J. & A. Bonnici Ltd is a family owned business and a leading manufacturer of folding cartons and paper bags in Malta. With the origins of the company dating back close to a hundred years, J. & A. Bonnici has consistently invested and upgraded its machines and processes to reach production targets and exceed customer expectations. Today, the company is run by David and John, who are fourth generation of the family.
Employing a little over 40 people, the company does pretty much everything in-house, including making plates, dies, tooling and of course printing and converting a diverse range of folding carton packaging solutions.
Three-fold Investment
As part of its ongoing expansion, the privately-owned company recently invested almost €3m in new equipment and renovating a new area of the building for some of the new machinery. The latest investments included two new converting lines: the first was a BOBST EXPERTFOLD 110 folder gluer with Cartonpack, and the second a Blackline 1116 BL litho laminator from Lamina System AB. In addition to these, a new Garant paper bag machine was also installed in the late spring time.
The Bobst Expertfold 110 is a highly modular and versatile machine, which boasts new features designed to meet the demands of today’s more agile converting market. The line offers impressive speeds of up to 450m/min and can handle a wide range of carton styles.
A number of key changes have been made to the new generation Expertfold. The ergonomics have been refined to optimise set-up times and increase the precision of machine settings. Clever design features such as pneumatic feeder ramps reduce operator workload and setup time by 20%. The integration of the Sphere machine control system further enhances functionality, allowing operators to access repeat jobs, control machine functions, and benefit from the Bobst Connect Essential package. These enhancements align the machine with Bobst’s vision of a fully digitalized and connected converting process characterised by maximum automation and sustainability.
The Blackline 1116 BL litho laminator is manufactured in Boras, Sweden by Lamina System AB. It is a fully automatic, high-speed litho laminator developed for one-person operation. Designed for sheet-to-sheet mounting, it processes a wide range of paper and cardboard substrates – both solid and corrugated – making it ideal for high-volume applications where accuracy and speed are key.
With high-capacity feeders for both top and bottom sheets, the machine allows continuous reloading directly on pallets, reducing downtime and maximising throughput. The system handles top sheets ranging from 130 to 450gsm and bottom sheets from 250gsm up to 10mm in thickness – providing exceptional material flexibility.
Despite its industrial capabilities, the Blackline is surprisingly compact and user-centric. Its modular construction combines a rugged steel frame with anodised aluminium profiles, resulting in a durable yet attractive system built for longevity. All adjustments and changeovers can be made from the operator side without tools, enabling faster setup and easier operation. Operators benefit from easy maintenance access, especially in the gluing unit. This unit, critical to consistent glue application, can be fully opened by swinging up the sheet conveyors, simplifying cleaning and maintenance procedures.
State of the art machinery
“We decided to invest in a new laminating machine and a new folder-gluer to strengthen our manufacturing capabilities and better respond to the evolving needs of our customers,” explains David Bonnici. “This strategic move is intended to improve the overall quality and functionality of our packaging solutions, diversify the products that we are able to manufacture, all while streamlining production processes to enhance efficiency and maintain a competitive edge.”
“Thanks to these investments, we are able to offer new product lines tailored to customers seeking durable packaging with high-quality print finishes,” adds John Bonnici. “When it comes to the new laminator from Lamina System, which is the first of its kind on the island, it specifically allows us to laminate a high-resolution printed sheet — produced on our Man Roland five colour offset printing press — onto single-face corrugated board. The resulting sturdy cartons are ideal for use in various sectors, including toys and games, detergents, catering, and frozen food packaging. We are now also looking to serve new market sectors thanks to these new pieces of equipment.”
New markets working out
J. & A. Bonnici are no strangers to moving into new markets. They choose machinery that allows them to get into new sectors for the supply of sustainable folding carton packaging.
In 2020, for example, they installed a CE 1000 from Heiber + Schröder Maschinenbau GmbH, allowing them to produce clamshells and food trays, something that was not readily available in Malta at the time.
“We were the first carton converter in Malta to install the CE 1000 with two lane feed from Heiber + Schröder,” continues David Bonnici. “We have been providing trays and clamshells for food-to-go for some time now, but there is no doubt that the EU Directives on reducing the use of single-use plastic packaging is helping us grow our business, as local food producers and outlets look to folding carton solutions for all types of foodstuffs. Choosing the CE 1000 was a great investment decision for us.”
Market firsts are the way forward
“Choosing the Bobst and Lamina System machines – both of which are the first of their type in Malta – was a relatively easy decision for us,” concludes David Bonnici. “With both these suppliers, we get top quality after sales and service support, which is really important for us as we are located on a small island in the Mediterranean sea. The Maltese economy is growing and there are lots of building projects going on, which makes it quite hard to recruit talented operators. For us, the choice of machinery is critical to our ongoing growth, so each of the lines we have added are simple to run, easy to maintain and highly productive machines. We are very excited about what the future holds for us.”
