Bauernfeind Druck & Display GmBH, a family-owned company and an early adopter of digital technology, has improved its production capacity and expanded its offering by installing the first Highcon Euclid 5C in Austria. This innovative digital cutting and creasing system was installed at the Grünburg facility in Upper Austria, at the end of 2022. The Highcon Euclid 5C is specifically designed to meet the requirements of packaging converters working with corrugated substrates ranging from 1 mm to 3 mm (40-120pt). It enables the production of high-quality short-run corrugated packaging and point-of-sale (PoS) materials.
“With this investment, we anticipate a significant increase in turnover for our digital business, projected at 20% over the next two years,” explained Reinhard Bolterauer, managing director of Bauernfeind Grünburg. The facility primarily focuses on the production of corrugated products such as promotional boxes, small gift boxes, and shipping boxes for its target markets in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
As early as 2010, Bauernfeind embraced digital production, allowing them to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions. With the growing trend towards smaller production runs and increasing demand for customized solutions, Bauernfeind’s digital production volume has significantly risen in recent years. Consequently, the company has experienced substantial growth in its digital production capabilities. Most recently, it added the cutting-edge Agfa Jeti Taurno H3300 High-Speed LED printer in addition to its Highcon Euclid and three additional digital printing systems. This equipment has facilitated the establishment of a comprehensive digital production workflow, solidifying Bauernfeind’s position as a company operating at a 95% digital capacity.
The Highcon Euclid 5C offers several advantages that enhance production efficiency and agility. Firstly, it eliminates the need for traditional dies, resulting in cost savings, reduced storage requirements, and waste. Moreover, it leverages digital technology to enable just-in-time (JIT) production, accommodate short runs, and facilitate customized perforations, even down to individual serial numbers. Furthermore, it opens new customer and market opportunities, including presentation boxes with intricate laser cuts.
“With the Highcon and the Agfa, we have taken a big step forward, directly benefiting our customers. This will be reflected in even shorter delivery times in various finishing options, improved quality, and significant environmental savings,” said Bolterauer. In addition, with Highcon’s laser cutting technology, Bauernfeind can now offer a wider variety of laser-cut filigree shapes and varied contours from rigid and corrugated cardboard up to 3mm thick, which is challenging to achieve with analog systems. Combined with our digital printing expertise, we can quickly create personalized gift boxes featuring laser-cut motifs, presentation packaging, promotional items, and secure shipping boxes.”
“The Highcon is extremely crucial for our customers due to its high production speed and relatively low tooling costs,” explained Bolterauer. “Faster production and shorter delivery times are of utmost importance. Typically, our average delivery time is around seven to eight working days. However, with the implementation of the Highcon system, we can potentially reduce this time by half, achieving a delivery time of approximately three to four days. Additionally, we can increase our production rate, allowing us to accommodate urgent requests from customers. For example, if a customer requires us to complete a job as soon as the following day, we can fulfill their request.”
Bauernfeind also intends to implement Highton’s digital manufacturing approach, which involves dynamically ganging multiple jobs to optimize production runs over an entire shift or longer, rather than focusing on individual jobs. According to Bolterauer, the company aims to achieve a 20% increase in output within the next two years, thanks to faster printing and die-cutting speeds. They plan to gang jobs on both the digital printers and the Highcon system. Additionally, the converter hopes to transfer 20% of its current analog jobs to digital systems, with the remaining growth expected to come from new business opportunities such as presentation boxes with very fine laser cuts.
Bolerauer concluded “With this investment, we are now transferring some of our smaller-sized board jobs, Point of Sale, and counter display orders to Highcon. The Highcon allows us to expand our range of offerings and allocate our other digital equipment primarily for larger projects.”