By Melissa Donovan
Part 2 of 2
Flexible companies are more apt to follow and act quickly on customer demands and trends. This was the case at Derschlag when it decided to purchase a BOBST MASTER M6 press to meet a variety of increasingly important customer demands.
Flexibility in Germany?
Derschlag is a family-owned packaging manufacturer providing aluminum foil and plastic film products to the food, dairy, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. In business since 1957, the company was acquired by Michael Scholz in 1985 and today consists of two businesses—Derschlag GmbH & Co. KG Folienverarbeitung located in Bad Berleberg and Derschlag GmbH & Co. KG Ludenscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The company has a long-standing relationship with BOBST, and continues it with the most recent acquisition of the BOBST MASTER M6 press, which was installed in the Bad Berleberg location. “With our flexibility as a family-owned company, we can react faster to new customer requirements. Nevertheless, the investment in the latest state-of-the-art equipment is of course necessary in order to keep up with growth and changing demands,” says Michael Scholz Jr., managing partner, Derschlag.
One of these demands is short- to mid-size order requests from customers. The MASTER M6 is especially equipped to help Derschlag handle these types of orders.
The MASTER M6 is designed for the foremost flexibility to print labels, flexible, and folding cartons. The press is equipped with DigiFlexo automation for full digital registration and pressure controls. Closed-loop color control DigiColor solution for inline DigiFlexo presses uses oneECG Extended Color Gamut printing. oneECG technology delivers non-stop production through a centralized fully digitalized press operation. An exclusive Ink-on-Demand configuration works with a minimum amount of ink in the print unit.
An exclusive total traceability system for food packaging applications is available with UV Track. The UV emission is monitored while the press is running with certification of the whole printing process. This opens new opportunities for UV printed food packaging production.
These monitoring systems help guarantee the health and safety of food packaging applications. Health and safety, as well as environmental concerns, influence customer demand. “Recently, the customer focus has turned more to sustainable materials and the challenge is to offer a solution that fulfills the same final application needs but with adjusted material compensation,” explains Scholz.
In response, Derschlag now offers new packaging products that are better for the planet, such as recyclable polypropylene sealing lids for dairy and other food applications as an alternative to aluminum. The BOBST MASTER M6 handles all types of substrates and when configured for flexible packaging films from 12-micron PET and 18-micron BOPP can be printed, as well as PVC shrink films, alu-foil, lami-tubes, and light cartonboard up to 300 gsm.
Future Business
The press—addition to new die cutting and converting machinery—was placed in 2020 and a brand new production facility with more warehousing is currently in progress. By the end of 2021, both the Bad Berleberg and North Rhine-Westphalia locations combined should total 8,000 square meters of factory facilities and warehousing.
All in all, the team at Derschlag is pleased with the position the BOBST MASTER M6 places it in. “It sets a new benchmark for us and gives us extended capabilities to future proof our business. To succeed in food packaging, you must put quality at the core of your relationship with your customers and that should be reflected in everything you do and and in your investments too,” concludes Scholz.
Read part one, Serving Shrink Sleeves.
Jul2021, DPS Magazine
