in our Sustainability Action Plan to ensure that 100 per cent of our packaging is recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.”
Having recently pre-qualified for the How2Recycle program, making it easier for producers to obtain certification, the closed corrugated basket for fresh fruits and vegetables has already made its mark in prestigious food industry competitions.
It was a finalist in the Sustainable Design category for the 2023 PAC Global Awards; for the Prix Innovation en alimentation 2022,
awarded by the Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec; and the Grands Prix DUX 2023 in the Eco-Packaging Initiatives category.
This industry recognition is perfectly befitting of a company that has just been named the 20th most sustainable corporation on the planet, according to the latest Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list compiled by leading global NGO (non-governmental organization) Corporate Knights, and the first among the 53 companies analyzed in the Containers & Packaging category.
The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in theWorld ranking is the result of a performance analysis of international corporations with more than $1 billion in revenues, based on key performance indicators across four areas—including economy, environment, social impact and governance—with the weighting of these indicators defined according to each industry.
According to Corporate Knights, Cascades stands out thanks to its high percentage of clean revenue (i.e. from the sale of eco-friendly products), in addition to its sustainable investments; the alignment of its greenhouse gas emission re-
duction targets with international recommendations; the inclusion of sustainability objectives in the performance evaluations; and gender diversity on its board of directors.
As Plourde notes, this is one of many times that Cascades has been recognized for sustainability over the years, further validating its commitment to outdo itself and always do more for the well-being of communities and the planet.
“The importance of developing a Circular Economy to protect our resources has been at the center of Cascades’ business model for almost 60 years,” Plourde states, noting this is the fourth year in a row that Cascades has made the Global 100 list.
“We have always considered it vital to use as much recycled material as possible in our products, and continually review how we operate in order to be respectful of the environment,” Plourde elaborates.
Says Plourde: “We owe this performance to our employees, who push the envelope and drive positive change every day. It is thanks to them that Cascades is able to continuously reduce its environmental footprint and those of its customers.”
www.cascades.com
Upstart e-commerce packaging suppliers boosts capacity and shortens lead-times with digital converting system
Founded by a third-generation family-owned packaging manufacturer, Box Genie (www.boxgenie. com) began production in 2021 as an e-commerce packaging provider specializing in corrugated packaging for small- to medium-sized businesses.
Operating out of Kansas City, Mo., the company specializes in custom mailer boxes of varying shapes, colors, sizes, and designs—providing easy-to-design custom boxes with the best value for the highest quality service.
Cutting, printing and producing all boxes under one roof, the sustainability-focused company is committed to providing its customers with endless choices of shapes, colors, sizes, and designs for packaging boxes, with minimal carton footprint.
As part of that vision, the company has recently invested into a leading-edge Highcon Euclid 5C digital converting system (see picture) to support a complete digital workflow from print to finished product.
According to Box Genie’s chief operating officer James Beard, the Highcon Euclid was chosen primarily for its ability to reduce tooling costs and to shorten lead times—without sacrificing print quality.
In fact, the Kansas City plant was able to get the system running in full production mode in less than two weeks after its installation
last year.
According to the company, Highcon technology is transforming the industry by providing cost effective solutions to the increasing manufacturing inefficiencies facing corrugated carton manufacturers as the result of the emerging market trends of e-commerce, shorter time to market, lower job sizes and a drive to sustainability. Because such requirements can’t always be accommodated by the expensive and time-consuming conventional die-making and setup process, the Highcon digital technology bridges the gap between agile production and design flexibility delivering improved responsiveness, JIT (just-in-time) production, short runs, customization of structure and design, and the ability to perform a wide range of applications in-house.
“We were particularly interested in shortening lead-times to better serve small-to mid-size orders and meet our customers’ needs for custom boxes,” Beard says.
“Highcon digital finishing allows us to increase throughput and cutting capacity,” he explains, “as well as the ability to run custom boxes and displays and gang multiple jobs to improve efficiency.”
In addition to expanding its capacity, Beard says that Box Genie expects to be able to go after new business as a result of the purchase.
“We bought the Highcon because we wanted more capacity and shorter lead times,” he states.
“We were very pleased with the Highcon installation process and the dedicated onboard and training staff.”
Headquartered in Yavne, Israel, Highcon (www.highcon.net) develops, markets, sells and supports a portfolio of digital cutting and creasing machines that cover a wide range of formats, substrates and applications.
Since entering the market in 2009, Highcon’s cutting-edge converting systems have been installed at customer sites around the world, including at some large multinational companies, to support the needs of global and local brands.
“It is our pleasure to welcome Box Genie to the ranks of our innovative customers, many of whom are experiencing the benefits of adding Highcon digital converting to their production capabilities,” says Highcon’s general manager and vice-president of sales for the Americas region Michael Ciaramella.
