Bobst celebrates 125 years

The other technologies presented during the Bobst Open House, Competence ’15, included the Novacut 106 ER die-cutter with In Line Blanking and Expertfold 80 A-2 folder-gluer with Accucheck in-line inspection system. All the machines were showed in India for the first time. 

 

The event also highlighted automation technologies from Bobst and its partners including Baumer hhs, Billerud Korsnas, Esko, H B Fuller, Henkel, Nan Pao, Pidilite, Provin Technos, Robatech, Siemens Financial, TATA capital, Welbound Worldwide and W H Leary.

 

Venugopal Menon, vice president of Bobst India, said, ‘Packaging manufacturers in markets such as India no longer have unlimited access to labor and space. Increasingly they need automation to keep their costs down so that they remain competitive and be more cost efficient. Competence’15 was about bringing together key players to look at the technology available and to drive through our central theme of the open house which was ‘Profit-making Packaging through Automation’.

 

Designed with the needs of both litho-laminated and corrugated board packaging manufacturers in mind, the LILA II folder-gluer represents an extension of the LILA range of machines for litho-laminated box production into the 145cm and 170cm widths. The machine is also available in 106cm and 126cm widths for folding carton and litho-laminated box production. With its smooth blank transportation, high folding quality and productivity, handling both micro-flute and heavy corrugated board with ease, LILA II generated a lot of interest at the event.

 

Novacut 106 ER die-cutter, launched in 2014 at an expo in Brazil, was demonstrated with blank separating both single and double-cut layouts at full speed. Menon said, ‘This was an attraction to many packaging convertors who came to the event, since blanking is a new concept in our market.'

 

'Bobst India has also ventured into the manufacturing and supply of blanking tools. By providing locally-made blanking tools for our customers we are making it easier and less expensive for our customers to make transition to blanking with this local tooling solution ,' he added.

 

The third machine demonstrated, Expertfold 80 A-2 folder-gluer with Accucheck in-line inspection system, checks 100 percent of a folder-gluer’s output for defects, rejecting any non-conforming boxes. Menon said, ‘We installed two of these folder gluers in 2014, one each in Ahmedabad and Silvassa. Third machine will be installed in the second quarter of 2015-16 financial year.’ 

 

Bobst started manufacturing folders gluers in India in early 2010 and more than 350 machines have rolled out of the factory since then. Seventy percent of the machines manufactured are exported. As for the growing regions for packaging in India, he said, ‘Traditionally, West India has been the biggest market but North is growing fast now. Our unit sales have improved in industrial hubs including Baddi, Rudrapur and NCR. Some cities in South India such as Sivakasi and Bengaluru are performing well while Kolkata and Guwahati in East India are emerging markets for us.’