1. Highcon

FAQs

What would you like to know?

General

  • Highcon is an Israeli company, founded in 2009, that invented the first digital cutting and creasing machines for folding carton finishing, corrugated packaging & display and commercial applications.
  • Dozens of machines have been installed all over the world (December 2019) since the first commercial install in 2014.
  • No, it doesn’t matter how the sheets are printed, analog or digital.
    • The Highcon digital cutting and creasing technology enables a wide variety of applications:
    • Packaging
    • beverage carriers
    • dividers / inserts
    • counter displays
    • secondary packaging
    • POS - display components (corrugated)
    • versioning / customization
    • e-commerce packaging
    • blister cards / hanging cards
    • luxury packages
    • folding carton packaging
    • greeting cards
    • pocket folders
    • POS wobblers
    • shelf-talkers
    • tags on the shelf
    • collateral (brochures,flyers,invitations,business cards)
  • The Highcon technology replaces a complex, expensive and slow die-making and setup process, with an in-house controlled digital system, delivering improved responsiveness, design flexibility and enhanced efficiency. Digital laser cutting and creasing can produce customized zipper tears, perforations that enhanced the customer experience and etching that can be used for brand protection and serialization.
  • The Highcon machines crease, cut and strip in one pass – and all the processes are digital. Advantages vs laser are productivity, creasing capability, format, substrate thickness and digital stripping. Also, laser cutters use a half cut to produce a crease, which is frequently not acceptable in the packaging market and reduces the speed.

Highcon Products

  • The Highcon product portfolio includes the Highcon Euclid series (Highcon Euclid 5, 5S and 5C), the Highcon Beam 2 and Beam 2C,
  • The Highcon Beam handles B1 sheets up to 5,000 B1 sheets per hour and takes digital cutting and creasing into mainstream production. It is suitable for mid-large folding carton and corrugated converters, large commercial printers (B1), large trade finishers. Main benefits: High productivity and flexibility enables strong ROI through analog to digital conversion and introduction of new high value opportunities with a wide range of paper/carton thicknesses.
  • The Highcon Beam 2C brings all the advantages of the flagship Beam 2 machine to the corrugated market for packaging and display. This solution is available in two configurations: standard, and nonstop feeding and stacking. The nonstop feeder and stacker is an optional add-on to the standard machine and is field upgradable and delivers enhanced productivity.
    1. The Highcon Euclid 5 is a proven machine that offers application versatility by digital cutting and creasing. It is suitable for small folding carton converters, commercial printers (B1), trade finishers, or E-commerce (web-to-print and web-to- pack) players. Main benefits: a wide range of new, high value applications (Variable Data Cutting, and intricate designs), rapid turnaround and efficiency, and a solution for short to medium runs at an affordable price.
  • The Highcon Euclid 5S offers digital cutting and creasing in a B2/29in 530X750mm format. It is suitable for conventional and digital converters and commercial printers working in B2 format as well as offering an end-to-end digital workflow for digital print service providers. Main benefits: all the capabilities and opportunities of digital cutting and creasing for smaller format printers.
  • The Highcon Euclid 5C digital cutting and creasing machine has been specifically engineered to suit the needs of packaging converters working in B1 and B2 format for corrugated and fluted substrates from 1 mm up to 3mm/ 40-120pt.(N,G,F,E,& B flutes) The ability to customize size and structure to optimize box size, the short turnaround time and the flexibility of the digital technology enables JIT production, short runs, customized perforations with cleaner edges and innovative opening mechanisms that cannot be produced conventionally. Box Compression Tests prove that boxes produced with the same substrate on the Euclid are stronger than those produced on conventional machines
  • Following are the maximum speeds*: Highcon Beam 2                 5,000 B1 sheets/hour Highcon Euclid 5 series    2,250 B1 sheets/hour, 2,750 B2 sheets/hour. Highcon Beam 2C              4,000 B1 sheets/hour Highcon Euclid 5C              2,250 sheets/hour *Speed is a function of layout imposition and substrate thickness.  
  • We expect that on average, it will take around 15 minutes for a B1 job, which is a fraction of the current conventional process. The Highcon digital process means that the set up become much easier and shorter.
  • The speed is set automatically on the machine but the operator can adjust the speed according to requirements
  • Highcon Beam 2 Cardboard/label 200-900 (8-36pt.) cutting
        200-600 (8-24pt.) cutting & creasing
      Microflute N+F+G cutting and creasing
      Corrugated up to 2mm (78pt.) cutting and creasing
    Highcon Euclid 5 & 5S Cardboard and label 200-600µ(8-24pt.)
    Highcon Beam 2C Corrugated & microflute 1-4mm, N F G E B C and EE flute
    Highcon Euclid 5C Corrugated & Microflute 1-3 mm, N F G E B flute
  • In addition to the core digital cutting and creasing, all the machines have optional modules: CAD Light Editor, Highcon Integrated Digital Stripping (HIDS), and Variable Data Cutting (VDC) The laser is capable of cutting, etching, kiss cut, half cut, and perforation. CAD Light Editor The machine will run with Esko ArtiosCAD, Adobe Illustrator, EngView Package Designer – any software that you already use that can export a DXF file. The Highcon CAD Light Editor add-on software module, powered by Esko or EngView, allows operators to take full advantage of the flexibility of digital technology by enabling:
    • Last minute editing of crease and cut lines
      • Corrections, design changes, optimization
    • Nick optimization
      • Increasing or decreasing size of nick
      • adding and removing nicks
    • Stripping lines

