DS Smith Adds New BOBST Production Line

Prosecco is an instantly recognizable product name, but the delivery of this successful sparkling wine requires high-quality corrugated packaging – and that’s where DS Smith’s factory in Rosà, Northern Italy, comes in.
 
DS Smith’s factory in Rosà is the one situated nearest to Valdobbiadene, one of the main wine-growing regions for prosecco.
 
For Alessandro Cebin, GM of DS Smith’s Rosà factory, being able to supply high-quality corrugated packaging in a timely manner for his prosecco-selling clients, as well as the many other independent and multinational companies in the food and drink they serve, is imperative.
 
“Our clients distribute their products all over the country, and all over the world,” said Cebin. “They need high quantities of reliable, attractive, consistent corrugated packaging. They are rightly demanding in this context, requiring highly sophisticated graphics. We have to succeed in producing a product that meets their expectations.”
 
To help meet those expectations, the Rosà factory recently invested in FFG924 NT RS RapidSet, a BOBST flexo-folder-gluer. FFG924 NT RS achieves – in one pass – first-class printing, excellent die-cutting and accurate folding, and is a step ahead in terms of flexibility. It is also associated with shorter set-up times and fewer stoppages, with easy change and cleaning of the anilox rollers. The production level of the machine can reach approximately 140,000 square meters of corrugated board per day.
 
“This new machine is already responsible for more than 20% of our entire production and gives us a lot of benefits,” said Cebin. “We used to manage certain aspects of the process with multiple steps – now everything is managed in one single coherent line. So we are saving time, have an optimized production process and we can meet the commercial demands with flexibility and, as a result, we can be more flexible than before with our deliveries.”
 
As for the future, Cebin said that he would like to improve setup times and increase production even further.
 
“It is clear that now that we do a little of everything to complete the production cycle, and we should do less of the less important things and more of the important things. This gives us great possibilities, commercially speaking.”