Sales Beat Expectations for BOBST at drupa 2016

The BOBST range of equipment and services, and in particular the world premiere lines it revealed, resonated well with visitors to drupa 2016, resulting in sales at the show exceeding both expectations and the total recorded at BOBST’s record breaking drupa four years ago. Buyers were attracted to all aspects of the BOBST portfolio, and showed particularly strong interest in the new M6 Digital Flexo press, as well as in mid- and high-range converting for sheet-fed carton manufacture and in services such as online troubleshooting.
 
By starting from the end packaging application and working back to the ideal manufacturing solution, BOBST is unique in the industry. Its solutions at drupa addressed the concerns visitors expressed regarding how to profitably manufacture when run lengths are constantly reducing and labor costs increasing.
 
“The industries we serve today are searching for drastic productivity improvement through innovations, services and people relationships,” Jean-Pascal Bobst, CEO of BOBST said. “Moreover, the digitalization of the packaging supply chain is paving the way for the future. This year´s drupa has again been a great platform for us to demonstrate that we deliver the right solutions for our customers’ applications – be they folding carton, flexible material, labels or corrugated board.”
 
The M6 press impressed visitors with its automated systems that change jobs in under a minute, produce virtually no waste and need little operator intervention. The press gives users the speed advantages of a digital workflow along with the cost advantages of the flexo process and an Extended Color Gamut ink set. The M6 press can run flexible packaging or folding carton and, when used with a sheeter unit, allows carton makers to take advantage of Digital Flexo while continuing to use their existing sheet-fed conversion equipment.
 
Visitors showed considerable interest in the new MW 85F flexo press, which delivers high quality, low waste production and is particularly suitable for short-run printing. In the super-wide CI flexo arena, the new 40SIX model, designed for print widths over 1650mm and up to 2250mm, delivers fast and fully automatic job change-overs with safe and easy sleeve handling.
 
Visitors interested in the gravure process offered positive feedback on the high speed, high quality printing solutions BOBST offers, especially the new RS 6002 and RS 6003 presses announced during the show. The RS 6002 is an eco-friendly press that handles short and long run production of flexible materials applications equally efficiently. The RS 6003 is an evolution of the successful 4003 platform and is ideal for medium-to-long run lengths, while accommodating both shafted and shaftless printing cylinders.
 
Converters were interested in the new CL 750D laminator which premiered at the show, and which offers them a way to access new markets such as that for ultra-short run laminating. Both the MASTERCUT 106 PER and new MASTERFOLD 110 premiered at drupa offer advanced technical solutions that make them the most productive machines in the market. Higher running speeds, much faster make-readies, less waste, increased uptime and technology that makes ‘zero-fault’ production achievable, all addressed users’ needs for increased automation and the ability to change jobs quickly and accurately.
 
The industry’s most productive MASTERFOIL 106 PR hot foil stamping press on show, which features a new module, FOIL UNWINDER+, made a successful drupa debut as well. Along with these high productivity solutions, mid-range solutions such as EXPERTCUT die-cutters, and EXPERTFOLD and VISIONFOLD folder-gluers were in considerable demand by visitors to the BOBST booth.