In 1942, Bobst delivered the first folder-gluer, the PCR 382, to clients in Switzerland and France. The company is celebrating a historic eight decades of progress and development.
Pierre Binggeli, Head of Product Line Folder-gluers at Bobst has been with the company for over 20 years and witnessed important evolutions. He said, “We are very proud of what we achieved in those last 80 years. The human element will always be an important factor in the folding-gluing process, but today’s machines are much more productive, precise and flexible, while offering an ever-increasing level of automation, ease of use and operator security.”
Back in the day, the PCR 382 made it possible to achieve consistently high box quality on an industrial scale. Together with the brand-new Bobst AP900 die-cutter, it created a complete converting line for folding carton boxes. Today, Bobst boasts many of the customers who invested in the first folder-gluers on the market are still working with Bobst equipment.
Sauberlin & Pfeiffer SA member of the Autajon group based in Châtel-St-Denis, Switzerland, is one of those customers. Although the company is equipped with the latest generation of Bobst folder-gluers, the business owns an earlier PCR 382, which is still used to this day.
The company stated, “We appreciate the stability and reliability of Bobst machines, and they are extremely easy to operate. Setting up the PCR 382 is worlds apart from the setup of a modern folder-gluer.”
Changeovers have become a crucial stage in packaging production. In addition to delivering the quality and consistency that customers expect, Säuberlin & Pfeiffer has to deal with the fact that orders have become smaller and more frequent, putting focus on faster and shorter job runs.
“Being equipped with operator-friendly machines which are highly automated and allow to cut down changeover times, is therefore essential. Efficiency is key and reducing setup times is and will be an essential factor in staying competitive.”
Quality is crucial
Carlos Labori, CEO of Envase Gràfico Industrial SA (EGISA), based in Barcelona emphasises the the need for machines you can count on. The company was one of the first in Spain to invest in a Bobst folder-gluer in the 1960s. Their PCR 800 has since been replaced with newer Bobst technology, and EGISA still partners with Bobst to this day.
Labori said, “Of their many great qualities, we particularly appreciate their reliability, durability and modularity,” says Carlos Labori. Specialised in high-end packaging for prestigious brands, precision is a must. “Folding-gluing is at the end of the long process of designing and creating a box, and the moment when potential faults of previous production stages come to light.”
This stage of the production line is therefore essential and contributes an important part to his company’s target to add maximum value to each box. With limited space available and raising customer’s expectations, EGISA makes great use of the high level of automation and increased productivity and accuracy of the latest Bobst folder-gluers.
Labori is confident that his company will continue this long-standing relationship with Bobst. He added, “After acquiring a machine, we can always count on local Services to give us support when we need it – even if that means having a spare part delivered by taxi”.
Completing the folding-gluing line
In 1963, Bobst expanded its folder-gluer portfolio, introducing the first machine for processing corrugated board boxes, the Dynamic 130. This was the beginning of the development of a portfolio dedicated to corrugated and litho-laminated converting. Italian packaging converter, Fag Artigrafiche Spa, bought a DOMINO 145 in 1999 to improve the company’s gluing capacities. The very same DOMINO 145 is still used today, but Fag has since completed the machine park with several other folder-gluers.
In regard to the machine evolution, Mario Gambera, Production Manager in the Dogliani Plant, said “We could always rely on the precision of our Bobst folder-gluers, but the level of automation on the newer generation of machines has made the job for the operators much easier.”
The company owns two Masterfold 230, one of which is equipped with the brand-new Speedpack automatic packer, allowing the machine to run at maximum speed of up to 250 m/min and use the full potential of the folding-gluing line.
Binggeli concluded, “Although Bobst is celebrating the 80th anniversary of folder-gluers today, we are fully focused on what lies ahead and committed to the 4 pillars of the Bobst vision: connectivity, digitalisation, automation and sustainability. Today’s economic and ecological challenges are huge. But we are determined to continue to innovate, to stay ahead of the curve and engineer the future of the packaging industry.”