Cutting Systems
Bindatex increases productivity by 20% and reduces lead times by a quarter
B
indatex, the UK’s leading provider of specialist process and cutting services, has taken a transformative step and increased productivity by 20% after adopting digital technology to capture, analyse and manage production data, as part of the Made Smarter scheme. Using Made Smarter’s digital transformation workshop to identify its challenges and potential solutions, Bindatex installed the Total Control Pro (TCP), a cloud- based production data capture system that enables the business to track products throughout the manufacturing process. The new system to enhance productivity was introduced after the company reconfigured its business in March in the wake of a government call for manufacturers to contribute to the fight against the Covid. It was able to change its production systems to die cut disks for filters for the manufacture of ventilators for the NHS.
Managing director Chris Lever says:
“After installing the TCP system and applying it to the critical narrow slitting line, Bindatex eliminated unplanned overtime and reduced our lead times. Before we introduced this system, our lead time from order to delivery was half the time of other larger companies in the sector. Now it can be just over four weeks. Overall, the system improved productivity by 20%.”
Bindatex has been cutting composites for
over 15 years and is the only company in the UK that can undertake precision slitting to widths as low as 1mm, which usually poses a challenge for composites cutting. The company is an approved supplier to major thermoplastic and thermoset composite manufacturers across the world. It is an ISO 9001 Certified company which specialises in the precision cutting of ‘difficult to cut’ materials. Bindatex constantly re-invests in machinery and processes to provide market leading composite formatting services.
Its customers include world-class material manufacturers and end users across composites, aerospace, automotive, marine, healthcare, energy and renewables, and consumer products. This year the company created a new division which specialises in slitting, sheeting and winding services to users of nonwovens, foils, films, coated fabrics, packaging materials and textiles.
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bindatex.com
Innovative world first with Fast Track A
bbey Labels has worked with MPS Systems to integrate a high-speed die-cutting module on its newest flexo press to increase efficiencies. UK printing company Abbey Labels supplies BRC grade and ISO 14001 approved labels to the food, beverage, cosmetics, industrial, security and pharmaceutical industries from its base in Bury St Edmunds. Its latest initiative sees the firm work closely with Dutch press manufacturer MPS Systems to develop a die-cutting solution that is truly speeding up production. Combining its own expertise with AB Graphic’s patented Fast Track Die and the latest flexo press technology from MPS is a world first. Chairman Tom Allum says: “I firmly believe that this press with this particular option is a real game-changer not only for us, but for the flexo industry.”
Abbey Labels had already fostered a successful partnership with MPS when investing in its two most recent flexo presses.
Now a new MPS EFS 340 flexo press with a Fast Track Die module has been installed at the company’s facility to bring savings in downtime and, thereby, costs. With a top speed of 150m/min and a repeat of up to 508mm, the new semi-rotary die-cutting module enables the speed of cutting to be more than doubled compared to conventional single-anvil semi-rotary systems. Not only does the Fast Track system offer faster cutting speed, it is also much quicker to change the die as the magnetic cylinder stays in place at all times. The new press is part of a major £1.1million three-phase investment programme undertaken by Abbey Labels over the past 18 months.
The first phase was the arrival of an AB Graphic Digicon 3 finishing line, last summer. The second phase involved expanding the flexo print department, where the MPS EFS 340 eight-colour press with Fast Track and traditional semi-rotary die-cutting now
L-R: Abbey Labels chairman Tom Allum and MPS’ Barry Pettit
stands, having been installed in February. The third phase is to extend the facility and reorganise to optimise the workflow throughout the whole operation. In addition to the 2018 acquisition of the 4,000sq ft unit next door, an extra 3,500sq ft space is being built onto the existing building to act as a warehouse for materials and other consumables, while the existing warehouse will become the finishing department.
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abbeylabels.co.uk 18 November 2020
convertermag.com
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