“Streamlining the workflow and optimizing production with an end-to-end digital manufacturing process helps our clients stay ahead of the competition while adding incremental value to their customers,” Ciaramella states.
“As such, Box Genie is joining a growing group of customers that are leading the Web-to-Pack market transformation.”
www.highcon.net www.boxgenie.com
Prepress suppliers leverages advanced flexo platemaking technology to achieve greater press efficiency and higher print quality
If a single image can show what a business is all about, the cat on the gin box is the one that does just that for Victory Graphics.
The attention-grabbing combination of dark black tones, a fine image and bright reverse-outs are exceptional enough, but when you consider it was produced on a 20-year-old press using a single KODAK FLEXCEL NX plate, thus eliminating register issues and reducing cost, it becomes truly extraordinary.
Helping printers produce flexo packaging that combines such high quality and remarkable on-press efficiency is all in a day’s work for specialist flexo prepress business Victory Graphics, based in Portsmouth, U.K.
In the case of the cat image, the impressive print was produced by Newmarket-based Caps Cases, where print manager Wayne Booker, supported by Victory Graphics, is continuously driving print quality on such challenging jobs using FLEXCEL NX plates.
Victory’s website describes the company’s mission rather modestly: “Our aim is to help our clients grow by improving quality and re-
ducing the cost of flexographic print.”
Behind the strapline is an impressive story that started in 2014, when the company entered the flexo prepress market, diversifying away from its previous concentration on coating plates (“a niche business”, in the words of owner and managing director Karl Pampus) and towards a broader base in packaging—flexible and corrugated—and labels.
Today coating plates account for around one-third of sales, says operations director Dean Darby, who adds that “offering a wider range of services helped us maintain growth even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Any fall-off in, say, label demand has been compensated by growth in corrugated.”
In 2016 Victory installed a KODAK FLEXCEL NX System, featuring a large-format 50x80-inches imaging unit capable of producing any size of plate.
Looking back, Pampus credits the FLEXCEL NX System from Miraclon (www. miraclon.com) with setting the company on the path to the reputation it now enjoys in the corrugated market.
“With FLEXCEL NX we can provide clients with a plate technology that’s far superior to anything else available—one that delivers not only consistently high quality, but also really significant production efficiencies and cost savings.”
Pampus goes on to describe the majority of Victory’s clients as, “Independent corrugated sheetfed plants that are striving for quality despite often having older, lower-specification presses.
“With FLEXCEL NX plates, the press can produce work that combines excellent coverage in solid areas with crisp reverse-outs and fine tones.
“In turn, this means we can reproduce both line and tone using just the one plate, instead of one plate for each,” Pampus says.
“Essentially, we lift the quality these plants produce from standard to premium—giving them the ability to compete for work they previously thought was beyond their capabilities.”
The FLEXCEL NX System’s combination of flat-top dot technology and advanced plate surface patterning makes this possible.
Flat-top dots deliver true print consistency through true 1-to1 reproduction between the digital file and the physical plate structure, while the KODAK DIGICAP NX Patterning technology enables surface structuring to be applied to all print areas on the plate, including very small dots, aiding precise metering of ink for each print element.
The plate surface can therefore be tailored to specific print requirements and press specifications.
As Pampus says: “Avoiding pinholes and areas where there’s too much ink not only produces brighter colors with reduced ink usage, but it also allows the press to run faster.
“The even spread of ink on the plate gives homogeneous coverage, while the lower pressure results in consistently good transfer. In addition, lower-volume aniloxes can be used with associated savings on ink.”
There are significant operational benefits for the printers, adds Dean Darby.
“Customers regularly tell us how much faster they get to color, which reduces make-ready waste.
“And with FLEXCEL NX plates they don’t have to clean as frequently on long runs; we’ve had customers reduce cleaning by over 50 per cent.
In common with many FLEXCEL NX plate users,Victory sees considerable scope to transition litho-lamination jobs to flexo post-print and gravure jobs to flexo.
One such opportunity currently under discussion with a leading brewery—the outer case for a premium-label beer—could yield five-figure cost-savings with a switch to flexo.
Says Pampus: “What helps us in these discussions is FLEXCEL NX’s consistent ability to match proofs and samples produced by the incumbent technologies—that consistency in delivering print results makes the difference.
“Sure, with other plate technologies it’s possible to get good results by tweaking parameters on the press, but with FLEXCEL NX it’s the certainty of getting results so quickly that makes press passes a routine task—almost a non-event!”
Looking to the future for corrugated, Pampus expects the visual appearance of outer packaging to become even more important to brands, influenced in part by the acceleration in
e-commerce in the wake of COVID-19 and the growing ‘unboxing’ phenomenon, whereby social media users share videos of product being unpacked.
