For packaging converting business around the world, staying ahead requires not just keeping up with the latest technologies, but also ensuring that existing machinery remains efficient and effective. As a leading name in the industry with machines trusted by packaging and label converters around the world, BOBST leverages its extensive technical expertise to offer two distinct yet equally crucial services to support businesses: retrofitting and upgrading.

Retrofitting: Proactive Maintenance for Seamless Operations
As technology advances, new components are launched, and incumbent parts become obsolete. Proactive retrofitting has become a cornerstone of printing and packaging production performance, representing a key approach to maintenance that safeguards businesses from the pitfalls of obsolescence. This can include components such as drives, controllers, and human-machine interfaces (HMIs), that manufacturers cease to produce, and so like-for-like replacements cannot be easily sourced in the event of a part failure.

BOBST offers retrofitting as part of its core service offering. The primary goal of BOBST's retrofit department is to simplify the transition when components become obsolete, ensuring that the replacement part precisely mirrors the original's functionality. For converters, the process is highly protective and designed not necessarily to add new functionality, but to protect the continuous production and efficiency that is so vital in packaging production. As such, the key benefit of retrofitting lies in the reduction of downtime and the implementation of preventive measures, essentially contributing to effective risk management.

The process starts with BOBST issuing prompt communications to customers when a part is confirmed obsolete by its manufacturer. Collaboration with manufacturers follows to identify a direct replacement and its required technical specification. Extensive testing, including running the component on BOBST machines with customers, ensures that the replacement meets expectations and performs at the same level. Successful test results pave the way for a global rollout, managed by the BOBST R&D department, providing a turnkey solution tailored to each machine's unique parameters.

Showcasing the company’s measured and considered approach to retrofitting, BOBST uses a Technical Intervention Programme with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), to assess obsolescence risks. This analysis is documented in a spreadsheet for customer reference, categorising risks of failure as green, amber or red. Armed with this insight, BOBST customers can gauge the individual risk of a part failure across their assets in terms of downtime, highlighting the value of retrofitting beyond the initial investment.

Retrofitting is not just about addressing part obsolescence; it adds intrinsic value to the machine. BOBST collaborates with suppliers to understand the lifespan of machines and parts, and this foresight is used in the initial design phase of machines to ensure longevity and performance, with retrofitting factored into press design to future-proof machines.

Upgrading: Enhancing Performance, Sustainability, and Lifespan
In addition to retrofitting, BOBST offers a comprehensive upgrade function. While retrofitting focuses on replacing obsolete components before they can create machine downtime for customers, upgrading is about adding new technology, features, and functionality to existing machines.

This service is particularly valuable during the natural evolution of a business, which may be aiming to expand its capacity into new areas, product lines or enhance its focus in core markets.

An illustrative example is the main motor upgrade for SP-SPO-FLEXO machines. Handled by the BOBST team from beginning to end, replacing a DC shunt motor with a new AC motor brings about a 13% saving on energy consumption, equivalent to approximately 3,000W per hour. The upgrade includes IE3 class motor technology, showcasing BOBST's commitment to sustainability.

Another example is the BOBST smartCHAMBER, an automated doctor blade chamber that is mechanically and permanently locked, ensuring it stays in position and preventing it from opening. Additionally, the balance of forces is constantly monitored and optimal pressure adjustment for the doctor blade chamber is done automatically. This upgrade for CI FLEXO machines eliminates press stops due to blade chamber ink leakage and ensures the lowest continuous contact pressure, reducing imperfections from back pressure. It increases blade lifetime by up to 30% and reduces back doctoring by 8%, serving as a cost and resource-saver.

Where retrofitting preserves machine uptime as a preventive maintenance measure, the core benefits of upgrading are threefold: enhanced machine availability, improved quality in print production and cuts, and a greater sustainability focus through reduced waste, energy consumption, and increased efficiency. To illustrate the core value, BOBST even provides an ROI calculator to demonstrate how upgrades not only improve operations but can also contribute to environmental goals.

No business can afford to stagnate in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, and exploring the advantages of retrofitting and upgrade support from BOBST can boost the strategic performance of businesses in the print and packaging industries.

Whether proactively addressing obsolescence or enhancing machine performance, BOBST stands as a reliable global partner, committed to the seamless evolution and improvement of its customers' machine parks.