PaperWorks Industries, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., USA, has invested $2 million in a new 40-in. sheet-fed Bobst die-cutter for its Greensboro, N.C., facility. The investment is in addition to the recently announced $3 million capital expenditure for its new 10-station folding carton litho press at the same location.

"The new state-of-the-art die-cutter, in tandem with our existing die-cutter, will enable us to accommodate the maximum output from the new folding carton litho press," explained Clint Rutledge, COO, PaperWorks. "Additionally, it will support an additional shift to keep up with growing production demands."

The investment was driven by brand owner demands for shorter runs, but a larger number of SKUs.

"Brand owners and private label packagers are constantly looking for ways to grab the consumer's attention and folding cartons play a key role in that. Our printing capability, coupled with the new die-cutter, will help us meet those objectives," Rutledge said.

The litho press, which the new die-cutter supports, is capable of many value-added enhancements in a single pass that traditionally take two and three passes to achieve. These include matte and metallic inks, specialty coatings and pigments—plus seven-color printing. The capability is driven by the press' unique configuration.

The press also can run extended color gamut (ECG) color reproduction, which means that in addition to the traditional cyan, magenta, yellow, and black found on traditional presses, orange, green, and violet have been added for a total of seven printing stations.  ECG capability cost-effectively delivers higher-impact graphics by delivering expanded color capability in one pass.

 

This latest investment is in addition to the $60 million the company has spent over the past three years to upgrade its paperboard mills and folding carton converting plants. 

PaperWorks Industries is an integrated North American full-service provider of recycled paperboard and specialized folding cartons for packaging applications. The company also is committed to the highest sustainable forestry and procurement standards. Product certifications include the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and 100% Recycled Paperboard Alliance (RPA100). More information is available online.