By Melissa Donovan
Perfectly designed, well placed packaging can make the difference between a failed and successful branding campaign. Marketers are well aware of this and in an effort to maintain buyer interest look to create marketing tools that are both memorable and effectively sell product through a combination of messaging and physical packaging. Folding cartons are increasingly digitally printed due to the attractiveness of shorter print runs and ease of customization. Finishing options are open ended, with laser cutting, digital flatbed cutters, platen, and rotary die cutting methods all utilized.
Above: Above: Examples of folding cartons finished on the KAMA ProCut 76 die cut and hot foil stamp machine.
Expanding Segment
A continued pattern of growth is apparent in the digital folding carton space. This is due to digital offering ease of customization as well as a preference toward paper-based packaging.
There is “steady and continuous growth in the folding carton market, especially for small and medium quantity, digitally printed boxes. Reducing die costs, inline waste stripping, step and repeat functions, job setup storage and retrieval, hole/slot removal, and multiple mechanical, ergonomic, and software functions designed to speed and simply set up are incorporated into the latest equipment,” says Chris Van Pelt, president, Therm-O-Type Corporation.
According to Kevin Corwin, Insignia product manager, Rollem International, there is significant advancement in the digital print segment of packaging and cartons. “Digital press capabilities, embellishments, and run lengths are increasing demand for eye-catching, custom packaging delivered with fast turnarounds. Shorter run, repeat orders are growing due to ecommerce and customization of beauty products, craft foods, and beverages.”
Sustainability is a reason for growth. “The anti-plastics movement has gained strength as many brands seek pulp-based packaging material that can be recycled. This situation has shifted brand producers towards paper-based packaging. As a direct result of this shift, we see increased demand for die cutters capable of simple, quick changeovers for shorter run work,” adds Corwin.
Jordi Giralt, CBO, KAMA GmbH, also sees increased demand for sustainable packaging in terms of material, production, and recyclability. “Forward-looking manufacturers are adapting their packaging concepts and announcing the switch to more environmentally friendly packaging. These developments continue to drive the market for folding cartons and short runs,” continues Giralt.
“Given the general trend towards paper-based packaging and away from plastics, current and future growth in this space seems guaranteed. The ability of digital solutions to easily customize and personalize folding carton products further helps accelerate these trends,” shares Beatrice Drury, communications manager, Zund America, Inc.
“The digital carton market is growing year-over-year due to shorter printer runs, customization, and a transition from traditional offset equipment and finishing,” states Max Allen, director of wide format, Graphic Whizard Inc.
Coincidentally, factors like less skilled operators and the phasing out of traditional die cutting equipment increase demand and influence product development. For example, Graphic Whizard developed a more user-friendly approach to die cutting in order to make it more accessible to a variety of commercial printers. “Our development is centered around adding more value in our current models by allowing them to run roll-to-roll labels with weeding or add embellishment on a digital die cutter inline,” shares Allen.
Functions and Features
The finishing aspect of the folding carton process shouldn’t be overlooked. Automated methods that keep pace with fast print speeds are preferred. Folding cartons have specific finishing requirements just like any other application.
“When running small and medium quantity orders of digitally printed small boxes, the most important issues include minimizing tooling cost and set up time, while providing high throughput speed, high die cut and score quality, and automated waste stripping,” shares Van Pelt.
A good registration system is important “to accurately match the cut—crease, score, perforations—to the print. A registration system that can actually do this from the bottom of the sheet—with the print side facing down—is helpful in order to get around the need to perform any flip/cut operations,” shares Drury.
Working in conjunction with the registration system, skew adjustment ensures maximum register accuracy for every sheet, even for sheets printed at an angle. “Which has already saved many a production run in practice,” shares Giralt.
“Each style of cutter will effectively cut carton materials, but to make a beautiful finished package it is important to have a clean score so the package can fold properly without cracking along the edges,” admits Allen.
Corwin points out that finishing equipment used for folding carton production must have the ability to accurately cut and crease simultaneously. “Since the products are folded, the crease or score must be applied with the appropriate level of force to reach the desired depth of crease.”
“The equipment needs to be simple to operate compared to traditional die cutting methods. Adequate production speeds need to be maintained, added enhancements are desirable, and the ability to remove the matrix while streamlining the off-loading of the product are other factors to consider,” continues Corwin.
Cutter Types
There are a number of finishing options in the folding carton production space
“Short-run packaging is an ideal application for digital cutting solutions, however they also make great proofing devices before making a die for a longer production run,” points out a representative from Plockmatic Group.
