Colognia invests in further Martin Automatic equipment

Built on a diverse portfolio of customers from the automotive, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, wine, electro technical, chemical, sport, clothing, gardening and culture markets, in addition to manufacturing labels, tickets and tags, Colognia has now entered the shrink sleeve arena. Colognia markets its products and services under ‘Dreams and Work’.

To provide a reliable service to such diverse markets, especially one so quality sensitive as pharmaceuticals, owner Jaroslav Vendl decided to invest in roll changing automation for his second Gallus RCS 330 press. Installed as a 4-color CMYK press, the servo-driven Gallus press has since been extended to a 6-color flexo/screen combi machine.

‘We installed a Martin MBS non-stop unwind/splicer and LRD automatic transfer rewinder on our first RCS line in 2011, and noticed an immediate improvement in productivity and reduction in waste levels,’ said Vendl. ‘This time we had less floor space to work with, but Martin Automatic’s compact MBSC and STR models offered the perfect solution for our latest RCS, and the benefits are already obvious.’

There were two main drivers for the second investment in Martin Automatic technology, MBSC and STR models, with all leading brand owners insisting on reserve capacity to ensure on-time delivery, so an identical capability from the second press was required; and the quality of work produced with continuous operation is significantly higher than that with regular press stops.

The new STR offers in-line slitting capability that allows Colognia to produce finished rolls on the press that can be shipped straightaway. By taking this step out of the production chain, orders can be turned faster with fewer staff.

Bernd Schopferer, Martin Automatic European sales manager, explained: ‘With their compact dimensions, and having all features on-board, our MBSC and STR are specially designed for smaller production environments, but still offer fully automated roll handling for continuous running. This is another example of the company’s tailor-made engineering.’

‘Martin Automatic has the best reputation in the market for automated roll handling,’ continued Vendl. ‘In fact we know that much of the industry thinks of Martin as the generic term for a splicer.’

In addition, the Martin Automatic/Gallus combinations allow Colognia to choose between digital production on its EFI Jetrion press, or flexo/screen printing on its Gallus presses for any short run job. And with the impending addition of an HP Indigo digital press line, the facility to choose production press by type of label required, rather than number of linear meters involved, has added flexibility to Colognia’s production capacity. ‘We focus on improving our core competence rather than pushing the boundaries of new markets,’ Vendl explained, although admitting that the move into shrink sleeves is proving to be a learning curve. ‘It’s not so much the machinery side as the variability of supposedly identical substrates that we need to resolve.’

The next phase of investment at Colognia will see a factory extension on-site to accommodate finished goods and allow a better management of inventory, which, coupled with the recent opening of a sales office in Frankfurt to serve the German speaking and other western European markets, will fill Colognia’s expanding production capacity.