The Die Cutter That Meets Even More Customer Requirements

Heidelberg - Varimatrix 105 CS at Kohlschein GmbH

Kohlschein GmbH & Co. KG in Viersen, near Düsseldorf, can look back on over 75 years in business this year. However, the family-run company, now in its third generation and with a staff of 140, has its sights set firmly on the future and aims to enhance its wide range of services to meet the demanding requirements of customers in the brand goods industry. There are three cornerstones to the company's speedy sales growth:

• Material distribution: Kohlschein produces and distributes a comprehensive range of cardboards, board qualities, papers, and plate materials for print applications in offset, screen, and digital printing and for the production of displays, sales materials, folders, packaging, decoration, trade show construction, photo finishing, presentation, advertising, and graphic design.
• Material processing: the company offers its versatile machine park to customers as an extended workbench for contract work such as the laminating, gluing, and die cutting of boards, papers, cardboard materials, lightweight foamboards, rigid foamboards, composite boards, and plastics.
• Production of advertising and product displays: Kohlschein's range of services is rounded off by the development and production of presentation and advertising materials using state-of-the-art CAD systems, the fitting of circular hollow metal frames to print sheets, converting services, and precise dispatch logistics.

Production of advertising materials
Head of Marketing, Oliver Höflich, spells out Kohlschein's strategic positioning: "As well as companies in the printing sector, we are increasingly acquiring customers in the advertising brand goods industry. Since the 1960s, we have been supplying materials to print shops and offering our processing services to companies in the advertising material production sector." The company moved into the display market in 1984. This now accounts for a substantial share of its sales growth, which is based on many years of material know-how and the ability to consistently meet customer needs in terms of quality and flexibility. "Our main strength lies in the high value and quality of the products we manufacture. We ship our products worldwide to customers in 20 countries, with most of our customers coming from Europe. Our central focus is on the German-speaking countries," continues Höflich.

One special feature at Kohlschein is a laminator that can process up to five layers of cardboard materials from the reel into multi-glued boards. Kroma screen printing board and woodpulp board are the Kohlschein's own grades of primary fiber board produced on the laminator. The machine is also used to glue reels supplied by customers into passepartout boards.

The state-of-the-art sheet gluing machines in Viersen glue prints and a wide range of substrate materials into laminated sheets. Cardboard and board are extremely cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The composite materials are relatively lightweight and their excellent printing and printability properties make them ideal for producing displays, e.g. for use in retail applications.

Die cutting processes
 "We have experienced a considerable growth in sales in the past 18 months, which has enabled us to invest in new technology. The capacity of the die cutting presses was not high enough to cope with the increase in job runs and we were forced to pass on orders to other companies. Added to this, subsequent stripping of the sheet is very time and staff-intensive," says Höflich, explaining the decision to choose the new Varimatrix 105 CS die cutter from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg).

The proximity to the Heidelberg production site in Mönchengladbach was also a factor in his decision: "We attach a lot of importance to long-term partnerships with customers and suppliers and the performance data of the die cutter met our requirements exactly. We were also impressed with the compactness of the machine and its solid construction."

The introduction of the Varimatrix 105 CS has increased the available capacity at Kohlschein. Thanks to its short make-ready, the Varimatrix 105 CS is also ideal for processing short job runs. A variable chase can be used to produce varying dimensions of cutting die, and the machine offers added flexibility by allowing the use of existing die cutting tools.

Flexible die cutters
The efficiency of the die cutter increases when a pre-loading device is positioned in front of the feeder. This can be adjusted to fit the format and enables precise pre-loading of the sheets on the rail-mounted pallets. Lateral pile alignment is performed by a motor. Peter Kerkhoff, one of the machine operators, reports: "It's easy to fold away the arms that are used to remove the die cutting tools from the cutting station. This keeps the platform clear even when production is underway. Stripping is performed with complete tools or using upper and lower pins. The sheet guide blanket in the stripping station can be extended to the full sheet length. This greatly increases reliability in production. The excess gripper margin is automatically removed from the die cutter by a conveyor belt. That saves time during finishing."

Outlook
Large areas are required for production at Kohlschein and the growth in production demands new solutions. The company is currently weighing up the construction of a new building that would better equip it to meet future requirements.

Varimatrix 105 CS die cutter

Performance and technical data:

• Sheet format (max.) 750 x 1,050 millimeters (29.53 x 41.34 inches)
• Sheet format (min.) 370 x 400 millimeters (14.57 x 15.75 inches)
• Max. cutting pressure 300 t/3.0 MN (6,613.86 pounds)
• Max. machine speed 7,500 sheets per hour
• Dimensions of cutting die (max.) 740 x 1,060 millimeters (29.13 x 41.73 inches)
• Cutting area (net) 727 x 1,050 millimeters (28.62 x 41.34 inches)
• Gripper margin, adjustable with 13 millimeters (0.512 inch) wood in front of the first knife 10-18 millimeters (0.394 x 0.709 inch)

Suitable for the following materials (depending on properties and layout):

• Paper with a minimum weight of 80 grams per square meter
• Board or solid board up to a max. weight of 1,400 grams per square meter
• Corrugated board up to a total thickness of four millimeters (0.16 inch)

Image 1: The Kohlschein GmbH & Co. KG showroom contains many outstanding examples of different displays produced for discerning customers from the cosmetics sector.

Image 2: In model building, CAD systems are used to develop creative solutions for a wide array of customer demands.

Image 3: For Oliver Höflich, there can be no question of hit or miss. Only the best is good enough for his customers in the display sector.

Image 4: The laminator bonds up to five webs into high-grade cardboard products.

Image 5: In addition to fully automatic die cutters, the range of board and cardboard processing possibilities at Kohlschein is rounded off by large-format die cutting platen presses.

Image 6: The Varimatrix 105 CS is a cost-effective solution for professional entry-level die cutting and embossing, as shown by machine operator Peter Kerkhoff, who has been using the system for several months.

Image 7: All the stations in the Varimatrix 105 CS are controlled using individual drives. The system is operated via a touchscreen monitor.