Announcing its goal of becoming the industry benchmark service provider for the packaging industry, Bobst presented its new focused vision for the future, along with a raft of innovations for drupa, at a recent press event. Held at the company’s headquarters in Mex, near Lausanne, it was attended by a collection of international journalists. By Neel Madsen.

Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst, who opened a printing supplies shop in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bobst Group has a presence in more than 50 countries, runs 11 production facilities in eight countries and employs over 5000 people around the world. The company recorded a consolidated turnover of CHF 1270 million for 2011 and is today headed up by Jean-Pascal Bobst, who is the fourth generation of the family. He took on the role of chief executive officer in 2009.

 

One vision

Having already devised a new business structure in 2010, which saw three main business units (BU) established (BU sheet-fed, BU web-fed and BU services), Bobst announced at the press event that it is rebranding the company in order to present a unified front under just one name. Over the years, the company has grown by adding new technologies mainly through acquisition. After consultation with both customers and the various subsidiary brands, these ‘names of yesterday’ are now being fully integrated under the Bobst name, and indeed under its brand new logo, as part of the company’s focus on lean management and efficient communication with its customers. For the foreseeable future, brand names such as Fischer & Krecke and Martin will be retained in the names of the various machines, but the long term vision is no doubt to simply market everything under the one brand.

 

Values

The press briefing took place in the newly built 4000 square metre Competence Centre, an impressive space, which has been designed to offer demonstrations and training for both existing and potential customers.

Mr Bobst gave an overview of the current state of the company and unveiled its plans for the future, which include a move into digital printing. He said, ‘We are working on a digital solution which will be launched in the near future, though not at drupa.’ Samples from the working prototype were shown, evidence that the company is serious about its dedication to provide its customer with everything they need for packaging printing.

He also spoke of the company’s firm belief in the value of training and how apprenticeships are a key success factor and part of its long term strategy. At Mex, some 370 apprentices are currently on a three to four year educational programme, which consists of both theoretical and practical training, and other sites of the group, such as Shanghai, Pune in India, Itatiba in Brazil and Fischer & Krecke in Bielefeld, Germany, share the same concept.

Consolidation of its Swiss sites at Mex above Lausanne is very much part of the company’s lean programme and CHF 180 million was allocated in 2010 to project TEAM (‘Tous Ensemble à Mex’). The former site in Prilly has now been sold, and at the same time, the spare parts operation was outsourced to a partner company, a logistics operation of enormous scale, which saw tens of thousands of spare parts moved to the new location in Geneva. This European Distribution Centre serves Europe directly with spare parts and support the distribution centres in Asia Pacific and the Americas. It has been given the objective of achieving same day shipment for all parts in stock and increasing parts availability to more than 95%.

 

Coming up at drupa

At drupa, the Bobst will announce a series of enhancements to its existing product lines and services, which it said, ‘has been designed to bring customers closer to a world of zero-faults, low waste and high productivity.’ It will also present the first results of the new group strategy, which has a focus on growth (in services and products for the medium-segment), on product platforms with new innovations and the application of lean processes throughout the group.

Located in hall 10, stand A04 will have the new Fischer & Krecke 20SIX eight colour CI press running with the latest smartGPS and new smartCol for offline proofing while a 10 colour version will be demonstrated at the Technology Centre in Bielefeld. Also on show will be the new SL 1000 duplex laminator for high speed, high quality lamination, which will be fitted with another new innovation, the General Registron Hawkeye 100% inspection system for metallised film that detects, counts and categorises pinholes and other defects from 0.1 mm upwards. This allows process control that brings increases in speed and final product quality.

Erik Bothorel, head of BU Web-fed, said, ‘The new products we present during drupa 2012 will showcase our commitment and our ability to improve the efficiency and added value of our equipment through continuous and cost-effective innovations. We design our machines and systems for our customers, with our customers, with all the features necessary to achieve the productivity, quality and sustainability they require to be competitive in the marketplace.’

