Miamisburg, OH – Goldrich Printpak Inc., a folding box company located in Toronto, Canada has installed an Esko Kongsberg XN24 finishing table and ArtiosCAD software to finish samples and short production runs for its customers.  Using the Kongsberg has made the process much easier, and cutting and creasing of specialized cosmetics boxes much finer. As an added benefit the system is able to cut coating blankets for its offset presses, allowing the environmentally-conscious company a way of reducing waste and saving significant costs.

Operating from a 67,700 sq.ft. facility, Goldrich Printpak Inc. (Goldrich) is an integrated full-service manufacturer of custom printed paper boxes, meeting every need from concept and design to finished packaging and co-packaging. From its inception in 1953 as a commercial printer and lithographer, Goldrich Printpak Inc. has understood that innovative, high-quality packaging is vital to the success of its clients’ products. The company has kept up with packaging innovations, expanding its services to new markets and adopting new technologies, materials and design innovations to ensure its clients are always on the leading edge of change. Goldrich also strives to be among the world’s most innovative and sustainable packaging corporations in reducing the environmental impact of its business, while being a valuable resource to its clients in their efforts to do the same. For example, Goldrich prints using vegetable based, non-toxic, low VOC and direct contact eco-certified inks, giving its clients confidence that their products are 100% consumer safe. 

"One of the services we offer is short-run samples for our customers. A lot of our customers work with retailers who want just one pallet or less of product. We had an older CAD cutting machine that worked, but had hiccups. It cut samples, but we had to manually make the creases. We realized last year that it was on its last legs," recalls Leslie Goldberg, Goldrich President and CEO  

"We handle cardboard, thin corrugated and plastics and were looking for a machine that could handle these substrates. We wanted a quality machine that could cut materials very well and that was durable enough to work for us for the next twenty years," adds Goldberg. "Local service was also very important. We wanted to make sure we could work with local contacts who could provide technical help and support quickly when we needed it."

Goldrich looked at models from different vendors, as well as a few models of Esko Kongsberg tables. "We did some rigorous testing before we invested in a machine. We gave each vendor some CAD drawings of multiple styles along with multiple substrates. This included sample boxes of cardboard, vinyl, polyester—as well as coating blankets for their lithographic printing presses. The other tables did an adequate job out of the gate, but the Esko Kongsberg table did a superb job—and was on budget."

Goldrich purchased a Kongsberg table and has been using it for a month. “This is night and day. It delivers very precise, high-speed cutting—and its size is very helpful," comments AJ Goldberg, Director of Business Development. The Kongsberg XN is easily the most versatile digital finishing device ever introduced. It comes with a wide range of specialty tools, offering speed, power and flexibility to automatically handle a wide variety of materials, such as corrugated, folding carton, solid board, foam, coating blankets, and a long list of plastics. The Kongsberg XN 24 can work with materials as large as 1740mm x 3575mm (68" x 140").

Before the Kongsberg XN 24, Goldrich would image a plate and then manually cut a sticky back blanket for the press. "The blankets were non-renewable. We'd throw them away. In essence, we would purchase blankets at a cost of $130-140 each, plus waste an hour and a half of press time," explains Simo Molkanen, Litho Supervisor and Pressroom Manager. "We are now able to set up standard templates on our Kongsberg table and cut coating blankets that can be reused on our presses. There is both an economic and sustainable benefit for us. We're in the early stages of preparing these."

Some Goldrich customers are cosmetics companies. Attention to detail is very important for their sample and presentation pieces. They have noticed that there is less cracking on high-end boards. 

The speed of the Kongsberg tables is also significant. It allows Goldrich to easily produce short runs of 100-300 units, helping them to expand the breadth of their business. "One large retail customer recently asked for a full pallet of samples—160 pieces. Previously it was a nightmare to try to get these projects done. Now, we're excited to push the table to the limits," comments Goldberg. "This morning I'm meeting with a cosmetics customer to deliver 24 box samples made of virgin SBS with a bright silver metallized polyester surface. I do not think we would have been able to get there with our old cutting table. The quality would be much different. Every bad cut would show itself as wavering in the corners and the folds. This is important to us, because it's our target market—high quality upscale customers where clean folding is important." 

Goldrich Printpak also uses Esko ArtiosCAD software to create structural design files to drive the Kongsberg table for both folded cartons as well as the coating blankets. At the same time, they take the artwork file from ArtiosCAD and import it into Adobe Illustrator to add graphics and to send 3D interactive virtual PDF files for their clients. They also include the 2D and 3D artwork files with a die line with the factory order as a traveller and quick check of the correct art file, structural shape, and job to be produced. The final job specs are sent from ArtiosCAD to estimating and the company’s software operating system.

"We love the Kongsberg XN24 finishing table and software. The whole experience from pre-site inspection to installation has been terrific. And, we see no reason why we should not receive a potential payback within three years or less," adds Leslie Goldberg.