BOBST has announced its attendance at the FTA’s Fall Conference and INFOFLEX exhibition, which is taking place on October 3–6, 2021, at the Embassy Suite Hotel in Frisco, TX. After two years of virtual meetings, the company welcomes the opportunity to return to live events, as the printing and packaging industry re-establishes in-person conferences, trade shows and networking.

“For BOBST, 2020 was very much a watershed year where we presented our industry vision, which is built on the four cornerstones of connectivity, digitalization, automation, and sustainability, along with innovative equipment and process solutions to support that vision,” comments Emilio Corti, Regional Market Director Americas for BOBST. “We successfully meet the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic by keeping the industry abreast of all our innovations via webinars and online live demonstrations from our Competence Centers, but face-to-face interaction is something else entirely.”

Over the past year, BOBST has continued to build on its advances in every key production step of flexible packaging and label manufacturing, from vacuum metallizing and coating – including processes for new alternative, eco-friendly substrates – to printing, lamination, finishing and converting. For the flexo market, BOBST launched the MASTER CI press for flexible packaging and the MASTER DM5 All-in-One, All-Inline label press. Both presses, along with innovations such as BOBST’s Extended Color Gamut (ECG) printing, Ink-on-Demand (IoD) and DigiColor, are moving automation and digitalization to a new level.

In term of process optimization and color management, BOBST has long been a pioneer in the development of solutions relating to color consistency and control. First developed for its range of narrow web inline flexo presses, oneECG is today deployed across analogue and digital printing processes for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton, and corrugated board industries.

Standardization through the supply chain and the elimination of all variables that can affect the final result is pre-requisite for successful implementation of oneECG. In wide web CI flexo printing that has meant addressing a number of press features instrumental in ensuring the best results with oneECG, including the rigidity of the print decks, optimal ink flow, consistent drying and stable registration.

Press drying efficiency is a fundamental aspect especially in water-based printing, which is on the increase in flexible packaging applications. The FSM (Full Surface Matrix) dryer on BOBST’s CI flexo presses provides significantly higher efficiency compared to one-slot drying systems, as the blast of air is applied to the whole surface of the substrate through hundreds of small jets. This not only guarantees drying at high production speeds, but also enhances register accuracy as the web is evenly pushed against the CI drum.

BOBST customers can experience the entire production process end-to-end of both CI and inline flexo printing solutions at the Competence Center of Bobst Bielefeld, in Germany, and Bobst Firenze, in Italy, starting from the design file and plate production in the fully equipped press rooms through to the printed reel and twin file comparison with the master file.

“BOBST’s end-to-end approach, from product specification and file through to all production steps until the final product, gives us the opportunity to spearhead an industry transformation,” comments Mr Corti. “It is the perfect integration of all production steps and means, complemented by collaborations with industry suppliers on new consumables and systems, supported by the web handling capabilities of BOBST equipment across all printing and converting technologies, that ensure we deliver solutions that maximize sustainable operation, productivity and product quality.”