The latest solutions and strategic partnerships announced by Bobst during drupa 2024 will help shape the future of the packaging world. The aim of the Swiss manufacturer is to contribute to a new era in packaging where the entire production line is connected, enabling seamless end-to-end workflows.
“We are fulfilling our industry vision ‘to shape the future of the packaging world’ based on the pillars of connectivity, digitalisation, automation, and sustainability,” said Jean-Pascal Bobst, CEO, Bobst Group. “Our solutions empower printers and converters to embrace digitalisation while advancing towards a more sustainable future. We are proud to engage with industry leaders, forge new partnerships, and chart a course towards continued innovation and progress.”
The latest updates to the dynamic, cloud-based digital platform BOBST Connect are set to enhance productivity. Notably, the equipment monitoring feature has undergone a significant upgrade, offering more comprehensive data insights than ever before. Additionally, the performance management feature provides detailed information on equipment, shift and job performance, and energy consumption, thereby optimising sustainability and cost.
In the packaging sector, BOBST is taking connectivity and digitalisation to the next level by enabling a closed-loop workflow ecosystem from pdf to twin pdf to boost productivity, ease of use and contribute to sustainability.
For labels, the new cloud-based Digital Front End (DFE) 3.0 was showcased for the first time to the public and will be commercially available later in the year. It enables access to real-time data, resources and workflow templates anywhere, at any time. Colour management can be managed centrally and shared in the cloud, and its web-based interface supports multiple users across multiple sites.
BOBST also launched a cloud-based certified substrate library in BOBST Connect, which allows converters to access up-to-date BOBST certified material lists to fast-track substrate calibration.
The DIGITAL MASTER 55 is the new all-in-one digital printing and converting platform tailored for the folding carton industry, opening up new possibilities for short-to-mid-size runs, and drastically increasing opportunities with short lead times and high product quality.
Combining printing, embellishment, quality control, and die-cutting inline at 100 mpm, the DIGITAL MASTER 55 ensures the shortest time to market (even offering same-day delivery) and the best Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) among printing and converting solutions.
By enabling just-in-time production, this all-in-one solution minimises the need for large stocks and inventories. This platform, which features full inline and automated printing adjustment capabilities and quality inspection, is ideal for runs up to 6,000 B1 equivalent sheets, where it can significantly reduce production time by up to 80% and reduce costs on short runs while eliminating waste logistics and downtime required for traditional production processes.
In addition, BOBST has launched a new version of its flagship flatbed die-cutter the MASTERCUT 165 PER. Able to handle corrugated board and folding carton equally well, the machine delivers perfect batches or pallets of blanks thanks to its novel Dual Stream system. A new carbon gripper bar enables an increased running speed of up to 7,500 sheets per hour, while in-line quality control with automatic waste ejection delivers zero-fault packaging.
In flexible packaging, BOBST’s extended colour gamut (oneECG) technology used for gravure printing has been fully validated by Pantone. This means that the BOBST MASTER RS 6003 gravure printing solution is officially able to reproduce the Pantone library within a required level of accuracy – giving customers complete peace of mind.
In the narrow-mid-web sector BOBST has updated ACCUCHECK with major productivity improvements and new automation features. Inspection improvements include automatic quality inspection setup for every job, and job queue synchronisation ensuring zero setup time. This eliminates the bottleneck for quality control setup, meaning customers can inspect every single job without any extra time or effort. This feature is completely unique in the industry.
Calibration improvements include a new colour uniformity feature; the automated process for all colours now takes a fraction of the previous time, saving several hours. Meanwhile, the advanced colour-to-colour registration now performs complete calibration in just 15 minutes, while another new feature enhances automatic nozzle compensation to include deviated nozzles in addition to missing nozzles.
A new generation of UV digital inks
Thalia ink is a new generation of UV digital inks designed to meet the highest standards in ink compliance. They are TPO free, and compliant with major regulations including REACH and EuPIA GMP. BOBST Thalia inks are without any CMRs (carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxins) and are compliant with the latest Swiss Ordinance announced in February 2024. Customers can be assured that they are using inks compliant with the current and upcoming regulations without compromising on print quality. In addition, the new ink set has better resistance performance and improved colour gamut.
Caption:
Peter Woods, Business Director – Product Line Labels at BOBST, and Peter Williams, Technical Sales Manager, Print & Pack
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