Finishing Equipment
Eskotakes digital finishing efficiency to the next level
Innovations improve machine uptime and enable better control over device operation
and milling tables is presented in a new and simplified platform choice, complete with a collection of fully integrated soſtware solutions. Esko has engaged with dozens of its
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customers and non-customers for a deep analysis of their production processes in the short run finishing market (sign making, displays and paperboard packaging converting). That analysis shows a clear overall demand for more output and control, so companies are able to better meet customer deadlines and realise higher operating margins and improved ease of use. Frank Adegeest, R&D director digital finishing, explains: “Our customers support brands and retailers in their go-to-market processes with the production of in-store signage and free-standing displays. The growing number of product variations has led to a similar growth in variation of signs and displays. “Suppliers of digital large format flatbed
printing presses have responded to these changing market needs with significantly improved press throughput. The result is that digital finishing now risks being the production bottleneck.”
sko introduces a fully enhanced digital finishing offering. The Kongsberg line of cutting, creasing
SIMPLIFIED PLATFORM CHOICE Esko has streamlined and improved its Kongsberg table portfolio to help customers more easily identify the systems that best suit their needs, including predefined and fully upgradable configurations. Customers can choose from two primary families – Kongsberg X and Kongsberg C – each having a range of table sizes and configurations. These two distinct product families give
customers a clear and simple choice between the greatest flexibility for versatile and creative jobs (Kongsberg X), or the best productivity for efficient production runs (Kongsberg C). Kongsberg X offers the flexibility of upgrading
to add more cutting, creasing and milling tools as the business needs develop. Kongsberg C is the number one choice for short run production, building on the existing Kongsberg C line, which has been extended with smaller table sizes. Productivity, automation and operations management software are available to both table families, beginning with an entry-level system that has an upgrade path that will keep pace with growth over time.
INCREASING PRODUCTION THROUGHPUT Today’s customers are running a larger number of smaller orders through their operations. Machine setup required between jobs is one of the biggest sources of non-value-added time in the production process: the machine is not producing while knives are changed and tools are being configured. The new Auto Tool Adjust on Kongsberg tables uses camera inspection and digital image processing to adjust the tool in the machine at the start of each job. When a new job requires a different tool, Auto Tool Adjust automates setting up that tool for the selected substrate. This smart tool adjustment makes changeover less complex and much faster.
One of the main innovations behind the Auto Kongsberg Auto Tool Adjust 26 June 2016
Tool Adjust is the integration of a complete materials database. This bundles decades of
The Esko Kongsberg X20 with operator station
The Esko Kongsberg C24 with operator station
digital finishing expertise. The operator gets expert advice from the system on the selection and setup of tools and knives when setting up the job. Using this information takes guesswork out of the finishing production; the risk of damaging expensive materials and quality
variations is drastically reduced. “Where previously changing over tools for
different substrates could take up to half an hour; it now takes minutes,” Adegeest confirms. “This automation is a key requirement in short run production: it improves throughput and therefore margins. We measured that operators need 30 per cent less time to set up a job, which improves machine throughput more than 10 per cent.”
BETTER ESTIMATING PROTECTS MARGINS Esko understands from its customers that margins on short run digital print work are tightening. When a job is estimated and quoted, it is important to know how long it will take to produce. The new Kongsberg Estimating software module allows packaging, signage and display designs to be prepared, and production estimates are generated automatically, based on production metadata such as substrate type and thickness. Esko has integrated its Kongsberg tables with
its workflow automation software, Automation Engine. Its Device Manager gives better control over finishing production; work in progress and the status and queues of all connected devices are clearly visualised on screen. The software determines optimal sheet nesting to increase production capacity. Operators use an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to prioritise table queues, insert rush jobs and even balance workloads between tables. Adegeest adds: “Esko’s digital cutting software,
integrated with Kongsberg tables, takes digital finishing to the next level. It gives customers better control over their digital finishing operation and unlocks capacity of the cutting tables while taking critical tasks away from operators, making them more efficient and less error-prone. This is packaging simplified and sign and display simplified at its best.”
www.esko.com www.convertermag.co.uk
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