21 June 2022

BOBST MASTER CI 90SIX flexo press is best solution for linerboard pre-printing of ultrashort jobs at WestRock Company’s facility in Jacksonville, USA

WestRock Company runs the BOBST MASTER CI 90SIX flexo press featured in the video for printing linerboard used in corrugated boxes applications. Their MASTER CI 90SIX has been customized to be fully equipped with BOBST automation systems on press and in peripherals, to enable a fully automatic workflow that requires no human interaction with printing tools

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WestRock Company, located in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, is one of WestRock's operations in North America’s, offering a broad range of converting capabilities and high-quality corrugated materials. Worldwide, WestRock has more than 320 manufacturing facilities, design centers, research lab and sales offices and over 50,000 personnel. What makes the MASTER CI 90SIX a uniquely qualitative and efficient production tool to fulfil the sustainability requirements of the paper board packaging industry for companies like WestRock

High print quality and less material usage are imperative in today’s packaging world: this makes CI flexo pre-printing of lightweight papers ideally suited to new requirements by comparison to other printing systems used for corrugated board applications. Looking at the whole value chain from a holistic approach, starting from natural resources for paper making, though to all the manufacturing processes for packaging printing and converting, savings derived from the reduction of the paper weight in terms of economics and environmental impact are truly impressive.

BOBST has a longstanding experience in linerboard pre-printing since the early 1980s and its MASTER CI 90SIX platform is the most efficient and viable solutions for a very wide range of applications. The platform is highly customizable to fulfil specific converters’ requirements with the 8-color press which can be equipped with downstream units for additional processes such as varnish coating. Print widths are up to 2800 mm (110 in) and the repeat range up to 2060 mm (81 in). Current market trends are increasingly focused on using lightweight papers and the press handles paper thicknesses from 40 g/m2 (27 LB./R) but it can fulfil requirements for applications requiring grammages up to 380 g/m2 (27 LB./R). Linerboard preprint requires water-based inks and varnishes. Printing speed depends on the application and on the converter’s specification. In the case of WestRock, as seen on the video, printing speed is up to speed is up to 750 m/min (2500 ft/min).

The BOBST MASTER 90SIX offers sleeve technology and for the handling of large format sleeves the press needs systems that support the operator’s tasks. BOBST has developed a three-level modular automation system called MOTION to make handling easier and faster: from manual carts and user-friendly handling tools systems, through to smart functionalities and motorized transportation systems, to comprehensive fully automated workflow and logistics, including plate mounting and anilox cleaning systems that eliminate any human interaction with the printing tools, as in the case of the machine in operation at WestRock. Automation for sleeve/tool handling and logistics is one of the focuses of the solutions developed by BOBST to make the process agile and qualitative, along with web handling, register accuracy and smartGPS.

Precise web handing is of fundamental importance for the press productivity and the quality of the output. The BOBST MASTER CI 90SIX can print lightweight papers with low web tension and best register accuracy because from print deck to print deck there is a tolerance of only +/- 0.08 mm (0,0031 in). The CI concept needs no register control sensors in each print deck; just one tension zone in the printing section which prevents the substrate from shrinking across the web’s length and width. The capability of moving only one micron in one direction makes the machine perfectly equipped with accurate register settings. The register is maintained stable at machine speed changes during ramp up or ramp down.

The BOBST MASTER CI 90SIX can be equipped with smartGPS technology, BOBST pioneering system that switched the register and printing pressure set-up from the printing press to the plate mounting process through a fully automatic off-line process. smartGPS, combined with magicMOUNTER, BOBST’s automated mounting system for extra wide-web presses, enables more precision, more output and prevents quality issues. With the vacuum fixation of the plate on the mounter, it is possible to check all the edges of the printing plate to the register. Another distinctive difference from conventional systems that generate some dot distortion because they do not work with real formats, smartGPS checks the real circumference of the anilox roller by scanning the topography of the printing plate. Working with real formats and transferring the RFID data to the printing press avoid dot distortion and result in a higher print quality and a considerably faster press set-up.

‘‘CI flexo printing is ideal to achieve high quality printing on lightweight papers that in turn are easy to process on converting machines. They enable huge cost savings all along the value chain. Avoiding waste of any kind every step of the process from raw material and substrate production to the end product is the preferred sustainability goal’’ said Hermann Koch Technical Sales Director, CI Flexo Preprint at BOBST.

All the automation systems described above, like the MOTION professional, along with the smartGPS and magicMOUNTER featured in the WestRock video are also available as retrofit on installed BOBST CI flexo presses for linerboard pre-print.

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