Often it’s called luxury packaging, though that takes in other items than boxes, such as specially shaped or decorated bottles, paper carriers and so on. So ‘rigid boxes’ is now the rather low-key moniker.
KSP Group in Banbury has been building up its rigid box business for years, originally hand die-cutting the rigid board for the box structures (or carcasses), then gluing, wrapping and assembling them. In 2016 it started to automate some of the production, using a set of machines made in Italy by IML (originally standing for Industria Meccanica Lombarda), centred on a semi-automatic gluing and wrapping machine. These were supplied in the UK by Perfect Box Solutions, a then-new wing of Perfect Bindery Solutions as a spin-off from its long experience in book binding machines – manufacturing rigid boxes and hardback book cases has a lot in common.
The IML system worked, but turned out to be inflexible for very short runs and one-offs. So KSP once again turned to Perfect Box Solutions, which recommended a pair of Chinese-built machines that were installed last year. One is for grooving and corner-cutting the boards, and the other wraps them.
Star of screen and box
KSP was founded by Kevin Woodcock, who remains owner and managing director today. “It started on 1 April 1985, not an insignificant date!” he says. “It was initially a screen print company only, but over the last 20 years investments in equipment to produce paper-over-board products have taken precedent over other investments,” he says, while stressing that “there is also a strong desire to keep screen printing at the heart of the company, born out by the acquisition of Buckingham Screenprint back in 2017”.
The company operates a Jetrix KX7 wide-format flatbed printer, a Dyss CAD cutter, a B1-plus Prima semi-automatic screen printer, and three Atma semi-automatic screen printers ranging from A3 up to B2 formats. Today it employs 10 people, with a turnover of about £1m.
Since the start of lockdowns in 2020, it has invested more than £300,000 in new kit, starting with a German Horauf BDM 20 casemaker supplied by Perfect Box Solutions, to make high-volume hard case covers and ring binders.
KSP’s original entry into rigid boxes was a result of a sales enquiry, Woodcock says. “We were tasked by a client to produce a two-piece rigid box and had placed it with a trade supplier. Four weeks later the supplier hadn’t even started the project, so we took it back and did it ourselves. Only a short run of 1,000 boxes, hand finished. The result was delight from our client and a belief that we could make this work on a larger scale – so we did.”
So, are they ‘fancy boxes?’ Whatever the customer wants, says Woodcock. “We like to call them ‘rigid boxes’ but that depends on who we’re trying to sell them to!” Typically the boxes are used for cosmetics, phones and luxury books, as well as a range of other marketing and gift packaging.
Covid and lockdowns starting in 2020 accelerated the local appeal to UK customers. China in particular was affected, the cost of shipping containers round the world quadrupled, lead times increased, and suddenly UK customers rediscovered the merits of buying locally.
KSP’s decision to invest in more capable equipment came out of this period – it identified a gap in the UK manufacturing market for 500 to 20,000 boxes that previously had been too expensive to produce here, even with the IML kit. It was able to quote, design, and deliver 10,000 boxes within a few weeks, which beat the proverbial slow boat from China.
Woodcock says that “shipping costs have come down from the high they reached a year or two ago, but shipping is still a factor, so we can definitely deliver quicker than China”. On the other hand, he says, “we always struggle to compete with China and always will, but we are also up against Polish, Turkish and recently even Pakistani suppliers quoting some eye-wateringly cheap prices. But that’s not and never has been our USP”.
What are the Chinese machines?
The auto corner cutting and grooving machine is the SLG-850L model from Zhejiang Saili Machinery. This takes pre-cut boards and cuts grooves to form the box edge hinges, then takes the corners out. There’s no need for die-cutting, saving on tooling costs and giving accurate 90-degree corners.
Steve Giddins at Perfect Box Solutions points out that the groover can be finely adjusted until the fit is perfect. “Whereas if a die isn’t quite right, you have to either live with it or scrap it and pay for a new one,” he says.
