The print and packaging industry is entering a profound transformation, with changing consumer behaviors and new technologies disrupting the industry. Brand owners of every size are under increasing pressure to deliver the ideal packaging blend of design, substrates and quality. For converters, new business opportunities are on the rise. The Industry 4.0 principles are entering into the packaging industry and we are at a tipping point where smart factories will become a reality. Connecting the dots between Packaging 4.0 and Industry 4.0 is of great strategic importance for converters and brand owners alike.
It is in this context that BOBST has developed its industry vision – to shape the future of the packaging world – based on four cornerstones, which are connectivity, digitalization, automation and sustainability. As BOBST continues to deliver best-in-class machines, the company is placing great emphasis on new technologies and capabilities that will enable the future of our customers.
Below are proof points of several new solutions to help packaging converters to shape a better future.
• BOBST Connect
BOBST provides digital solutions to prepare, produce, react to, maintain, and optimize production workflow. BOBST believes that the entire packaging value chain can be connected – and BOBST Connect is the result of that belief. By linking up every single step of the process, BOBST Connect heightens efficiency, control, and data knowledge.
Why BOBST Connect? BOBST Connect is a link between BOBST production equipment and the digital eco-system (including third-party software), designed to enhance efficiency, accuracy, performance and ultimately – profitability. Through BOBST Connect we provide machine and process knowledge to our customers, to make a real change in their way of working, which is in line with today’s fast-paced world.
What is special about BOBST Connect?
BOBST Connect provides the most accurate and actionable data from BOBST machines. It allows customers to:
- Improve performance
- Monitor machine and production health to reduce waste and increase profitability
What to expect in the first BOBST Connect solutions?
Machine specific dashboards to visualize and monitor the health of the machine.
Through in-depth knowledge and tera-bytes of data of BOBST machines, we are able to provide:
– Key metrics that highlight the health of the machine
– Shopfloor view indicating production status
– Track OEE by job, shift, and time period
– Understand root cause behind common losses in availability, performance and quality
– Manage shifts within BOBST Connect, and in sync with MES
What is coming next? BOBST Connect is fully part of the digital age and will continuously deliver new assets to our customers. For instance, soon we will offer solutions to prepare your quality and production jobs off the production line. As a step towards the next generation of process optimization, the BOBST Connect platform will also include predictive and maintenance management solutions.
What else? Reacting to the agile needs of packaging converters, the myBOBST service uses digital technologies to help brands stay connected when unexpected events or special challenges arise.
• BOBST oneECG sets new color management standards for the entire industry, increasing quality and reducing waste
oneECG is BOBST’s Extended Color Gamut technology deployed across analogue and digital printing for label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board. ECG refers to a set of process inks – typically 7 – to achieve through a specific combination a color gamut larger than the traditional CMYK, ensuring color repeatability irrespective of the color operator’s skill.
oneECG not only brings efficiency and productivity but it allows our customers to produce in a more sustainable way. With oneECG in gravure for example, customers can reduce ink consumption, leftovers and material waste by up to 50%.
BOBST has invested a lot of energy with oneECG in gravure over the past years. The company has tested various ink types including NC-PU and PU profiles on both polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and for each, has developed the relative Gamut profile. BOBST has also carried out several oneECG demonstrations on the gravure machines in its competence center, which have convinced both converters and brand owners. BOBST has a number of ongoing projects with various customers and has already sold a oneECG-ready EXPERT RS 6003, which is its new generation gravure printing press.
BOBST is currently working on additional developments, including further enhancements to the HMI dedicated to oneECG and additional automatic in-line processes and new certifications and patents dedicated to this project.
• BOBST new label portfolio powered by the digitalization open new horizons
BOBST is aiming to lead the next chapter of digitalization of label production and also going beyond digital printing, offering fully digitalized solutions in flexo, digital inkjet and the combination of both.
To ensure the vision is implemented effectively, in early 2021 BOBST acquired the remaining 49.9% of Mouvent AG. This acquisition is a commitment towards an acceleration of the digitalization of printing based on a unique cluster technology delivering high quality, high speed and the lowest TCO. BOBST will now integrate Mouvent fully under the BOSBT brand and go-to-market activities.
At BOBST, we believe that the future of label production will be primarily driven by inkjet developments and the growth of the All-in-One category we announced back in 2019.
In 2020, the BOBST DM5 received the EDP Industry Award for the best combined label and flexible packaging printer of the year. In 2021, the BOBST DM5 is fully commercially available with various installations at customer sites doing things that were previously not possible.
The BOBST MASTER DM5 sets a new standard for the digitalization of the label industry. Prime, print, embellish, cut – all-in-one, all-inline, with digitally automated on-the-fly non-stop job change, an exceptionally high press uptime and outstanding repeatability regardless of the operator's skills.
We believe that digitalized, closed-loop end-to-end connected systems are the future for labels, enabling converters to deliver faster, with better quality and less waste and more profitably answering the growing demand for on-demand labels production. Making All-in-One, All-in-Line a reality is one of the best proof points of the new Packaging 4.0 industry vision with the amin to optimize the entire production floor.
• BOBST Digital Inspection Tables to digitally and data driven enhance quality and reduce waste
The BOBST Digital Inspection Table (DIT) solutions represent a breakthrough in quality control, streamlining the process, improving precision and automating reporting, and represent a strategic piece within the Packaging 4.0 roll-out.
This fully digitalized tables use data to avoid human errors, significantly decrease waste, and reduce expensive and damaging recalls. It enhances customer relationships based on data driven business insights. If converters want to deploy an industry 4.0-compliant packaging production process, this product is a must-have.
Embracing the packaging industry transformation with confidence
“We are living through a period of profound transformation in our industry and our approach is to embrace that transformation and provide new opportunities for our customers,” said Jean-Pascal Bobst, CEO Bobst Group. “The solutions we provide mean converters and brand owners can cope with the shifting pressures and rapidly-changing environment that they face. We are on the journey with them and we can shape the future of the packaging world together.”