“These developments will in turn put pressure on corrugated to achieve higher quality.”
Darby acknowledges that there are pressures on printers too—the perennial ones on prices and margins.
“These trickle down to suppliers like us, of course, and our response is to become more efficient, more productive.
“We’ve invested just over £500,000 in the last year on measures to achieve this, including the recent installation of a new MIS.”
Darby adds that last year the company also more than doubled the production area with the addition of a mezzanine floor—a sure sign of confidence in the future.
Victory is also responding by continuing to do what it has done so successfully to date: exploiting all the advanced features that set FLEXCEL NX plates apart from the competition, constantly seeking further improvement.
Says Pampus: “At the heart of the business are innovation and continuous improvement across our complete offering, all with the ultimate aim of giving printers the print quality improvement and cost reductions that will help them succeed as well.”
www.miraclon.com
Based in Spremberg, Germany, Hamburger Containerboard produces about 340,000 tonnes of paper products annually—including white uncoated and coated papers, as well as gypsum board with basis weights between 120 and 180 gsm on its PM 1 paper machine.
In order to increase the efficiency of the line, as well as to optimize the quality of production, the company has been working successfully with experts form the OnPerformance.Lab (OPL) unit of the glob l papermaking machinery giant Voith Group (www.voith.com) for just over a year.
The remote optimization process began with the collection of all relevant process and machine data from the PM 1, whichVoith used to develop possible solutions for increasing the efficiency of the plant.
The OPL experts then discussed the issues occurring on the machine with all project participants, refined the models, adjusted controller settings and suggested program changes in the customer control system. In regular feedback meetings, the teams evaluated each step and made joint decisions on how to proceed.
“Thanks to their comprehensive expertise and holistic approach, the OPL experts defined individ-
ual and reliable recommendations that stabilized our process and ultimately led to a significantly shorter grade change time,” says David Wötzel, automation engineer for Hamburger Rieger GmbH.
“The cooperation was simple, flexible and smooth throughout the entire period: just like with a colleague, only from a distance.”
Says Wötzel: “It was essential for us that the optimization measures did not disrupt the daily routine or processes in the plant, so that we would be able to implement them whenever they fit into our schedule”
According toWötzel, the successive optimization process enabled 35-percent faster grade changes, a more stable processes, and significant production increases.
“You can simply tell that OnPerformance.Lab is staffed by experts who know how complex the papermaking process is and which solution approaches are individually suitable,” Wötzel states.
Based on this positive experience, Hamburger Containerboard has decided to continue to rely on the expertise of the OnPerformance.Lab as a longterm partner.
www.voith.com
Swiss-based digital cutting systems manufacturer Zünd Systemtechnik AG (www.zund.com) is raising the bar for industrial pallet-to-pallet production with the new Q-Line with BHS180 board handling system and UNDERCAM technology.
Featuring “smart” machine control technology and high level of automation, the new Q-Line with BHS180 board handling system is an integrated system solution specifically designed to meet the of highly automated, industrial finishing of printed corrugated boards used to make attractive merchandising displays and retail-ready packaging.
The system’s individual components—board feeder with UNDERCAM , the new Q-Line cutter generation, and the off-load unit—are optimally coordinated to provide previously unattainable levels of productivity, cutting accuracy and reliability.
“Consequently, they make it easier than ever for packaging and display manufacturers to automate their cutting operations and achieve maximum efficiency,” says Zünd, “helping manufacturers optimize their production processes and increase their overall productivity.”
According to Zünd, each component of this advanced digital cutting system is loaded with exciting new features to enable unsupervised, uninterrupted production workflow and provide
New digital cutter a breakthrough for workflow productivity and precision
users with an enormous potential for savings. Working together, the new machine components generate impressive speeds of up to 2.8 m/ sec, with the new stable concrete structure of the Q-Line cutters ensuring remarkably smooth operation and optimal cutting precision—even at extremely high speeds.
The beams are made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, according to Zünd, which makes them very light and exceedingly strong. This means even demanding materials can be processed at top speeds and the highest quality levels.
Unprecedented performance also manifests itself in various other aspects, including in the impressive acceleration of up to 2.1 g (g-force)
made possible by the new linear drive system— resulting in greater speeds and shorter cycle times.
The Q-Line with BHS180 comes with the latest generation of modules and tools, including the AUTOMO L carrier module that can provide a creasing pressure of up to 50 kilograms. For its part, the AUTOMO E carrier excels in the speed in which it lowers and lifts the tools in use. Each beam is equipped with a total of four modules: two AUTOMO E modules, one AUTOMO L, and one fixed INCAM sensor module to capture registration marks, QR (quick response) codes and material edges.
www.zund.com
