A new BOBST EXPERTCUT 2.1 has joined the more than 40 diverse pieces of equipment that are in operation at French manufacturer Cartonnages Vaillant’s modern production facility, including several from BOBST. The state-of-the-art Autoplaten® die-cutter has been brought in to expand the company’s capabilities to the larger 2.1 metre format and to match the productivity of the existing printing machines.
Cartonnages Vaillant is one of the first in the world to take delivery of the new EXPERTCUT 2.1 Autoplaten® die-cutter with TooLink technology, installed to increase productivity and expand opportunities in corrugated board packaging with the widest variety of e-commerce and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) boxes.
Situated in Lambres-lez-Aire, Pas-de-Calais, Cartonnages, Vaillant was founded in 1957 by Fernand Vaillant. Since 2014, the French packaging producer has been part of Bulteau Développement Group giving it the security and support of a large corporation, while retaining the flexibility and responsiveness of an independent business.
‘We often refer to ourselves as packaging generalists when talking about our business, because we manufacture all types of packaging and strive to add value wherever possible,’ said Director Bruno Delannoy. ‘To maintain our top position in the region, we continue to invest in industry-leading machinery that allows us to support our customers with high quality corrugated products and fast delivery times.’
Deputy Director Christophe Normand added, ‘BOBST and Vaillant have a long history and we have built a great partnership between us. We have bought a number of folder-gluers and die-cutting machines from the Swiss manufacturer over the years, so we have a lot of real-life experience with their excellent products.’
Introduced to the market in 2022, the EXPERTCUT 2.1 – along with the smaller 1.7 model – completes BOBST’s portfolio of mid-range die-cutters for the corrugated board industry. These industry-leading machines come fitted with a wealth of new design and automation features, which have been developed to guarantee maximum uptime, perfect sheet feeding and precise die-cutting.
The platen section has been completely redesigned to reduce makeready and set-up times, as well as the cutting force needed to produce perfect blanks, resulting in substantially increased productivity and longer tool life. The sheet transport has also been optimised with double-cam gripper bar advance, which makes acceleration and deceleration of the sheets incredibly consistent and smooth.
With changeovers taking less than eight minutes, the EXPERTCUT gives Vaillant the flexibility to address both long and short production runs of corrugated board in a maximum size of 2100 x 1300 mm (82.67 x 51.18 in) and 0.75–9 mm (0.03–0.35 in) in thickness. The speed of production also makes this machine extremely competitive. Up to 5500 sheets can be converted each hour, equivalent to an impressive 20 million square metres per year.
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