Whether customised mass production or very short runs: Wellpack AG works „highly efficiently in cutting“, and Zünd's highly automated cutting technology plays a significant role in this.
23 November 2019
Corrugated board blanks (Image: Zünd)
The motto of Wellpack AG from Einsiedeln in Switzerland could be summarised as „Creative in finding solutions and efficient in packaging“. This slogan can now be complemented by the addition of „highly efficient cutting“. This is because the system packaging specialist now uses a fully automated Zünd cutting line. The centrepiece of the line is a Zünd G3 cutter.
Wellpack's packaging solutions are many things, but not off the peg. However, the company has mastered the Customised mass production as confidently as the development and production of Short runs. The most recent investment in highly automated systems has played a key role in this successful concept. Cutting technology from Zünd.
SME and corporate group at the same time
Today's Wellpack AG was founded in 1992 and has been one of 27 sister companies belonging to the Palm Group since 2000. The company can look back on an eventful Almost 100 years of history Founded in 1924 as a crate factory, it fell victim to a fire in 1948 and rose like a phoenix from the ashes in 1951 as Holz AG. An SME with the backing of a global corporation offers advantages, a fact that is also recognised by Andreas Kilchenmann, the Managing Director of Wellpack AG.
Andreas Kilchenmann, Managing Director of Wellpack AG, Einsiedeln (Switzerland) (Image: Zünd Systemtechnik AG)
„We can present ourselves to our customers as an SME or as a group. Certain major customers value our international footprint, while smaller customers prefer us as a medium-sized company,“ says Andreas Kilchenmann.
Display
That goes down well, Wellpack serves around 1,500 customers throughout Switzerland, many of which are active in the capital goods sector. „We develop and produce system and combination packaging with a very high degree of customisation for them,“ says the expert. Wellpack also supports customers from highly regulated areas such as the aviation industry or medical technology. They are confronted with increasing legal and regulatory requirements and their processes must be fully documented.
„With our state-of-the-art CAD systems, we can document the projects very well, which is an important argument for being able to serve these customers at all. The data workflow here is a Killer criterion. We work with the same software as our customers. We can import their CAD data directly and analyse it technically. at eye level communicate with them,“ explains Andreas Kilchenmann.
Wellpack is responding to ever shorter delivery times by investing in a fully automated cutting line, among other things. (Image: Zünd)
Customised mass production
What sounds like a contradiction in terms is no longer one. The packaging manufacturer knows how to offer mass production with economies of scale, high automation and attractive prices for the customer as well as customised products with individual costs. Large runs of several hundred thousand packs are no problem for Wellpack and its sister companies.
However, the focus is clearly on Small series with a high degree of customisation. The production environment is also geared towards this. This is what makes it possible to manufacture customised products according to industrial criteria: quickly, flexibly and economically.
„On average, we have a new order on a machine every three minutes, which would not be possible without Lean Production not even feasible. We can only remain competitive with optimised, lean and automated processes and a constant flow of materials,“ emphasises the boss.
Expansion of production capacities
The ever-shorter delivery times are also a constant challenge in the optimisation of the workflow. Wellpack counters this by continuously expanding its production capacities, among other things.
Recently, for example, a Zünd G3 cutter with BHS150 board handling system invested. The fully automatic material feed and removal in combination with the high-performance G3 cutter with increased throughput for foam board processing enables uninterrupted cutting of foam materials, corrugated and solid board with very short throughput times.
The powerful Zünd G3 cutter ( (Image: Zünd)
The finest material transport system
Its stacking height of 1.5 metres and the high degree of automation make the BHS150 material handling system unique. Entire raw material pallets can now be moved into the loading unit and stacked fully automatically.
This means a significant Less effort required for raw material handling. In addition, medium and large orders can now be processed fully automatically, even beyond the end of the working day. Machine running times can thus be extended and production costs reduced at the same time. The innovative removal unit with conveyor belt enables the web-free cutting of the corrugated board. This reduces the amount of stripping required, which further increases efficiency.
"The Automation in cutting is the real cost reducer. There is enormous potential here in terms of added value, which we can fully utilise thanks to the new Zünd G3 cutter in combination with the BHS150. With the Zünd cutting solution, we were able to realise the Expand production capacities by half“, summarises Andreas Kilchenmann.
[infotext icon]Zünd Systemtechnik AG, a globally active Swiss family business, specialises in digital cutting systems. Zünd stands for Swiss quality and is synonymous with precision, performance and reliability. Zünd has been designing, producing and marketing modular cutting systems since 1984 and is one of the world's leading manufacturers. [/infotext]
