> 08 .02.2010
HEIDELBERG: THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATED PACKAGING SOLUTION
A voyage throughout technology, where single solutions can be integrated into a single workflow, from consumer products up to converting and finishing machines through printing operations: all this can be seen by customers at the Print Media Center for packaging based in the Wiesloch-Waldorf plant of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG.
Hall 11, which was opened in 2007, is located inside the facilities of Heidelberg at Wiesloch, in an area dedicated to the manufacture of the models Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162, purposely designed for packaging printing. This area includes a large showroom focused on technological solutions suitable for the manufacture of packages, labels and special applications. Actually, when Heidelberg acquired, in 2004, the folding carton and corrugated board converting machines by Jagenberg, which enabled the German manufacturer to provide customers with complete solutions, the production of the above mentioned items became a need.
In Hall 11 three folding carton manufacturing lines are available for live demonstrations to the customers, who can carry out any type of trials with their own jobs and materials.
The Print Media Center, as Hall 11 inside the huge facilities of Heidelberg is called, is equipped with Speedmaster presses in formats 53x75cm up to 121x162 cm (which are the biggest ones), dedicated to paper converters.
As far as the prepress sector is concerned, two Ctp Suprasetter 105 and 162 are running. For die-cutting operations there are four die-cutters (models Varimatrix and Dymatrix), whilst folder-gluers (models Diana and Easygluer) are running in the folding-gluing sector.
All these machines are linked to one another by the new Prinect Packaging Workflow, along with automatic palletizers, loaders, stack turning devices, plastics pallets perfectly complying with the rules prescribed by the food packaging industry and logistics solutions aiming at improving the performance of these technologies and ensuring non-stop workflow. The showroom surface covers about 4,000 m2. In the pretty small town of Heidelberg –just 15 North of Wiesloch-Waldorf- there is also the “Print Media Academy”, a structure where operators are trained.
“This integrated solution can give considerable advantages to customers, starting from the concept of single supplier up to the simplification of everyday working operations, thanks to the use of machines which are linked to one another and managed by the Prinect software. The latter creates integrated logistics systems capable of enhancing and exploiting machine productivity in the best possible way”, says Killian Renschler, Product Management Folding Carton Segment.
The packaging and label market is increasingly growing and Heidelberg is aiming at consolidating and strengthening its position as a leading supplier for these two sectors in order to reach 25% of the total turnover with the sales of packaging technologies.
FROM PLANNING TO FINISHED BOXES
Everything starts from the Prinect software which now is available also for packaging, thanks to its special functions capable of meeting the needs of the sector. The expertise achieved in the field of commercial printing has been widened with a range of modules suitable for the planning and management of packaging jobs, from prepress up to finishing.
All the information concerning the order is managed from a single control panel, which communicates in real time with each machine linked. It also registers and stores all data being employed for future orders and it represents, above all, an effective means to control production costs.
These data can be stored also to carry out last minute’s orders to meet urgent requirements of important customers without compromising planning. As a matter of fact, this will enable you to optimize the management of similar jobs, which may require the same colours, thus reducing times and costs.
According to the packaging printers’ needs and to the type of jobs being carried out, many company managing software systems can be interfaced with Prinect, including data coming from CAD and from graphics programmes, which proves the great flexibility of this solution.
The system configuration can be customized according to the printer’s requirements.
The Prinect version dedicated to packaging offers standard setting up systems for the box lay-out preparation and for labels, as well as integrating structural patterns by Fefco and Ecma.
The programme is operator-friendly and intuitive, being equipped with automatic tools suitable for positioning box gluing flaps, for 3D project displaying and for calculating the best printing results.
The lay-out can be supplied by graphics agencies in PDF or Illustrator in order to develop the image on a well defined and gauged unit. Another useful function highlights the score cut slitting and folding zones, from where the boxes are conveyed to the die-cutter and folder-gluer. As far as the quality control is concerned, the Print Media Center is equipped with the latest controlling systems, starting from prepress which can be carried out by means of Prinect Color Assistant suitable for the pre-selection of colour profiles. Prinect Color Assistant is very useful when you have to print packages with special colours. On the press you can continue to check the colour thanks to Prinect Impress Control, a video-inspection system controlling printing flaws by comparing the printed sheet to the PDF file or to the printed sheet being accepted by customer.
