Page 17 - Print21 November-December 2022

Cover Story
A P-Stacker installed at the
output of the folding machine
will take the stacks of signatures
and automatically set them down
on pallets. Besides safeguarding excellent process stability at high speeds, the robot also takes care
of heavy physical work that would otherwise be left to staff. This means employees can apply their skills to other production tasks instead.
P Stacker – Signature
unloading via Robotics
As of today, the operator of one
of the Peak Performance folding machines in industrial signature folding, moves up to seven tons of paper per shift from the delivery
to the pallet. This is equivalent to the weight of a large, full-grown elephant. The P- stacker increases the productivity and profitability
of the folding machine, as it can produce at full speed, without interruption. Personnel costs fall and the attractiveness of the workplace increases. This makes it easier to recruit skilled personnel for the finishing department in the future.
With the Stahlfolder P-Stacker, postpress is taking another major step towards operator-independent productivity, and its demand has exceeded expectations, with the factory being fully booked until mid-2023 for delivery. Together with the Stahlfolder TH/KH 82-P and autonomous signature production, the result is a coherent overall concept in line with Heidelberg's Push to Stop philosophy.
Total solution
Heidelberg's total solution includes postpress packaging. Heidelberg offers products along the complete value chain of packaging production: starting with Prinect software solutions for structural design, digital workflow with solutions for colour management, nesting, layout, separation and rendering, so offering a complete software suite for
converters. Heidelberg says it excels with its CX and XL range of presses in complex applications for high-end folding cartons, as well as in efficient manufacturing. For finishing, it has worked for eight years exclusively with products from MK Masterwork. That gives it access to more than
20 products for a wide range of finishing applications like foil- stamping, die-cutting, inspection and folding carton gluing.
Beyond the products, Heidelberg also maintains the largest service network of any supplier to the folding carton industry. However,
its system service offerings go far beyond the traditional support after an incident has happened. Video
Call is one of its latest products, it enables the service engineers to look directly into a machine for a live diagnosis. It might even be able to advise a workaround to keep your machine in production. Another highlight of its service products is “Predictive Monitoring.” This service detects anomalies in Heidelberg printing presses before malfunctions and related downtime occur – with the help of big data analysis and its experts it can plan countermeasures, before the worst case is happening.
Postpress package
Once printed, a carton needs to be die-cut and processed on a folder gluer. In many converting operations, the finishing side has not enjoyed the same level of investment activity as the printing side. It seems that both die-cutting and folding gluing haven’t moved in several years – yet nothing could be further from the truth: options that were once considered high-end only are today available
in more affordable segments (for instance auto non-stop feeding with a pallet logistics system, optical sheet alignment, and even the blanking station itself). Standardised tools and quick-lock functions in all stations are speeding up make-readies.
Another option is to combine
Above
Peak performance: Stacking on the Stahlfolder
TH 82-P
Below
Double the productivity: Polar cutting system 200 F V1
two processes in one machine – for instance hot-foiling and die-cutting. Heidelberg and MK Masterwork offer the Duopress with two cutting stations for this requirement.
The first platen station allows,
for instance, for hot-foiling or embossing across the complete blank; the second station is used for die-cutting and creasing; stripping and blanking stations follow. This reduces inventory and speeds up significantly the manufacturing of high-end folding cartons.
For folder gluers, the machine development has been one of specialisation on the one hand and efficient high-speed manufacturing on the other hand. For pharma cartons, an inline braille system
plus inspection helps to meet all compliance regulations, including 100 per cent braille and print inspection. Luxury cartons can now be finished in one pass on a folding carton gluer, thanks to a turning station.
And for high-speed straight line carton manufacturing, Heidelberg offers the complete logistics system around the folder gluer, including robotic de-palletising and feeding to automatic blank packing in several rows and layers. The packers can even be equipped with a carton erector, tie-sheet inserter, a labelling system and a palletising robot – completing the fully automatic features.
Complete line-up
With the successful launch of the Mastermatrix in 2021, Heidelberg now has a complete product line-up available – for shorter runs with lower volumes all the way to its peak performance machines. Testimony to the appeal is that the last 12 months have been the strongest year ever in order intake for Heidelberg’s postpress packaging products. 21
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