Thimm invests in further digital printing system

Kornelius Thimm, CEO of the Thimm Group, sees the expansion of digital preprint as a supplement to flexographic printing as a key competitive advantage. In the current retail landscape, products need to be available quickly and flexibly, customisable and yet cost-effective. This also has an impact on packaging management.

„In view of the increasing requirements of our customers, we at Thimm have set ourselves major goals: no lead times for the production of packaging and displays (no lead time), no minimum order quantities (no MOQ), no additional costs in the supply chain and all of this in a sustainable manufacturing process. We have already achieved a lot with our first digital printing system in Ilsenburg“

Kornelius Thimm, CEO of the Thimm Group

In digital printing Realisation of a wide variety of print images without additional costs in the pre-press stage can be produced. Thanks to precise production, resources are saved and unnecessary waste is avoided. Thimm has already been able to reduce lead times by 75 per cent and minimum order quantities by 90 per cent.

With the second digital printing system, we are going a decisive step further. It will in our Alzey plant directly next to the existing corrugator. This further reduces the lead time by up to two days, as the transport time for the printed rolls is eliminated,“ says Kornelius Thimm. In order to create space for the system, which is over 50 metres long, extensive preparatory measures for the installation are being implemented at the Alzey plant.

Installation will then begin in the third quarter of 2023, which willhe commissioning and inauguration is planned for the first quarter of 2024. Together with the necessary peripheral work, the total investment for the new printing press is around 20 million euros.

With the acquisition of the second digital web press, the Thimm Group is consistently pursuing its digitalisation strategy. The goal: „We want to drive forward the digitalisation of the entire supply chain, even beyond the packaging industry. To do this, we need relevant data as well as digital and intelligently networked processes - from the printed paper roll to packaging production, retail and the end consumer,“ says Kornelius Thimm.

The printed packaging acts as an information carrier, as it is the only one that runs through the entire supply chain. At the centre of this vision is digital printing, which makes it possible to print an infinite number of consecutive codes on the paper rolls. These codes provide relevant information at various points in the supply chain: For example, they control the further processing of the paper on the machines in the packaging plant, provide data on the sale of the product or offer further information for end consumers as a QR code.

„Our digitalisation vision is the “Internet of Packs' - the networking of machines or objects in packaging management, similar to the Internet of Things. Every pack has an individual code and can therefore be traced throughout the entire supply chain. The new digital printing system brings us a decisive step closer to our vision."

Kornelius Thimm

Source: Thimm Group