By DPS Magazine Staff
Part two of three
Flatbed cutters are gaining attention in commercial, in plant, and packaging environments. In addition to wide format options, smaller footprint solutions are being introduced.
These finishers are great for a range of applications from folding cartons to pocket folders and foam board signage.
Here we highlight just a few flatbed cutters on the market today.
BERHALTER
BERHALTER Swiss Die-Cutting offers a range of flatbed die cutting machines and tools designed for various applications in commercial print, labels, and packaging industries. These products are suitable for both small and large production volumes.
Its flatbed die-cutting products offer precision and quality designed to deliver precise and clean cuts, ensuring excellent results in the final product. The flatbed die cutting solutions from BERHALTER are also highly versatile, allowing for the processing of a wide range of materials, including paper, plastic, and composite materials.
BERHALTER’s flatbed die cutting machines are capable of delivering consistent performance even at high speeds, resulting in increased productivity.
Best Graphics
Best Graphics represents the Young Shin brand, which—in addition to flatbed die cutters—offers blanking and foil stamping capabilities. These all-in-one solutions also come in a wide variety of size formats, from half-size, to full-size, to oversized. The Young Shin brand is comprised of an impressive number of models to provide clients with the best combination of capabilities for their needs. For half sized, or B2 format, it sells and service the Saroglia line of Italian 23×30-inch die cutters and foil stampers.
Dulpo USA
For flatbed die cutting Duplo offers the DPC-400 and DPC-600 Digital Die Cutters, which come standard with a number of tools designed to process various types of substrates and thicknesses. The tools offer performs precise cutting on media up to 3 millimeter (mm) in thickness. Users are able to cut Intricate shapes on paper and PET plastics as well as kiss cut adhesive stock up to 1.5 mm thick as well as score fold lines on packaging using the scoring wheel. An optional oscillating knife to pulsate through corrugated, chip boards, and foam boards up to six mm in thickness.
The DPC-400 and DPC-600 offers a unit that can be used for prototyping before taking that application and putting it on a much larger unit for mass production. With the easy usability of the units, it allows operators to quickly run an application where a die plate is not needed just an image file.
Eclipse Label Equipment
Utilizing drag knife technology, one or two heads per machine, Eclipse offers inline finishing systems in which end users simply press a button and the machine will do the rest.
Elitron
Elitron offers a full range of multi-function flatbed, fixed, and conveyor digital cutting systems—from compact sample-making and short-run production systems to large format production systems, in different sizes to suit all customer requirements.
In addition, optional automatic loading and unloading systems can be added for increased productivity.
All cutting systems are equipped with various options to increase overall productivity, including Underside and Topside Camera Systems. Elitron’s patented Seeker System reads printed reference marks and printed images, loads, and aligns the relative cutting file/s, all in just one click; Stressless Working Technology for immediate cutting. Digital dies are projected onto the material/s using a powerful video projection system and then cut immediately without any lengthy set up. This is ideal for instant sampling and to use up otherwise waste material/s.
Elitron cutting systems are engineered to manage all cutting and finishing jobs, thanks to the multi-tool cutting head which offers maximum flexibility to let our customer’s creativity take shape.
The company offers modular, automatic loading and unloading systems to ensure that customers can upgrade as required. In addition, it also produces a standalone or inline automatic sheet turner, Reversa, which can also be added as customers decide to automate.
Graphic Whizard
Graphic Whizard offers flatbed die cutters that range from digital sheet sizes all the way up to five-foot-wide router systems. Its digital flatbed cutters are designed to handle professional processes to handle not only prototyping but also for small production. Capable of handling plasticized prints—up to ten mm with oscillating cut, 25 mm with other systems—sheets are automatically managed allowing for unparalleled operator freedom.
The Graphic Whizard die cutter customer base has used the devices for runs from one sheet all the way up to 10,000. For shops doing high volumes of labels and packaging the system complements the workflow by providing a machine built for quick turnaround and short runs.
Intec
Intec offers the ColorCut FB9000PRO, an automatic digital die flatbed cutter/creaser
KAMA
KAMA offers its flagship die-cutting and embossing machine KAMA ProCut 76 (Foil) for the half format (760×600 mm). The modular machine offers the most applications in the market, easy operation, short setup times, precise registration and a performance of up to 5,500 sph. Depending on the field of application, it offers various configurations up to the fully equipped ProCut 76 Foil Packaging Edition with servo drive and automatic inline stripping and blanking—plus integrated hot foil stamping system as an option.
The KAMA ProCut 58 Foil is a die-cutting, embossing and embellishment machine for the classic digital print format B3+ (up to 580×400 mm). The small ProCut solution, which also offers ten applications, is compactly built and fits into every corner with a footprint of less than 5 m².
Typical run lengths for the KAMA flatbed die cutters are between 200 and 500,000 sheets, but shorter runs can also be worthwhile, and the machines with a performance of up to 5,500 sheets per hour (sph) are robust enough to handle longer runs with ease, shares Bernd Sauter, manager director, KAMA GmbH.
Kongsberg
The Kongsberg C Edge, the newest cutting table in the Kongsberg C Series offers speeds of up to 75 meters per minute.
Valloy Incorporation
Valloy offers its DUOBLADE FX is a sheet-fed digital sticker die cutter. The device is able to calibrate registration automatically for itself using a sensor and camera.
Additionally, it stores a large amount of cutting files and features quick response code-driven automatic job processing.
The DUOBLADE FX handles multiple tools together, so half-cut and full-cut or full-cut and creasing can be done simultaneously and its intuitive software converts PDF and Adobe Illustrator files automatically with path and sequence optimization.
Furthermore, Perfect-Cut algorithm traces the real path of dragging knives for perfect cutting quality.
YOUNG SHIN USA
Mentioned above under Best Graphics, Young Shin Industries is a premier flatbed die cutting equipment offering a wide range of products that support sizes from 28×40 up to 98×67 inches.
Young Shin offers a comprehensive line of flatbed die cutters that support applications from short-run to long-run projects within the corrugated, folding carton, display makers/finishers and printers
Zund
Zünd has been developing and manufacturing digital flatbed cutting systems for more than three decades. The current product palette include Zünd’s Generation 3 lines—with G3 and S3, the dual-beam D3 and the L3 leather-cutting systems—geared towards multi-functionality and productivity that can be tailored to many different industries and applications. The latest addition (Zünd’s fourth generation), which was launched in the Spring and is soon to be introduced in the U.S., is the new Q-Line with BHS180. This highly advanced digital cutting system is designed for non-stop, pallet-to-pallet industrial manufacturing of packaging and displays and offers unprecedented speed, power, and productivity.
Gen3 targets an extraordinarily wide range of applications from just about any kind of sign and graphics to packaging, (tech-)textile and composites, apparel, and leather goods. In graphics and packaging applications, it is ideally suited for customers who utilize a range of materials and/or need to pair their finishing equipment with high-volume digital printers. In the latter scenario, Zünd digital production automation offers solutions for making the finishing process as cohesive, transparent, and efficient as possible—from file preparation to logistics.
Flatbed Options
Flatbed cutters provide efficiency and versatility for a range of products. From wide format to packaging there is a solution for nearly every need.
Oct2023, DPS Magazine
