BOBST ‘Solution Masters’ steal the show at K 2016
On its stand at the K Show, BOBST focused on excellence in substrate functionality and process performance, showing off the know-how of its dedicated team of Solution Masters specialists.
Additionally, just a few months after premiering six web-fed machines and a host of new functionalities at the drupa show, the BOBST stand at K 2016 was buzzing with new developments and must-have information on new products and services, while BOBST Competence Centers in Italy, Germany and the UK welcomed numerous customers with in live machine demonstrations. These included the new K5 EXPERT vacuum metalliser, launched to coincide with the show.
Federico D’Annunzio, strategic products marketing director of BOBST Business Unit Web-fed, said: “We signed new contracts, achieved additional handshake sales and started negotiations on new projects, while other projects were finalised at the show or during visits to our Competence Centers. A good 60 per cent of the visitors to our K stand were new prospects and their interest was spread across all of the leading-edge technologies and processes for printing and converting film substrates that BOBST provides.”
BOBST Solution Masters, who are specialists in vacuum web coating and metallising, coating, extrusion coating, laminating, CI or inline flexo printing, or gravure printing, were on-hand during every day of the show to assist visitors interested in exploring their options within these processes. Visitors to the stand also appreciated the quality of the reels of printed and converted samples displayed – which also reflected a growing market interest in high barrier functionality for packaging substrates, machinability, sustainability, and ways of exploiting new applications.
D’Annunzio added: “Alongside showing more conventional types of printed and converted work, including the quality that can be achieved with Extended Colour Gamut printing or triplex lamination, we also displayed applications that are very topical in the industry. These included clear-on-clear labelstock, a technically demanding coating process for the production of ‘no-label-look’ labels, as well as showcasing how the safety of UV ink printing onto food flexible packaging can be guaranteed when delivered by BOBST narrow- and mid-web inline flexo presses.”
Further samples on display at the show reflected the BOBST collaboration with leading suppliers to the film industry – especially with a view to assisting converters facing process performance challenges. One such was a new, fully integrated, process for the conversion of high barrier AlOx coated films that provides additional barrier functionalities while keeping other barrier properties unaltered, even during the more complex conversion processes required by some flexible packaging applications. Another example – a full PE laminate sample – showed the ability of BOBST gravure printing and laminating machines to process MDO (Machine Direction Oriented) films at high speed. This highlighted the opportunities for BOBST customers to extend their gravure operations to include PE packaging applications.
While the BOBST stand at K welcomed a continuous flow of visitors, including delegates from over 60 countries worldwide, BOBST Competence Centers across Europe put on machine demonstrations. In the UK, BOBST Manchester premiered the K5 EXPERT, said to be the world’s highest productivity vacuum metalliser for packaging applications.
At BOBST Italia, in S. Giorgio Monferrato, demonstrations were carried out using two new BOBST gravure printing presses. The RS 6003C HS is a high-speed line that offers a wide range of printing and converting options through dedicated configurations. For lamination, the new CL 750D compact laminator and CL 850D laminator showed the operational efficiency and product quality which make them the best choice for converters in their respective classes of equipment.
The BOBST Competence Center for CI flexo printing at BOBST Bielefeld, Germany, the MW85F, minimised waste, mid-web CI flexo press, which delivers high quality printing and can handle a mix of job lengths, from ultra-short to long, in the most cost-efficient way. Also presented was the new 40SIX, designed to meet the demands of large format and large volume production.