Once the lay-out setting up operations are over, the file is ready to switch to CTP, the Suprasetter 145/162/190 fitted with automatic loader and capable of engraving and developing 35 plates an hour. Thanks to the integrated production process, all the most important data concerning the number of plates or square meters already developed are available in real time.
The next step is the press room, where the operator will be able to display on the control panel the order being printed, after receiving both the data and the plates coming from the previous processing stages.
The Speedmaster XL 105 has been very successful among commercial and packaging printers, since it can print a wide range of substrates at a maximum speed of 18,000 copies an hour.
A non-stop automatic loader, short washing times, quick ink changeover and non-stop material handling from and to the machine are crucial factors, especially for packaging printers. In order to upgrade the printed job in-line, the machine can be fitted with a UV system, a dual coater and the Foilstar unit for cold lamination.
The large format machines Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162 are based on the technological platform of the model XL 105 and are suitable for meeting the packaging printing requirements of the food, electronics and toy sectors, whose lay-outs can be reproduced more easily in these formats.
An integrated production process not only enables you to obtain high quality consistency in repeatable jobs at reduced costs, but also to ensure the same consistency throughout the run.
As far as printing upgrading is concerned, which is an increasingly demanded property to enhance packaging appeal on sales-point shelves, Heidelberg can provide special technologies, know-how and expertise in the manufacture of these particular machines, thus enabling the printer to develop really added-value printed sheets.
In the Print Media Center a Speedmaster XL 105 Duo is available to customers. Its offset printing unit is integrated into a flexo system. This perfect combination enables you to obtain a beautiful saturated white shade in a single passage.
Special coating effects on black areas can be obtained with the gold and silver coating procedure being carried out with this machine. Foilstar is an additional unit being employed for the cold application of foils directly onto the press turret.
Along with UV coating and conventional inks, this system enables you to give labels and boxes special visual and tactile effects.
Once FoilStar is removed, the printing unit, onto which the module has been applied, can be printed again with offset.
After the printing stage, the die-cutters Dymatrix and Varymatrix are used. These machines are based on upper die-cutting technology, which ensures better quality results.
There are also the folder-gluers Easygluer, which are the simplest machines, and the models Diana, which are the most complete and performing ones, being equipped with automatic loader, quality controlling systems with faulty box ejection unit, collecting unit at the line end with automatic filling, as well as with an automatic handling and palletizing unit for with working speed of 200,000 boxes an hour. The models Dymatrix and Diana can be integrated into the non-stop production process.
In order to help Heidelberg’s customers throughout the world, a remote assistance service is available. This service can intervene directly from the factory on any machine linked. It is free of charge during the warranty period and, in all other cases, it will be paid for according to customized agreements.
“Thanks to our remote interventions, we can solve 70% of electric problems on presses, and 90% of the problems related to prepress equipment. This service is also available for die-cutters and folder-gluers. The excellent results, deriving from our remote interventions, enable our customers to save, since they don’t have to call a technician to solve their often trivial problems”, says Edgar Schmidt of the on-line customer assistance service.
While concluding our visit throughout this “technological paradise”, we realized that, though not all customers will perhaps rely upon a single machine supplier, in any case, this solution will be the best one both for Heidelberg and for equipment manufacturers. Of course, the availability of a structure hosting a whole production cycle being linked on-line, capable of testing production plants and showing the functioning of a fully integrated workflow, represents an added-value created by Heidelberg, a leading company in the field of technological innovation, aiming at providing customers with excellent assistance services.
The fact that an enterprise like this has devoted itself to the packaging and label printing sector, also proves that it is important to take up the challenge in those fields that can offer something different from standardized products and from the competition’s.
“Packaging is still a privileged sector in the printing market. This is proven by the fact that Hall 11 in our factory is the most dynamic one, despite the crisis. Thanks to numerous live demonstrations, carried out by our customers in this structure, our initiative has been successful. The latter is based on the close collaboration with our customers, whom we want to support by means of our technology and know-how. Offering integrated solutions will enable you to exploit machine potentials in the best possible way and to take advantage of the benefits of a single workflow.
Our strategy aims at implementing those sectors enabling you to create added value for your company business. Packaging and labelling are growing sectors, where we will be certainly present in the coming years”, concludes Kilian Renschler
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