Ever since Bobst set up its plant in Pirangut in Pune the 1990s, the company has played an integral role in the packaging boom. Today, Bobst heads towards 400 installations in India.
Venugopal Menon, vice president, folding carton, Indian subcontinent stated: "The Bobst group is taking all necessary measures to adapt its capacities to this severe economic crisis and to return as soon as possible to the profitability levels of the past years."
The company witnessed a decline in orders since September 2008 in all product lines and all geographic areas; a situation never experienced before. The consolidated turnover for the full year 2008 amounts to CHF 1.633bn (US $1.45bn) as compared to the record year in 2007, but 2008 was still a profitable year.
Within 10 months of Drupa, Bobst launched seven new innovations along with a world premiere of its range of die-cutters and folder gluers during its Competence 09 Open House at Lausanne in mid-March with more than 350 visitors and Bobst customers representing 192 companies worldwide.
The Competence Centre, Bobst's high-end demo centre and product gallery, showcased, green profitability.
The Bobst innovations:
HandyFeeder (world premiere) This independent pick and place feeder is integrated before the folder gluer. It ensures that surfaces of plastic boxes, or those with UV varnish, embossing, foil blocking are not degraded.
SpeedWave Thanks to a patented hook-free folding and gluing technology, it is ideal for complex box capability, especially apertures and windows. And can produce 80,000 boxes / hour.
Power Register II The main feature is optional bottom print reading. This translates into perfect register.
LocPack It automatically packs 60,000 crash-lock boxes per hour. It achieves high speed production rates for straightline boxes with minimum operator intervention.
Hotplast This system switches between cold and hot die-cutting. This guarantees perfect cutting and creasing.
Accuwin Mounted on a MasterFold or ExpertFold, is equipped with a Heiber+Schröder (H+S) unit to patch windows in line.
Accubraille More than 50 Accubraille modules have been sold. It's available on the MasterFold and ExpertFold; or retro fitted on the Alpina and Mistral.
Plasmatreat Thanks to an agreement with Plasmatreat, Bobst has a system which reduces glue cost when processing laminated and coated boxes.
SpeedChase This is simple yet effective. Engraved dies are pre-mounted and registered by the die-maker. Good for hot foil stamping, embossing / debossing and combination jobs.