For our purposes, we are discussing those finishing options well suited for smaller, customized print runs. Each bring their own advantages and disadvantages to the table.
Laser
An advantage of using a laser to die cut folding cartons is maintenance.
“The lack of contact with tooling and the finished product makes it so there is much less wear and tear or consumable use in a laser cutter. They also lend themselves to cutting much more complex and intricate patterns than a blade or rotary finisher that makes contact with the carton,” explains Allen.
No cutting dies are required, which translates to no “hard” tooling cost, explains Van Pelt.
“The largest disadvantage to laser finishing is the lack of scoring. Some operators will use oblation, which removes part of the material to create a fault line in the carton to fold, but it does not compress the material like a crease or score, which can lead to cracking in the finished product,” admits Allen.
Digital Flatbed (Blade)
Similarly to laser cutters, digital flatbed or blade cutters benefit from having no cutting dies.
“Because of their versatility and ability to customize products on the fly, smaller footprint, modular, digital flatbed cutting systems are a great choice for folding carton applications. While full automation for longer run production has yet to be developed, various options are available for making manual and semi-automated processing—including creasing, cutting, and perforating—as productive as possible,” suggests Drury.
“For shorter runs and customizations flatbed die cutters give the perfect balance of quality and flexibility with no start-up cost for a personalized carton,” shares Allen.
When choosing the right digital flatbed cutter for the job “the important deciding factors for a digital flatbed cutter will be sheet size and tool options,” notes Allen.
A general advantage of KAMA’s ProCut die cutters is its range of applications and fast changeovers between die cutting and embellishment with hot foil, admits Giralt. “This makes the post-press flexible and leads to a high uptime of the machine for efficient finishing.”
While digital is associated with speed, digital flatbed finishers “need to follow each tool path so their throughput is much slower than a die system. For short-run work the fast setup can offset the turnaround time of building a die, but for long runs the slower throughput per piece can tie up the die cutter and be a hindrance in efficient production,” says Allen.
“While technology and cutting methods have made a lot of progress, some jobs still require the use of a counter or matrix to achieve the kind of crease quality end users may be expecting. To date, this process remains incompatible with any type of conveyorized material handling, which is a limiting factor when it comes to production automation and throughput maximizaton,” adds Drury.
Van Pelt says edge quality and lack of inline waste stripping are other issues.
Rotary (Drum or Die Drive)
According to Allen, a rotary die cutter’s biggest asset is speed. “A rotary die cutter has a much higher throughput versus a blade or laser finisher as it can produce a full-size sheet in a single revolution.”
“Rotary die cutters are ideally suited for converting folding cartons since they are able to accurately cut and crease at the same time. Other elements are built into the die such as embossing, perforating, kiss cutting, sombrero holes, and two-side creasing to create Z-fold patterns—all of which are performed in one process with just one operator,” says Corwin.
The primary disadvantage to a rotary system is turnaround time and cost per piece. “For short-run work that is customized whether the run is one or a hundred a die needs to be produced, which will slow down production and also increase the cost per piece,” explains Allen.
Van Pelt points out that some rotary die cutters cannot support upper and lower flexible dies. “As a result, they can die cut but not score. It is also difficult to die cut laminated stocks, as well as substrate type and thickness limitations.”
Platen Die
Van Pelt maintains die cutting, using a steel rule die, is still an ideal option for minimizing tooling cost, set up, and to ensure high cut, score, and perforation quality. “The ability to step and repeat multiple boxes per sheet further minimizes tooling cost and set up time, which is especially important for small quantity orders. Steel rule dies can also be economically ‘re-ruled’ if they become damaged or worn. Using a steel rule die to die cut and score also allows operators to select between multiple matrix options to achieve the best score while running the widest range of material types and thicknesses.”
In additional to die cutting, Van Pelt points to Therm-O-Type’s NSF platen presses, which allow customers to add flat foil, blind, or foil embossed embellishments to their products.
There are negatives to platen dies to consider, including initial operator skill requirements like learning how the matrix dies, basic press set up, and adjustments, shares Van Pelt.
Accuracy Achieved
The cutting equipment used for folding carton production needs to keep pace with output speeds powering the front end of the process. In addition, accurate cuts and creases as well as minimized tooling costs and set up time are important factors. Laser, digital flatbed, platen, or rotary die cutters are current options to consider.
Oct2024, DPS Magazine
