Bobst hosts packaging ‘surgery’

The event was held on July 1-2 at the Bobst Competence Centre in Redditch, Worcestershire, UK, with more than 50 customers in attendance, along with representatives from other suppliers to the industry including Baumer hhs, Arden Dies and Lasercomb Dies.

The event included input from Bobst users about their experience of the company’s support services, and showed ways to improve productivity, margins, product quality and equipment life.

Developments presented at the event included a new platen conditioning service , an oil cleaner unit that extends the time between machine oil changes, and belting and calibration programs to help users improve their folder gluer performance. Benchmarking programs that can help users assess whether they are competitive in the market were also presented, as were innovations in die-cutters and folder gluers such as dynamic register systems and remote diagnostics.

Further, attendees were given the opportunity to participate in hands-on machine sessions.

In terms of production problems discussed through the ‘surgery’, Bobst said one carton industry customer who attended the event wanted to investigate increasing the adhesion of glues on a particular job and brought a box of blanks along with them. A Bobst product specialist was able to set the job on an Expertfold fitted with a plasma treatment unit, which increases surface tension to enhance adhesion.

Craig Moran, zone business director for Bobst, said: ‘With this event we wanted to bring something fresh to customers, so we encouraged them to come along with samples of problem jobs, or to simply explain a problem they were having.

‘Our team of die-cutter, folder gluer and engineering specialists were then on hand to give them advice on how to tackle their problem and the customers went away with the solution, or with an action plan in place for us to investigate the problem further.’

Moran continued: ‘Support services like training, engineering and online help are highly valued by our customers and we are committed to being the benchmark for services in the industry. The focus of the event was definitely on solutions that help customers improve productivity, margins, product quality or equipment life, as well as giving them ideas on how to enter new markets.’

Neil Jones, managing director of Bobst UK & Ireland, added: ‘We wanted to show visitors that we're not some big monolithic organization that doesn't care. Instead, we're a group of people who are determined to use our knowledge and experience to help our customers succeed. I think we achieved what we were aiming at because one visitor said to me, "we came here to see Bobst, but we're leaving having really felt what Bobst is about." That made my day.’