BOBST Celebrates 75 Years

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This year marks BOBST’s 75th year of designing and producing folder-gluer machines for the packaging industry.

The Swiss manufacturer combines highly configurable machines with top-of-the-range peripherals to provide integrated and automated solutions. Each year, BOBST invests around six percent of its annual turnover into research and development. This has allowed the company to develop new systems, equipment and processes – many of which are still patented and unique to the sector.

Its folder-gluers have evolved through the roll-out of new technologies, such as the blank aligner, the crash-lock module, four-corner box folding systems and the flipper-ejector, as well as GYROBOX for the production of complex boxes in a single run, Braille embossing and zero-fault quality checks, inline and at full running speed. Today, BOBST folder-gluers are sold worldwide, often locally produced for different markets.

For more information, visit www.bobst.com.

Challenge Machinery Releases Next-Generation Book Trimmer

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The CMT 330TC three-knife book trimmer is a fully automated finishing solution for on-demand and short-run perfect bound book production.

The Challenge Machinery Company, Norton Shores, Michigan, released the next-generation CMT 330TC three-knife book trimmer.

This fully automated book trimmer is the ideal finishing solution for on-demand and short-run perfect bound book production. The fourth generation of the trimmer line has been upgraded with advanced features that include a 10.5″ color touchscreen, an expanded range of finished book sizes, a high-speed digital control system, an integrated 1D/2D barcode reading system that enables fully automated set-up between books and more. The CMT 330TC is CE, UL and cUL approved.

For more information, visit www.challengemachinery.com.

KAMA Announces Success in Sales

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KAMA GmbH, a Dresden, Germany-based company, has had the most successful year in its history and closed the 2016-2017 financial year (on March 31) with record sales of 14.75 million euros.

The machine manufacturer for print converting and print embellishing achieved double-digit growth and increased the proceeds over the previous year by 13 percent with a positive operating result. About 40 percent of KAMA GmbH sales come from Western and Eastern Europe; 10 percent in the Middle East and Africa; and roughly one quarter on the American continent and in Asia. The strongest individual countries are Germany, China and the US.

For more information, visit www.kama.info.

Kluge and KURZ Form Partnership

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Kluge and Kurz will co-market the Kurz DIGITAL METAL® technology in the US and Canada.

Brandtjen & Kluge (Kluge), St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and Kurz Transfer Products, L.P. (Kurz), Charlotte, North Carolina, formed a strategic partnership in which the two companies will co-market the Kurz DIGITAL METAL® technology in the US and Canada.

The partnership teams the market-leading strengths of each company to deliver a new innovative solution for digital foil application. Leveraging the benefits of the digital print workflow, the DIGITAL METAL process allows digital transfer of foil onto paper and cardboard substrates. It combines Kurz leadership in the development and manufacturing of foil for the packaging and graphics industry and Kluge’s extensive experience in sales and technical support of foil stamping equipment.

For more information, visit www.kluge.biz or www.kurzusa.com.

Young Shin USA Adds Diecutter to Product Line

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The Quest 270 flatbed diecutter was specifically designed for digital print output.

Young Shin USA Limited, Schaumburg, Illinois, added the Quest 270 flatbed diecutter to its comprehensive diecutter product line.

Specifically designed for digital print output, the diecutter is affordable, easy-to-operate and highly dependable. It features rapid setup and cost-effective turnaround. It also addresses the shorter runs produced by today’s digital printers.

Young Shin USA Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Korea-based Young Shin Industries. For more information, visit www.youngshinusa.com.

AIM Unveils Folder-Gluer
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The Signature Elite folder-gluer is from American International Machinery, Inc., Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

American International Machinery, Inc., Oak Creek, Wisconsin, recently unveiled its Signature Elite folder-gluer with fast-fold station and turning module.

It is capable of increased speeds up to 1,800fpm, requires less tooling for faster set-ups, has increased versatility and includes the carton alignment section. It features the versatile Signature™ feed section with pneumatically lifted feed gates and side guides, allowing for faster changeover and blank removal.

