Packaging

Bobst in spotlight for new products

Bobst, a recognisable brand

Radical capabilities of the technology behind Bobst’s new digital printing press for corrugated has been recognised with a gold award at the recent Fefco technical conference in Barcelona.

At the show, Bobst revealed to delegates the design and technical specifications of the press, which is currently being beta tested at two European corrugated box plants. Bobst also premiered two brand new flexo printing lines, the FFG 8.20 Expertline flexo folder gluer and Masterflex-XL high-quality post-printer, confirming its commitment to both digital and flexo printing technologies.

Emilio Corti, head of sales for Bobst business unit sheet-fed, said, “This award recognises the ground-breaking nature of our radical new digital press. It is a highly innovative solution that has been conceived to open up a vast range of markets to corrugated packaging makers, from long runs of boxes featuring variable data to very short runs of bespoke packs and displays. It means that corrugated packaging manufacturers will be able to exploit all sorts of markets and I believe the jury recognised this with their award.”

During the spotlight presentation that convinced the jury of the innovative nature of the new Bobst digital printing press for corrugated, Jakob Bovin, marketing director for digital printing, corrugated board at Bobst, gave delegates a first look at the new press which features a modern design and ground-breaking capabilities.

Bovin said, “By using Kodak Stream Inkjet Technology utilising aqueos-based inks, our press can continuously deliver over 50 billion ink drops per second from its four, CMYK, print units. We can match a very broad range of the Pantone gamut and print at speeds of up to 200 m per minute. The press delivers very high print quality, with a print resolution of 600 x 900 dpi. We have designed a brand new vacuum belt sheet transport system in order to guarantee the registration accuracy needed when printing at such high resolutions and high speeds. The press also incorporates our Bobst iQ400 quality control system and an ejection process for any non-conforming products.”

As previously announced, the press is a stack-to-stack solution ideal for integration into corrugated plants’ existing logistics systems. The pre-coating unit allows the press to print onto a wide range of corrugated substrates, giving the converter maximum flexibility in production.

The current beta testing phase of this new printing solution will continue in 2016 with the installation of two additional presses.

 

NEW FLEXO LINES

Two other Spotlight sessions at Fefco saw details revealed of two new Bobst flexo press lines.

The Masterflex-XL is a high-quality flexographic printing press than can be installed offline, or inline with either a Bobst rotary or flat-bed die-cutter. The press features the company’s Start and Go system, which sets and then maintains register in conjunction with its Registron S5500 register control and a new SC500 adjustment system; a no-crush feeder; iQ300 image control which ensures any out of conformance print is ejected; vacuum transfer; sheet cleaning; and an automated stacker. The press has an offline speed of 12,000 sheets per hour.

Gilbert Joux, product marketing director, corrugated board, Bobst, said, “Masterflex-XL is about printing a quality product at high speed. Whether it is used offline, or inline with a Mastercut or DRO type die-cutter, the onboard systems ensure that consistently high printing quality is achieved, while at the same time delivering high productivity, superb flexibility and an attractive total cost of ownership. Flexo printing still has a huge amount to offer the corrugated industry and this new machine shows that at Bobst we are standing strong in our commitment to flexo technology development.”

The second line announced was FFG 8.20 Expertline, a fully automated line for box production, integrating a Bobst FFG 8.20 Expert with automated loading and end of line palletisation.

Yves Bletterie, area sales manager for Bobst Lyon, said, “The FFG 8.20 Expert has been a huge success, with over 45 machines installed since we launched it three years ago. Now, with the Expertline, we can offer a complete end-to-end automated production line which can deliver 24,000 boxes an hour, be set in just one or two minutes and which needs just two operators to run. It really boost the productivity of users and makes even low margin boxes profitable.”

FFG 8.20 Expertline uses sequential order change (SOC) to achieve ultra-quick set-up times. Each part of the line, Expertloader, FFG 8.20 Expert and FFG Palletiser, begins its set-up of the next job while sheets from the previous order are still clearing its downstream units. The FFG 8.20 Expertline has already seen record achievements by early adopters, including 144,013 boxes produced in an eight hour shift with 10 order changes at a plant in Florida, and 71 setups in eight hours at a plant in Minnesota, producing 59,500 boxes.