The larger new machine is a Dongguan Longxingsheng Machinery LS-1246G multi-functional automatic rigid box- wrapping line, with robotic board placement. This was imported, assembled, prepared in line with UK health and safety and CE regulations, and installed at KSP by Perfect Box Solutions.
The machine corner tapes and wraps up to 15 pieces per minute. In operation, the LS-1246G picks up the pre-cut wrap sheets and glues them, then a conveyor takes them past the robot station, which picks up a grooved cut board from its own feed pile and places it precisely into position, using camera registration. The pieces are pressed then travel to the end of the line where the corners are turned over before delivery. If a liner is needed the pieces are flipped and sent though again, when the liner sheets are glued and the robot places the wrapped pieces on top.
This line is more automatic than KSP’s earlier IML 2004, where the operator placed the board on the glued sheets by hand. However, it’s quite big, at about 5m long, plus 1.5m for the feeder and 2.5m for the edge turner, so the total is more than 8m. It’s inline, but the robot and its stack feeder are to one side.
Why choose these models?
Woodcock says: “We chose this machinery because it automated most of the process in one line, corner taping, automatic gluing and sheet feeding with viscosity control of the hot glue, robotic spotting of the taped-up carcasses and finally automated wrapping, without any human intervention until the box is delivered at the end of the line.
“All V-grooved boards are pre-trimmed on our Polar guillotine and then grooved in both directions. Our machinery also removes the four corners inline, avoiding the need for another process of corner cutting/removal.”
He said he did consider other, less automated lines, but “we wanted more automation with fewer people”.
How did the installation go?
“Although investing during Covid may not have been the wisest of decisions when purchasing from China, the end-result is a good installation of modern productive machinery,” says Woodcock. “Luckily the expertise of the Perfect Box Solutions engineers made up for the lack of Chinese engineers, who couldn’t travel to do the installation themselves.”
Service and maintenance were challenging for similar reasons, he says. “There would be some improvements we could suggest, but the Mark I or II of any new machine can always be improved. It was somewhat blind faith for us buying this, because Covid meant we could only go on videos and what Steve Giddins told us. Previously we’d never have bought unseen, but we couldn’t get to China. That in itself is a testimony to Perfect Box Solution’s expertise and our faith in it.”
Such issues apart, Woodcock says he would recommend the machines to others considering following the same route. “Quality, is good, cost was attractive, communication [with Chinese manufacturers] is a challenge but no more so than dealing with Italians!”
SPECIFICATIONS
Dongguan Longxingsheng Machinery LS-1246G
Max paper size 800x600mm
Max board size 760x560mm
Paper weights 80-350gsm
Board thickness 0.8-3mm
Box lengths 100-600mm
Box widths 60-400mm
Box heights 15-130mm
Edge folding size 10-90mm
Turn-in depth 15-80mm
Working speed 15-25 pcs/min
Footprint 6.5x3.8m
Price £200,000-£220,000 depending on spec
Zhejiang Saili Machinery SLG-850L
Board sizes 150x150mm to 650x1,050mm
Board thickness 1.5 to 3.0mm
Groove line accuracy +/- 0.1mm
Speed 100-120 pieces/min (200x200mm)
Knife holders Five 90˚ sets, Four 120˚ sets
Footprint 3.5x1.7m
Price Around £25,000
Contact Perfect Box Solutions 01993 840077 www.binderysolutions.co.uk
COMPANY PROFILE
KSP Group in Banbury is 39 years old and offers both screen and digital printing. A speciality in making paper-over-board ring binders was extended into making rigid boxes and the company has progressively extended and automated its capabilities in this area. The company employs 10 people and has a turnover of about £1m.
Why it was bought...
KSP identified a gap in the UK market for 500 to 20,000 boxes that previously had been too expensive to produce here, and needed a cost-effective way of delivering these.
How it has performed...
The company can now compete with lower-cost overseas rivals. “It’s certainly made life busier, but I wouldn’t say easier,” says founder and MD Kevin Woodcock. “We learn every week, with every order. Every job, different stock, different sizes, all bring a new challenge.”
