Schumacher Packaging has started full commercial digital production with its Delta SPC 130 single pass high volume digital press for corrugated markets.
The installation is at the heart of a €30 million investment that also involves Schumacher Packaging upgrading its Birmingham, UK manufacturing base and two nearby warehouses.
The FlexLine Eco+ with six colours is the first installation in the UK and is a central focal point for Schumacher Packaging as it expands its presence in UK markets as one of the country’s leading plain and printed cardboard manufacturers.
The Koenig & Bauer Durst Delta SPC 130 in Birmingham is the fourth machine taken on by Schumacher Packaging.
Two others are at its headquarters in Ebersdorf, Germany, and the other is at Saica (formerly Schumacher Packaging) in Wroclav, Poland. They also have six-colour capabilities.
Koenig & Bauer Durst’s FlexLine Eco+ press features an eco-plus drier that reduces drying times to cut energy consumption and associated costs, as well as speeding up productivity for maximised capacity. The Delta SPC 130 can print on uncoated materials with speeds of up to 80 metres per hour.
Schumacher Packaging Birmingham managing director Darren Melville said, “As an innovator and pioneer in the industry, we want to show new ways of working towards sustainable production. And moving to sustainable, cost-saving digital production is a centrepiece of our strategy, which is why we are delighted to have launched full-scale commercial digital production with the Delta SPC 130 from Koenig & Bauer Durst. This is a true partnership.
“As consumers become more environmentally conscious, brands are under increasing pressure to adopt eco-friendly packaging solutions. Many are working towards ambitious 2025 extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging targets. This is where the best of corrugated board and digital print can converge to deliver recyclable packaging with zero-waste designs.”
Koenig & Bauer Durst managing director Daniel Velema said, “With the increasing emphasis on sustainability, companies such as Schumacher Packaging recognise the huge benefits that digital brings with highly automated systems in corrugated packaging and board markets.
“They and their customers can see the benefits of changing from offset and flexo, particularly as run lengths are getting smaller and order lead times become ever shorter.
“Digital printing, in essence only printing what you want, when you need it, has always been a technology with strong sustainability credentials and an opportunity to reduce paper consumption. The ability now to add paper weight reductions to further lower cost and consumption is also a very powerful argument for digital transformation.”
Durst Oceania managing director Matt Ashman told ProPack.pro, “This technology is transforming the corrugated packaging world in Europe and we at Durst Oceania are looking forward to the first install in Oceania soon”.
