Mayr-Melnhof buys Heidelberg VLF for French plant

MM Packaging France SAS, part of the Mayr-Melnhof Group, has added a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 145-6-LX to its production plant at Monéteau, near Auxerre.  The new press is a six-color machine with coating unit, elevated feeder and delivery, logistics, and Auto Non Stop system.  It will be used to produce food packaging, notably folding cartons for drinks, cereals, ready meals, frozen food, confectionery, and pet food.

Dieter Allitsch, managing director of MMP France, explained the decision to purchase: ‘We were expanding and looked for a press to optimize our cost structure and deliver top quality.  It needed to operate under strict hygiene conditions, and be reliable in production.’

Capable of 15,000 sheets per hour, and fitted with automatic plate changing, the new Speedmaster offers a significant boost in productivity.  But, MMP France wanted even more, so added the Prinect Axis Control color measurement and control system for faster inking-up and less waste.  By mounting the press on a plinth, it can handle more sheets of higher grammages in each pile.  
 
The configuration also includes an Auto Non Stop system controlled from the Prinect Press Center, which feeds the sheets automatically, without interruptions, and stacks them onto the pallets, thereby avoiding superfluous wash-up processes.  This is important with the growing demand for shorter runs.  The press also has benefits in terms of food safety because its design helps prevent the migration of foreign substances into the package contents.
 
MMP has also secured a service package in which Heidelberg will ensure virtually unlimited availability of the press, which operates at top speeds almost 24/7, for the next eight years.  Shrewd business management lies behind this move, as Allitsch observed: ‘Sudden production stoppages are annoying and expensive.  Being able to plan maintenance periods and costs is ultimately far more economical.’
 
In addition to regular Systemservice maintenance work and spare part replacements, the service package includes a proactive component known as Condition Monitoring. The Speedmaster XL 145 reports its operating status to Heidelberg via the Internet/a Remote Service tool.  If the analysis identifies a potential problem, it can be prevented before it actually occurs.