BST eltromat at K 2019 – Focus on Sustainability and Cost-Efficiency

In line with the Group’s new mission statement, “perfecting your performance,” BST eltromat International will be presenting the latest options for efficient quality assurance in various process steps involved in the web-processing plastics industry in Hall 4 (booth C34) at the K 2019 exhibition (October 16 to 23 in Düsseldorf, Germany). Considering how pervasive the issue of the waste elimination has become, it is fitting that the company’s primary focus at K 2019 will be on supporting a functioning regenerative economy of this sort. Other key issues include reducing setup time, eliminating sources of error – even before machine startup, where possible – and further optimizing the user-friendliness of quality assurance systems.

“When we say that we help our customers achieve the best possible results outcomes, we mean it. We will be taking the opportunity in Düsseldorf to demonstrate how businesses in the web-processing plastics industry all over the world can align their economic and environmental goals with solutions from BST eltromat. By using our web guiding, register control, web monitoring, 100% inspection and color measurement technology to minimize resource consumption and waste, customers improve the environmental life cycle assessment of their businesses and products. At the same time, they ensure a consistently high quality level for production with straightforward setup processes. In addition, we are demonstrating how integrating and automating different process steps can further improve quality assurance outcomes, thereby further increasing production efficiency,” says BST eltromat Head of Marketing Anne-Laureen Lauven, outlining the topics the company’s booth will address. BST eltromat will also be participating in the VDMA Circular Economy Forum in the outdoor area in front of Hall 16 at K 2019. The association will be providing information about trends and challenges based on data, facts and practical examples.

BST eltromat’s extensive portfolio of innovative sensors will be a major focus of the company’s exhibition booth. “Our ultrasonic, optical, digital and wide array sensors mean we are uniquely capable of covering the wide range of requirements presented by the plastics industry when it comes to quality assurance – all from a single source. Faced with increasingly digitalized production processes, our sensor technology is gaining yet more importance for our customers as a link between machine hardware and digital technology. In the end, it provides the information necessary to optimize production processes,” explains Kai Prahl, area sales manager for BST eltromat in Germany.

Integration as the key to greater efficiency

The focus in this context is on Converting 4.0, including the combination of a CLS PRO 600 digital line and contrast sensor from BST eltromat with a slitter and the the@vanced integrated platform by KAMPF Schneid- und Wickeltechnik, which will be on display in Düsseldorf. The demonstration will show how the integrated technology can be used to automatically set up the sensor technology and the motorized slitter’s knife. With this approach, knives are no longer aligned with the sensor. Instead, the designs on the webs are aligned with the knife axle. The sensor, in turn, automatically moves to the specified locations the production data for the slitters can be transferred directly to the system controls from the ERP systems. The automatic cutting orientation significantly simplifies and shortens setup times in the cutting process, eliminates sources of error and prevents waste – meeting the demand for greater sustainability in the packaging industry.

Innovative controller with fieldbus compatibility

The new controllers featured in the ekr CON 600 product family fall under the same concept. BST eltromat will be presenting these products in Düsseldorf for its web guiding customers. Featuring the ekr CON 600 and the ekr CON 600 net, this new family consists of two innovative controllers with an extended range of features. The ekr CON 600 is also equipped with a fieldbus network connection. Both controllers run on the basis of the same operating philosophy as the other control units offered by BST eltromat. This means that both their setup and use are intuitive and easy for machine operators to navigate using the touch control panel. Ingo Ellerbrock, head of product management at BST eltromat, says, “The new controller gives our customers the option to easily expand their fieldbus system to include a web guiding system and to use the information provided by the web guiding system to optimize their other processes. Our web guiding systems are quicker to set up, more efficient to run and increase process reliability.” This also reduces – and will even prevent – production waste. Customers who initially opt for an ekr CON 600 can switch to an ekr CON 600 net at any time without having to make any changes to their processes.

Produce perfect results – quickly and easily

The iPQ-Center for 100% inspection will also showcase BST eltromat’s focus on simplified setup processes at K 2019. The company will be demonstrating two innovative options in particular: COLOR DATAPreparation and SMART DATAPreparation. COLOR DATAPreparation allows customers to set up inline spectral color measurement even more easily, with the option to process data directly in the pre-press, production planning or quality management stages. To do so, employees enter measurement positions and L*a*b*, density or tone values manually or import the data in CxF file format. COLOR DATAPreparation then generates virtual print control strips and transfers them to iPQ-Spectral before printing begins. iPQ-Spectral is not only used by packaging printers, but also by film manufacturers, for example, to manage their products’ coloring.

The second option, SMART DATAPreparation, links the iPQ-Center with ERP systems, for example. Order data such as job names and numbers, formulations, reference values and measurement positions can then flow directly from these systems to the iPQ-Center. The iPQ-Center consists of three modules: iPQ-Check for 100% print inspection, iPQ-View for digital web monitoring and iPQ-Spectral. The iPQ-Center integrates the iPQ-Workflow to create a single high-end system to centrally manage numerous quality assurance functions. The iPQ-Center now provides machine operators with enlarged defect views in the log files, which makes their work even clearer and easier. “COLOR DATAPreparation and SMART DATAPreparation are two examples of how we help our customers produce perfect results quickly and easily with less waste, in  keeping with our motto: perfecting your performance,” says Volker Reinholdt, print inspection product manager at BST eltromat.

Responding to individual customer requirements

With its standard solutions for web guiding, register control, web monitoring and 100% inspection, BST eltromat covers a large segment of the requirements coming from the web-processing plastics industry. Depending on how BST eltromat systems are configured and networked with solutions from other manufacturers, they unlock additional options for joint customers. “This is exactly what we want to highlight in Düsseldorf, for example by showcasing our cooperation with KAMPF Schneid- und Wickeltechnik. The integration shown here is based exclusively on standard tools from BST eltromat. And we have brought all our expertise to this integration. When customers come to us with highly specific requirements, we work with them to investigate whether developing tailor-made solutions for them is necessary or whether our standard solutions are sufficient to best support their processes. The deciding factor is that they be able to achieve their economic and environmental goals with our technology,” says Ellerbrock.