 

Folding and foiling

BU Sheet-fed will present Smart Feeder II, which promises a 10% increase in productivity compared to its predecessor, and a one-touch setting feature for the non-stop grid, which will be two of seven new features to be shown on a new generation Expertcut 106 PER die-cutter. For hot foil stamping, details of the new Expertfoil 142, the only dedicated foil stamping press available in the size VI format, will be unveiled, while the Masterfoil 106 PR will be on display in a live production environment at nearby customer, Köch & Glasder GmbH. The Masterfoil is the only foil blocker equipped with Power Register II, which delivers perfect foil to print registration, and the Foil Touch System, which ensures high quality foiling with lower heat and less pressure.

For folding carton, the recently launched Accucheck system will be shown on a Masterfold 110 A-3 for what is described as ‘zero fault packaging’. Another new product is the IQ 300 quality control system for the Masterflex HD for corrugated board. This has been developed to answer the need for shelf ready corrugated products of very high quality.

In folding and gluing, a new approach to processing cartons after the application of glue has been developed. Designed following a programme of customer engagement, this new system will reduce waste and improve the quality of the final product. Enhanced quality control systems will further reduce waste, constantly monitoring the output of both the folder-gluer line and upstream processes, ensuring that customers can achieve a successful move towards ‘zero-fault’ packaging.

For food packaging, advances in folding and gluing technology will also be demonstrated to help customers improve the on-machine performance of complex cartons such as crash-locks and 4/6 corner boxes. For pharmaceutical packaging markets, new developments will be shown that extend the capabilities of inline Braille application.

Philippe Milliet, head of BU Sheet-fed, said, ‘To ensure operational efficiencies are maximised, our customers are looking for solutions which will enable them to drive productivity, quality and sustainability, in one word reliability, in their packaging deliveries. At drupa, we will unveil our latest innovations to support them in this process, from increasing net production and efficiencies to reducing costs and waste.’

 

Service excellence

BU Services has announced a commitment to employing 80 additional field service technicians and to provide 8000 days of training every year to all technical staff. At drupa, it will further announce a number of service innovations, which it said, ‘will deliver more holistic access to, and visibility of, machine systems in the event of a fault. These developments will support customers in quickly and effectively troubleshooting from a remote location, reducing downtime and minimising the effect on operations.’ New smartphone apps will further offer remote control and monitoring of production.

The company has more than 45 R&D staff dedicated to services developing upgrades for existing equipment and machine improvements under the ‘Boost my Bobst’ programme. This covers seven key areas providing solutions that promise to improve productivity, open up new markets, increase sustainability, improve final product quality, and increase machine safety, amongst others.

 

Trend analysis

Looking at the future of paper packaging, Graham Moore from Pira International gave a presentation of a special report commissioned by Bobst. He said that paper will remain a dominant packaging material and that it accounts for 35% in value terms. For flexible packaging, paper based accounted for 9.9% of global consumption and is forecasted to grow 3.3% per annum over the next five years. Cartonboard has seen a number of innovative trends in the form of printed circuits and counterfeit/security measures, functional barrier coatings and lightweighting. With the rise of ecommerce, corrugated has seen an increase and also offers a number of new innovations. Mr Moore also spoke at length about sustainability. The full report is due to be published at drupa.

From another large Swiss corporation, Nestle, came a presentation on ‘Mega trends and packaging’. Vice president, head of packaging, Anne Roulin described six major trends which influences the company’s choices in the packaging its produces. These are the changing consumer, the changing retail environment, the digital world, concerns on food safety, market polarisation and sustainability. The presentation also included a description of a number of new products from the company.

 

Bobst

Surrounded by farmland and enjoying panoramic views of Mont Blanc, the Bobst site at Mex employs some 2000 people who enjoy not only the view, but also benefits such as a subsidised canteen that would make most restaurants pale in comparison, a kindergarten for easy and affordable childcare, tennis courts, fitness centre and even a small petrol station where employees can by their petrol 50 cents cheaper than elsewhere

The site was first established in 1977, and even back then before lean management was developed, the vision was clear: to build the perfect environment for the future with space to expand and keep production efficient and streamlined. The land around the site is still cultivated by local farmers or used as grazing for cows. Sandro Gubinelli, head of technical marketing, told me that he often gets asked about the countrified sounds people can hear during telephone calls. Nearer the production buildings, the pretty landscaping includes a manmade ‘river’ into which drains the water from the fields and from the roofs of the buildings.