With a VISIONCUT 106 LER from BOBST, Bernholz Verpackungen raised its die-cutting department to a new level of quality at the beginning of 2016. At the same time, this investment has created capacity for new customers in sectors that place similarly high demands on their service providers, such as the cigarette and confectionery industries.
Bernholz Verpackungen traditionally works for the cigarette and confectionery industries. The company sees particular growth potential for itself in packaging for pharmaceutical and cosmetic products as well as food supplements: „We are moving into the market for Premium products. Our entire process is consistently geared towards this,“ says Managing Director Mark A. Hoffmann firmly. The latest investment in a VISIONCUT 106 LER automatic blanking press from BOBST with automatic depanelling also fits in with this philosophy. „Ultimately, our customers measure us by the quality that we produce for them.“
In a state-of-the-art, spacious conference room at the company in Bad Salzuflen, countless variations of packaging are on display, which Bernholz Verpackungen typically produces for European manufacturers of cigarettes and tobacco as well as high-quality chocolates. The message is clear: if you need run-of-the-mill packaging and only look at prices when selecting suppliers, this is certainly not the right place for you.
Next step in further development
„Since commissioning the VISIONCUT 106 LER at the beginning of 2016, we have been able to produce top-quality blanks more easily and efficiently than ever before,“ says Hoffmann, summarising his experience with the new flatbed die-cutter from BOBST. „This machine has also become a cornerstone of our production and delivery capability,“ adds Torsten Mauk, who, as an authorised signatory, is responsible for the technical equipment. In the cigarette industry in particular, delivery times have become steadily shorter over the years. „Today, we print our customers“ packaging in 3B format on high-performance machines with up to eight colour and two coating units in a single pass. By investing in the new VISIONCUT, we have upgraded our die-cutting shop and at the same time created the capacity to acquire new customers and further develop our company."
With its modern design, the VISIONCUT 106 LER blends seamlessly into the overall impression.
„Ultimately, it is our machine operators who produce and continuously improve our quality. As the management, we give them every opportunity to do so. Among other things, we invest in the latest production technology and ensure a pleasant working environment,“ says Mauk, summarising the philosophy behind this image.
And, of course, this should also be recognisable to customers when they visit the company, which is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and HACCP, among others, for supplier audits.
Ideal for materials to be processed
„The VISIONCUT 106 LER runs absolutely reliably, even with thinner materials and sheets with a large number of panels, even at the highest production speeds. Our machine operators do not have to supervise it constantly. That was a decisive performance feature of this die cutter for us. Such jobs are the focus of our production,“ says Mauk, emphasising the stability of the process, which is due in part to the intelligent sheet feeder. Smart Feeder, This is thanks to the platen with cam drive and the double cam gripper drive. Bernholz Verpackungen primarily uses the machine to process GC1, GC2 and GZ board as well as GD board with basis weights of up to 600 g/m2 and sheet formats of up to 760 x 1,060 mm. Paper grades from 75 g/m2 form the lower end of the spectrum.
„When die-cutting, we normally run at speeds of over 7,000 sheets per hour with this die-cutter. Compared to the old machines, this corresponds to an increase in performance of a good 1,000 sheets per hour,“ reports Mauk from his day-to-day work. The significant time saving is particularly noticeable with large orders.
Fast order changes
In addition, thanks to the improved ergonomics and user-friendliness, the new machine can be set up very quickly and ramped up to maximum performance. For example, the Platen printing with the VISIONCUT 106 LER conveniently via the CUBE control system set. Thanks to the Quick Change concept, the cutting dies and counter cutting plates are automatically locked and unlocked at the touch of a button. „This is a huge relief for our machine operators, especially when preparing sheets with many uses. With cigarette boxes, for example, they take the die-cutting and creasing plates out of the machine several times to adjust the position here and there by tenths of a millimetre,“ explains Mauk. After all, the quality of the cartons must not deviate even slightly from the high customer requirements. Second choice would simply be unthinkable with packaging for tobacco or confectionery.
Automatic locking and unlocking is achieved simply by pressing a button. No special tools are required for set-up. What's more, the new die-cutter can be converted from blanking to full-sheet delivery and back again in a matter of moments. Bernholz Verpackungen has thus gained further flexibility.
All options at your fingertips
Including the new machine, the packaging plant now has three die-cutters from BOBST. Theoretically, one of the two existing SP 104 and SP 104-ER die-cutters could have been scrapped. However, for back-up reasons alone, both machines remain in operation. „We can also fire from all cylinders at peak times if necessary,“ says Mauk. Apart from that, the company needs the additional capacity to be able to talk to demanding new customers seriously. As part of the Maintenance Plus preventive maintenance programme, the two existing punching presses were refurbished by BOBST in summer 2016.
„We can use our stripping and blanking tools on all die-cutters from BOBST and are therefore correspondingly flexible,“ says Mauk, addressing another aspect that played a role in the selection of the new die-cutter. Only the die-cutting tools for the VISIONCUT 106 LER were newly manufactured by Bernholz Verpackungen. With the commissioning of the new machine, productivity has also increased further in automatic blanking. In addition, the die-cutter stacks the blanks perfectly on the pallets after automatic separation.
Perfect register when embossing
The VISIONCUT 106 LER also impresses with its high register accuracy for embossing jobs. Its optical side register with its highly sensitive camera precisely aligns all sheets using either printed register marks, the sheet edges or the print images. Normally, Bernholz Verpackungen works with register marks printed on the side of the sheets. And especially with Embossing and creasing work lays the new Full sheet storage the sheets with unprecedented precision.
„There are not too many suppliers in the market for automatic punching presses. The experience we have gained with BOBST technology over decades has clearly spoken in favour of continuing to work with this manufacturer. This means that we also have the complete service from a single source,“ says Hoffmann, summarising key considerations in the investment decision.
The partnership with BOBST is also a good fit because both companies focus on quality. „The VISIONCUT 106 LER is the fifth machine we have purchased from BOBST. Overall, it is our sixth machine from this manufacturer.“ For image reasons, Bernholz Verpackungen also benefits from having invested in the latest technology from BOBST. Hoffmann: „That's why we are also presenting our new machine on our website.“
[infotext icon]The Bernholz Verpackungen GmbH is an owner-managed manufacturer of high-quality, offset-printed cardboard packaging and offset-printed wet-glue labels. The company has more than 50 years of experience in the printing and packaging industry and supplies its customers with blanks throughout Europe. As Full-service provider offers existing customers a complete range of services, from the ongoing development of their packaging to production and complete logistics. Following a generational change, the company has been dynamically led into the future by managing partners Mark A. Hoffmann and Reiner Krug since 2012[/infotext].
