BOBST demonstrates CL 1000D laminator at Open House event
BOBST presented guest converting companies with a programme dedicated to advanced laminating technology at the end of October. The programme included live laminating demonstrations of a BOBST CL 1000D laminator in the production plant of BOBST customer Clear Lam Packaging, near Chicago, USA, as well as seminar sessions relating the latest updates in the field of adhesive formulations and technologies.
In reviewing the features of the CL 1000D, there was focus on the drying tunnel with dual technology nozzles, the flexo coating trolley, and the in-register cold seal system. These distinctive technical features were complemented by the calculation of the significant waste and operating cost savings they generate.
There were also guest speakers at the event, including Larry Jopko, from Dow Chemical, who addressed the technological progress of adhesives and the development of the latest formulations to date. Representing another giant of the adhesive industry, Guenther Hering, of Henkel Corporation, presented the Group’s three business units and the company’s global capabilities for adhesives, highlighting its newest adhesive formulations with a high solid content.
BOBST extensive capabilities and range of services for North America covers the whole printing and conversion processes, with BOBST Services being presented in-depth in two separate sessions at the event.
The CL 1000D completed jobs to show off its functions. Firstly it was equipped with the flexo trolley, which provides the highest performance and quality in coating solvent-based adhesives directly on thin alu-foil. The alu-foil was laminated to a PET film at a speed of 1,470 ft/min (450 m/min).
The second job saw the solvent-based lamination of two clear films – PET and LDPE – at the speed of 1,470 ft/min, again using the flexo coating system. This kind of application is especially critical because of the difficulty in achieving a total transparency of the laminated web. This was an actual production run of a laminated material that Clear Lam provides for packaging of fresh produce, such as vegetables or meat. It has no printing on it in order to enable full visibility of the packaged item. At the end of the run, guests were able to determine the quality of the output.
The CL 1000D used for the demonstration, is one of two CL 1000D machines in the Clear Lam production facility. As the second machine was completing the startup procedure before entering production, it was possible for visitors to view it up close in between demonstrations.
Todd Blumsack, vice president business unit web-fed, Bobst North America, said: “We thank everyone who attended for spending the day with us and we thank Clear Lam Packaging for graciously opening their doors to us and their industry colleagues. We enjoyed having the opportunity to share the technical capabilities of the BOBST CL 1000D and we invite those who did not get the opportunity to see this machine in live demonstration to contact us to find out more about this machine and other BOBST Web-fed solutions.”