Optional modules

  • The Highcon Integrated Digital Stripping Unit removes fine decoration cutting waste from as small as 2x2mm and up to 60 x 60 mm and can handle text, signs, small and complicated shapes. Activated by the press of a button, the HIDS removes waste between items. There is no need to buy a tool for each job or to set it up. 2 brush sets mechanically remove the waste: the top brush separates the waste particles by rotating, the bottom brush hits the hanging waste and removes it, dropping it into a waste bin below which only needs changing about once every 2,000 sheets.
  • In addition to the registration of the sheets mechanically on the machine, in the new advanced registration module sensors align the page to a printed mark placed at least 7mm from the sheet edge, to reduce errors that can occur in the printing. This is particularly relevant for digital printing as it compensates for inaccuracies of the alignment between the printed image and the sheet leading edge.
  • This new optional module has the ability to perform variable cutting per up as well as per sheet enabling customization, personalization and serialization and security applications. Customers generate a multi-page PDF, load to the machine DFE and the VDC software maps to Highcon cutting layers.
    • Customer generates a multi-page PDF
    • Load to the Euclid DFE
    • The VDC software maps to Highcon cutting layers

Technology

Consumables

  • There are only 3 consumables required to create the DART: • The DART polymer (UV curable resin) which creates the 3D crease lines. • The DART Foil on to which the crease lines are written. These foils vary from machine to machine. • The DART Counter substrate which supports the high quality creasing and is replaced only after approximately 500,000 impressions or 6 months.
  • Temp - 15°C < T < 30°C Expiry – if stored according to recommended conditions, the polymer will last for six months from delivery date. The foil and counter will last for 24 months
  • The written DART Foil and the DART Counter can be disposed of in the municipal garbage as defined by the local regulations. The DART canister and the purge container of the writing system must be treated as chemical waste and disposed of as required by the local regulations regarding disposal of chemicals.

Quality

  • Products from our machines work seamlessly with folding/gluing machines and filling lines.We have performed numerous tests with industry standard equipment checking folding force, erection force and spring force which prove that our technology yields results comparable to conventional technology.
  • The written rules on the DART foil act as the male. The counter is a specially developed material with mechanical and elastic properties that take on the shape to the pressure depths of the rule and returns to its original state after the creasing has been completed.
  • The Highcon DART technology can optimize the height of the rules in grain direction and cross grain direction, and in addition the rule height can be adapted to different substrate types, to optimize the crease quality
  • The Highcon rules react similarly to the conventional creasing but we have an advantage in the ability to control the rule parameters to optimize the crease definition according to the substrate, grain direction etc.
  • In order to optimize crease quality with different types of inks or coating, we can control the drum pressure or the nozzle shape. We currently support most types of enhancement (varnish, UV curable coating,) but of course there is always room to test new and different coatings
  • The Highcon machines introduced a number of new technologies and designs to optimize productivity and quality. For example, we optimize the speed of the laser, control the air regime and other technological solutions which reduce the effects of the laser heat and produce results comparable or better than other laser cutting devices. During the years the machines have been in use we are continuously improving the cutting on a range of substrates and have had encouraging feedback from customers and prospects.

Support

  • Highcon Customer Support is a global operation dedicated to providing first class customer support for the entire lifecycle of Highcon products. From initial installation preparation, through implementation, application and ongoing daily support, we ensure the customer's system is fully operational and productive.
  • All machines come with one year full warranty. Following this customers have a choice whether to take a service contract or or time and material (T&M).  
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