The name Fiesta Espanola – Die cutting without limits – and the buffet gave a Spanish flavor to the 7th MM Symposium held by Mayr-Melnhof Karton in mid-May. After excursions to Mönchengladbach, Offenbach and Lausanne this year’s symposium took place again at Cito System GmbH and its Seminar und Training Center in Schwaig near Nuremberg. Apart from the organizer Mayr Melnhof and host Cito, two other companies Iberica and Linhardt Stanzformen also took part.
"It is becoming increasingly clear to everyone involved in the supply chain that optimum processing and development for our customers, the folding box manufacturers, and also the end users of these folding boxes, can only function effectively if we work together and take our mutual interests into account," said Gunter Klimpel from MM in Fronleiten in his welcoming address as organizer. Joint information and presentations by suppliers involved in the folding box production process was therefore natural.
The folding box market is one of the markets that looks "suicidal" although not absolutely fatal since folding boxes are no more expensive today, if not cheaper than they were 10 or 15 years ago and even the board used for their manufacture is still at the same price level as then!
Jürgen Marien, CEO of Cito System GmbH and host of the event also stressed to the guests in his welcoming address that particularly in economically challenging times, intelligent solutions are called for. The winners will not be the companies who always try to use the cheapest materials and tools, but those who perfect their processes and have not neglected to include their entire production costs in the cost equation. He promised that Cito will in future continue to focus great attention on research and development and that its strategic line will be to keep providing the printing and packaging market with intelligent and ground-breaking products and technologies in the future too.
Carton production with flying change
In the practical demonstrations on an Iberica JRK 105, the capabilities of this Spanish-made sheet die cutting machine were exhibited, and new embossing, stripping and blank separating techniques were also presented. With a MCM 500 g/m2 from the MM Hirschwang plant a 3-blank tray pack was cut. After setting up for a new order the machine then processed a material from the MM factory in Frohnleiten, Topcolor 300 g/m2.
An 8-blank shape (folding box with embossing) was cut. This used new technology from Linhardt Stanzformen of Dietenhofen near Nuremberg. This is a die with fitted embossing punches that can be changed during production without effort and with minimal machine downtime. The special register system enables exact positioning and effortless changing of the embossing punch in the cutting die.
Die cutting & embossing with Linbord
Arthur Schmidgall on behalf of Linbord dealt in particular with the substrate material Linbord® which was developed by Karl Linhardt Stanzformen GmbH with the aim of achieving improved dimensional stability of dies compared with the conventional wooden base plates. Linbord consists of a natural fiber fabric that is pressed with epoxy resin with the application of heat.
The chief advantage of this base plate is that like the well known multiplex plywood base plates it can be processed with a CO2 laser. Otherwise it has similar compressive strength during embossing as the aluminum embossing base plates. This is absolutely essential especially when used in conjunction with steel counterplates when embossing and cutting in a single operation. No aluminum base whatsoever is needed with this technology which gives the die greater strength and dimensional stability.
Thanks to the "Prägefix" embossing system developed by Linhardt, motifs can be inserted in the die or changed very quickly and reproducibly and with great accuracy of register. The installation aid is of purely optical design and functions without measurements or micrometer adjustments. Linhardt intends to say more about this at the FachPack/PrintPack this year in Nuremberg.
RSP Inline in offset machine attracts attention worldwide
In the further course of the demonstration the inline production of a presentation folder on an offset printing machine was also demonstrated. In this case a GC2 of 230 g/m2 from the MM-factory in Baiersbronn was used. The RSP Inline Finishing System provides what is certainly the cheapest alternative for print further processing.
According to Jürgen Marien, 750 RSP systems have been installed throughout the world since the system was first presented in 2000. The system is used for perforations, die cutting and grooving processes in the jobbing printing sector, and in some cases is already deployed for the production of folding boxes and presentation folders. For this purpose the system has proved to be a low-priced alternative to processing on platens or on an OHC.
Apart from the technical aspects, Jürgen Marien also dealt very specifically in his presentation with the cost-benefit effect of the technologies and materials used. Using practical examples he demonstrated how enormous amounts can be saved by selecting the right tools and equipment. One example used for this calculation was the type Cito RE grooving device, a version with integrated protective film. When using this grooving device, additional abhesion in the sheet travel direction is unnecessary. According to the costing example presented, a saving of about 12,000 euros per year and machine is possible with an average of three orders per day in 2-shift operation.
The costing comparison between Inline with RSP versus traditional further processing with OHC was also highly interesting. In this case it was demonstrated that even with a single order with a print run of 28,000 sheets a saving of about 1200 euros can be achieved. For larger runs the savings are commensurately higher; this results in an average payback time of less than three weeks for an RSP system.
New presentation opportunity for Iberica
Since October 1998 Cito System has also made its existing Training Center available for this seminar. In the first four years Bobst autoplates were used. Since the end of 2002 there has been an agreement with Bernhardt Maschinen, the representatives of the Italian-Spanish machine manufacturer Iberica which has provided a JRK 105 die cutting machine for training sessions and demonstrations. The extended machine pool also includes a Heidelberg Speedmaster 74/2 and a Polar/Mohr 115-E as well as various CAD programs and line processing equipment.
On the first day MM and Cito welcomed about 100 visitors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The second day was set aside for Spanish speaking guests from Europe and South America. All in all, a total of about 150 visitors attended the event which was a good result in view of the many cost savings measures in place at many board processors which also covers travel for business and further training.
The 8th MM Symposium will be held under the motto "From board to cartoning – performance-oriented packaging" and thereby extends the radius of the supply chain. It will be held on 11/12 November 2003 at Bosch in Waiblingen.
Hosting an MM Symposium again: Jürgen Marien (Cito System) at the microphone, on his left Gunter Klimpel from Mayr-Melnhof Karton of Fronleiten and his service team.
A new feature of the Training and Technology Center at Cito is an Iberica sheet die cutting machine on which the demonstrations were performed during the Symposium
PAPIER+FOLIEN No. 07-08, 04 August 2003, page 032