For more than 30 years, Vistaprint has delivered on its promise to deliver the right products, at the right price, on-trend and on-demand. Recently, the company installed a new DGM SmartFold Servo X 1100 folder-gluer from Graph-Pak, in a move that opens some exciting new packaging possibilities.
Vistaprint was one of the first print businesses in Australia to offer on-demand print via a web-to-print platform. Today, its offers thousands of products, and deliver on its promises by investing in the latest technology – most recently, a new DGM Smartfold 1100 SL high-speed automatic folder-gluer, supplied and installed by Graph-Pak Australia in April.
Designed for the most demanding printing and packaging environments, the SmartFold has the flexibility to run a wide range of products, including small or large boxes, quickly and easily.
Twenty-six metres long and 1100 mm-wide, the machine comprises modules for everything from registration, to glueing, folding, crash-lock bottoms and a trombone section to ensure a smooth flow. This provides a one-pass finishing solution for a wide range of products including straight-line, crash-lock bottom, double wall, four and six-corner boxes.
It is installed in the company’s meticulously streamlined and highly-automated factory. Vistaprint was awarded a bronze Shingo prize for operation excellence in 2014, the first Australian printing company to be recognised for its world-class manufacturing results, LEAN culture and highly customised web-to-print operations.
“One of the principles of LEAN manufacturing is minimising touchpoints and utilising automation, and this is where the SmartFold machine really shines,” explains Chris Thorburn, Senior Manufacturing Technology Engineer at Vistaprint.
“We can now produce a huge variety of products, ‘from blank to box’ in a single pass. More importantly, with its servo-driven automated set-up, job changeover can be done easily in under 10 minutes. That’s a game-changer when you are working towards a target of something like 50 changeovers in a 24-hour period.”
Vistaprint had previously used German finishing equipment but, with their European colleagues looking to China for recent investments, they were emboldened to investigate options closer to home.
“I probably had a bias towards the European brands,” Chris admits, “but I was surprised and impressed when I visited the DGM factory with Tom Ralph from Graph-Pak, to put the SmartFold through its paces.
“It clearly offered more flexibility and features than its European counterparts, not the least its 1100 mm width, with state-of-the-art technology and a robust design that would rival any on the market, all at a very compelling price point.
“The factory is a real, precision manufacturing environment where every process, from CNC fabrication through to the paint job, is done to the highest standards. It’s very impressive.”
After determining that the SmartFold 1100-SL was the best option, the team was able to conduct in-depth testing to validate size, performance and safety specs, before working with Graph-Pak and DGM to add small touches to customise the machine to its own unique requirements.
“With Graph-Pak in Melbourne to help with maintenance and on-site issues, and remote support from DGM in China and Spain, we have great support coverage across a 24-hour period,” Chris adds. “In an on-demand, 24/5 and sometimes 24/7 operation, you can’t overstate the importance of confidence in that support system.”
Already, the new machine is producing A4 and A5 corporate folders in different configurations, and a variety of boxes for the company’s own shipping requirements, but Chris says the plan is to utilise its exceptional versatility and productivity to further expand the company’s offer in the packaging space.
“Demand for packaging is increasing massively, for everything from food to cosmetics, so we see enormous potential to grow our offering in this space,” Chris says.
“That makes the SmartFold 1100 not only a smart choice for today, but a real investment in our future.”
Caption:
(L-R)- Garry Allen (Shift Supervisor), Himanshu Sharma (Plant Director), Dave Bennett (Shift Lead) with the DGM Smartfold 1100 SL high-speed automatic folder-gluer, supplied and installed by Graph-Pak