Left to right: Eduardo Petroni, CEO of Bobst Latinoamerica do Sul, Juliana and Paulo Gonçalves, COO and CEO of Gráfica Gonçalves.
A series of new BOBST folding carton machines have been unveiled at Gráfica Gonçalves, in São Paulo, during an official inauguration ceremony held on 11 September 2020. The highly automated converting line has been installed to guarantee greater agility and productivity, which will enable the Brazilian packaging specialist to meet an increasingly demanding consumer market.
In this latest investment, the company has added a NOVACUT 106 ER die-cutter with automatic blanking and an EXPERTFOLD 110 folder gluer fitted with several options, which offer greater automation, higher quality and increased productivity to the operation.
“This line was designed to provide Gráfica Gonçalves with the most innovative packaging conversion technology, and thus ensure greater agility to its operation,” said Eduardo Pereira, Commercial Director of Bobst South Latin America.
“The biggest challenge for Gonçalves today is finding new innovative solutions, whether in the choice of materials, finishing, productivity or cost reduction – and this should all be aligned with sustainability. The preservation of the environment has been a growing demand and we strongly believe that this will be a constant concern for successful companies,” commented Juliana Gonçalves, Chief Operating Officer at Gráfica Gonçalves.
The Novacut 106 ER features automatic blanking, which significantly reduces production time by eliminating manual intervention needed after die-cutting when preparing the stacks for the folder-gluer.
Before fully committing to the purchase of the Novacut 106 ER, Gonçalves set a challenge for Bobst which involved a job that was complex and time-consuming due to its very small dimensions. Bobst drew together a multidisciplinary team to face this challenge. Supplies, tooling, engineering, logistics and sales, among others, were all involved in the project and it took more than 100 hours to develop, test, demonstrate and adjust. But the project was a success and Gonçalves was able to produce the job on their machines with the same productivity of less complex packaging.
The Expertfold 110 has been specified with a range of devices and peripherals including Easyfeeder 4, Accubraille, Speedwave, Handypack and Cartonpack 4, making it one of the most sophisticated systems currently in operation in South America.
“This investment is mainly aimed at maintaining competitiveness by serving our customers with higher quality and more agility,” added Juliana. “We believe that we will see benefits such as higher production speeds and less material waste, as well as faster delivery, quality improvements and more fault-free packaging.”
In addition, through full connectivity and Bobst’s remote maintenance service Helpline Plus, Gráfica Gonçalves can ensure that their equipment will perform at its best with minimum downtime.
“We see a new market reality where more conscientious and demanding consumers are increasingly asking for more from the brands they buy,” said Eduardo Petroni, CEO of Bobst South Latin America. “BOBST’s new vision for the packaging industry covers the entire production chain, from raw materials to end use by the consumer, and through its equipment and services seeks to meet the challenges posed at each step traveled by the packaging. We have been partnering with Gráfica Gonçalves for many years and have evolved with the company to offer a solution that can meet these growing demands.”
