Packaging
GEASA (Spain): Production increased three times thanks to a BOBST VISIONFOLD 145 folder-gluer
Wednesday 25. June 2008 - The folder-gluer operators at Industrias Graficas del Envase, S.L. (IGEASA) say "this is a marvelous machine!" In hardly more than a month, the BOBST VISIONFOLD has exceeded all of the expectations of both Josep Maria ROTA, the owner of IGEASA, and its personnel.
Located in Odena, about sixty kilometers from Barcelona, at the foot of the mountain of Montserrat, IGEASA is in its 25th year of operation. The company employs 43 people working over three shifts. Its machine complement includes a six color Man-Roland offset print line at size VI, diecutters, and folder-gluers, among other equipment. IGEASA specializes in B and E-flute, and litho-laminated, packaging for the wine making companies of the region.
The arrival of the VISIONFOLD folder-gluer, its first BOBST machine, has caused a considerable revolution at the company, enhancing even further the service and speed for which IGEASA has always been known. Its markets are composed of 25% POS, and 75% packaging foodstuffs and wines. Of these totals, 90% of the companys output is microflute, and 10% solid fiberboard, with its customers being mainly Spanish – some are large groups for which IGEASA subcontracts – and about 10% being French. The VISIONFOLD line was installed in a new plant, at Igualada, which will make it possible for IGEASA to serve its customers even more speedily.
The versatility of the VISIONFOLD 145 brings IGEASA the opportunity to process large microflute boxes and small folding boxboard cartons on the same machine. In very little time since its startup, IGEASA already used the line at high speed to manufacture 40,000 cartonboard boxes for rice.
The pride of the operators was to produce in one shift – instead of the three needed until now – 60,000 difficult litho-laminated boxes, with only three boxes scrapped. On the old machine, waste for this job averaged 3,000 boxes. So the loss incurred has dropped from close to 240 to nothing, and conscious that they are only at the beginning of their training, the operators are expecting even more progression.
For Josep Maria ROTA, the strong points of the machine are its Accufeed feeder for the alignment of blanks, the pre-breaker of the first and third creases, and the stacker which eliminates fish tailing. And he adds that “Thanks to its C.U.B.E system electronics, the machine is very user-friendly, and the changeover times are incredible.”
When asked the reasons for his choice of the VISIONFOLD, Josep Maria ROTA responds with a smile: “The BOBST name played a big part, because it is a brand which inspires confidence, as well as effectiveness in the person of Alfonso Mateo from Bobst Group Iberica! There were, of course, other cheaper options, but confidence is essential. I expected productivity, quality, and reliability from the VISIONFOLD, and after less than a month that has already been delivered”.