Managing and moving materials on a minute-to-minute basis, shipping and receiving, warehousing, work-in-process inventory, handling and supporting different pallet types are all elements of folding carton operations. To meet these often overlooked activities, Heidelberg offers Logistics, a scalable solution for optimizing material flow — from stock arrival to finished product.

Logistics improves production efficiency and helps meet customer demands for fast turnaround. Standardization and compatibility between printing and other equipment is critical to plant automation, and Heidelberg has effectively helped establish industry standards for the entire workflow. Logistics allows multiple brand compatibility, functioning with a variety of press and auxiliary equipment.

Level One Logistics: Press Proximity Automation

Heidelberg's Level One Logistics include automation enhancements for the Speedmaster CD 102 that minimize press downtime and streamline material handling, reducing material moved around the press. The thicker substrates used by folding carton applications often require skid changes every seven to 10 minutes, depending on the running speed and caliper. Logistics helps maintain optimum running speeds, while new material is brought to the feeder and pallets of printed product are removed after production.

Key components of this close-to-the-press automation are the AutoPile Roller Conveyer System to buffer pallets, NonStop Pile technology that changes piles without stopping or reducing production speed, and a standardized pallet.

Level Two Logistics: Optimization Throughout the Printing Plant

To establish an optimal logistical concept, working hand-in-hand with the converter is critical. Heidelberg conducts an analysis of the material flow throughout the production process and pinpoints areas of improvement. Level Two Logistics plans cover all aspects of a converting operation, including devising operation-specific press layouts and corresponding Logistics configurations, installation plans and optimizing production routines.

In a cost-sensitive, competitive market, Heidelberg's automation contributes directly to a folding carton printer's bottom line through productivity and efficiency — and keeping presses running at maximum production speeds with minimal downtime, while reducing waste.

European Packaging Company Achieves Double-Digit Production Growth with Heidelberg Logistics

European folding carton manufacturer, Colordruck Verpackungswerk GmbH, faced a serious dilemma in the 1990s, when it outgrew its facility in Germany's Black Forest. Should it remain in the fiercely competitive German folding carton market with high-priced real estate or relocate beyond the country's borders?

Colordruck, a predominant market player in pharmaceutical, high-quality food and cosmetic folding cartons, decided to stay. They added a 75,000-sq.-ft. raw material warehouse to its existing plant. The addition, however, wasn't routine.

With the property's topographical confines, Colordruck's new plant had to be built nearly 9-ft. above the existing facility, presenting some serious challenges for moving materials throughout the new plant. The Heidelberg Logistics team analyzed Colordruck's needs, evaluated options and designed a plant layout and equipment configuration for an optimized workflow.

Raw material is warehoused in Colordruck's lower level on an automated shelving system with 200 slots for skids. Newly delivered skids are transported from the shelving to an automatic pile turner, then to a Heidelberg Logistics system pallet.Automatically guided vehicles (AGVs) and vertical conveyors take the material directly to the press.

Logistics made a dramatic impact on the efficiency of Colordruck's Speedmaster press operators. “With Logistics, secondary press operators no longer are occupied with delivering fresh skids to the press and getting them ready for the feeder. They can focus on assisting the primary operators with quality issues and improve the overall job process,” said Herbert Klumpp, Colordruck's president. “Logistics generated a double-digit increase in productivity for Colordruck. And that directly impacted our bottom line.”