Higher back-fold speed offers consistent overall production speed. Its programmable AC servo drive technology, along with back fold finger tooling, takes reliable 4+6 corner productivity to a new level. Complete back fold data is supplied at one operator control center via a color LCD touchscreen, used for programming and storing up to 99 different jobs into memory for easy recall.

For more information, visit www.aim-inc.net.

Eagle Systems Offers Certification Course

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Eagle Systems, Inc., Ocean, New Jersey, has introduced the Eagle Cold Foil Certification (ECFC) course, a comprehensive eight-hour program geared toward improving production understanding and techniques of press operators and executive management.

The course is conducted at the user’s production facility to ensure all real-world factors and influences are incorporated. Eagle has designed a unique test form, designed for failure, to run off each applicant’s system. The press then is finite-tweaked to maximize performance out of each operation’s adhesives, foils and blankets. One of the end results is the elimination of former process obstacles, such as pin-holing and mud cracking. Regardless of previous experience levels, ECFC aims to yield significant business and cold foil performance advancements.

For more information, visit www.thefoilexperts.com.

Henkel Launches Adhesives Recycling Program

Henkel, Trenton, New Jersey, is partnering with TerraCycle to become the first company to offer a recycling solution for anaerobic adhesives.

Through the Adhesive Recycling Program, Henkel customers can purchase a postage-paid recycling box to fill with empty Loctite adhesive containers and send to TerraCycle for processing. TerraCycle will thermally treat the containers and turn them into new plastic products.

Henkel values sustainability, and by the year 2030, the company aims to triple efficiency by reducing its products’ environmental footprint at every stage of the product life cycle. The Adhesive Recycling Program aligns with that initiative, diverting used Loctite containers from local landfills and incinerators.

For more information, visit www.henkel-northamerica.com or www.terracycle.com.

Mack Brooks Launches InPrint USA

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Mack Brooks Exhibitions Group, the organizers of the International Converting Exhibition (ICE USA) and InPrint: The Industrial Print Show, has announced the launch of InPrint USA.

The first edition will take place April 25-27, 2017, in conjunction with the fourth edition of ICE USA. According to recent studies conducted after a successful first edition of InPrint Europe in 2014, research revealed that the US manufacturing sector is set to overtake China by 2020 as the world’s largest manufacturing country.

For more information, visit www.inprintshow.com/usa or www.ice-x-usa.com.

PIA Issues Scam Update

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Federal authorities are looking for specific details from printing companies that may have fallen victim to an international scam invovling a fraudulent direct marketing agency, according to the Printing Industries of America (PIA).

In April, PIA alerted printing industry professionals about a major scam involving a fraudulent direct marketing agency operating out of the Canadian cities of Montreal and Toronto. Federal authorities believe the targets in this case have been operating under the following names: Direct Market, DMW Direct, API Global Fulfillment, DMG Group Corporation, Global Media, Slim-Tab and LipoCitrex. The scam artist purports to represent clients marketing weight loss products, such as Axera International, BeSlim and Nutrim.

“The scam is simple but effective,” said Michael Makin, PIA president and CEO. “It has claimed a number of victims.” The US Postal Service (USPS) and law enforcement officials on both sides of the border are investigating the matter. “Progress has been made,” Makin added.

The scam works like this: A marketing agency contacts printers via their website with a potential windfall job to produce millions of marketing pieces. “The marketing agency literally banks on printers offering a line of credit based on initial feedback from credit references, which are similarly fraudulent,” Makin explained.

When printers ask for a check to cover postage, it is promptly sent via UPS. The check looks completely official, including a hologram, and printers deposit it thinking all is well, not realizing that any check drawn on a foreign bank account will take two to three weeks to validate and collect funds. Some companies will complete the printed pieces and mail them before the check clears, leaving the printer to cover the postage and printing costs.

“Sadly, a significant number of PIA members are now out tens of thousands of dollars because of this scam,” Makin said. USPS officials want to hear specifics from those who have been injured by this scam. If your company has fallen victim or you were approached by any of the aforementioned entities, please contact Postal Inspector Matt Schmitz at 920.869.3719.

For additional information, visit www.printing.org.