Digital direct printing on corrugated board enables shorter throughput times and increased versioning for shorter runs. HANS KOLB Wellpappe is accelerating its growth towards digital production with a CorruJET 170 from Koenig & Bauer Durst.
The CorruJET 170 for digital direct printing on corrugated board represents a significant part of KOLB's extensive investments in recent years and is the centrepiece of the company's digital strategy. At the new site built specifically for this purpose near the group's headquarters in Memmingen, Bavaria, the machine delivers high-resolution digital printing with production speeds of up to 5,000 sheets per hour. It can also handle formats of up to 1,700 × 1,300 mm and achieves a print resolution of 1,200 × 600 dpi.
„There is no substrate in the KOLB Group that the CorruJET 170 cannot print on. It doesn't matter whether the substrate surface is coated or uncoated or whether it is brown paper. Flexibility and print quality are outstanding and uncoated papers are not overcoated. This is a very innovative, highly automated solution with non-stop feeding and stacking, even for mass production. This level of quality could not previously be achieved by conventional technologies.“ Sebastian Fromm, Production Manager at KOLB Digital Solutions
The variety of products that can be printed is high. Even if the print runs become smaller, the number of variants will continue to increase in the future. This will lead to greater product diversification and open up new opportunities for the company. Sebastian Fromm: „Some orders are about the printing of only 500 sheets. It only takes six minutes to complete. But the machine can also Orders with over 20,000 sheets print. The set-up costs are minimal and independent of the print run. This means that the printing costs remain the same for every sheet.“
Complete digital solution for Kolb
Another advantage of the CorruJET 170 exists in the Use of food-safe colours, which is essential for the packaging market. The formulation of Koenig & Bauer's water-based inks for the CorruJET 170 complies with the requirements of Swiss Ordinance, EuPIA and the Nestle Ink List and is produced entirely in accordance with GMP.
The CorruJET 170 is now part of the portfolio of the joint venture company founded in 2019 Koenig & Bauer Durst. Robert Stabler, Managing Director of Koenig & Bauer Durst, says: „The need for fast, automated, reliable and agile printing systems in a fast-moving world where change is the only constant has never been greater. Meeting brand requirements with rapid shifts in demand requires a complete digital solution, which we deliver in a partnership approach.“
Source: Kolb Group
