Edward Enterprises expands folding carton capabilities

One of the largest commercial printers in Hawaii, Edward Enterprises, has further diversified into the folding carton market with the latest installation of Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 104, a six-color press equipped with UV curing, which replaced two older presses.

After fifty years of commercial printing, Edward Enterprises began producing its first folding cartons almost ten years ago when it installed a Varimatrix die-cutter and Easygluer folder gluer from Heidelberg.

According to Alex Upton, vice president of operations for Edward Enterprises, while there was a slow learning curve at start-up, Heidelberg was there every step of the way, educating and training the company staff year after year.

Shifting more of its business from commercial to packaging printing was always part of the company’s long-term plan, but in 2020, the pandemic accelerated that shift even faster.

Wanting to improve its packaging capabilities and efficiency further, Edward Enterprises installed a new Speedmaster CX 104-6+L to replace its 25-year-old CD 102 and XL 75. Since installation, the press has cut the company’s maintenance costs and consumables usage in half.

‘Our need for a new press was pure necessity,’ said Upton. ‘We planned to purchase one earlier, but then the pandemic happened. Our CD 102 had over 350 million impressions, and its outdated UV and coating system limited our capabilities and the type of folding carton work we could run.’

Running at 15,000 sheets per hour, the new CX 104 has increased the company’s print capacity. The new press is equipped with Heidelberg’s latest technology, which includes autonomous Push-to-Stop technology and a completely new operating philosophy, the Heidelberg User Experience (UX).

Coupled with the patented Intellistart 3 and other assistance systems, Heidelberg UX has been developed to ensure short make-ready times and the best possible support for press operators throughout the press run.

Edward Enterprises selected the CX 104 based on its speed and the types of jobs and quantities the company typically runs.

According to Upton, Heidelberg played a big part in helping to determine the specs that would best serve its existing customers and our expected growth. After running only a few months, the CX 104 produces more work in two eight-hour shifts than the company could produce with three ten-hour shifts on its two older presses.

Edward Enterprises has significantly reduced its production time and waste thanks to the press’s state-of-the-art UV curing system. To boost its efficiency further, Edward Enterprises choose to use Heidelberg’s Saphira Consumables and Prinect Production Manager.