Article published in Emballages Magazine in February 2021. Take 4 mins to read it… The press is talking about us and innovations in the die-cutting industry.
IZIANO POLITO published on 02/02 2021 at 9 am.
Topics: All sectors, Corrugated cardboard, Compact cardboard
Connected die.
The group based in Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert (Loire) is the first French die-maker to produce connected Toolink tooling.
Cardboard printing and converting is evolving at lighting speed towards digital solutions. Bobst, the world leader of cutting tooling for cardboard packaging is a pioneer in this field with several innovations both in the areas of printing and converting. One of these is the use of RFID chips on tooling used for cutting and creasing cardboard to enable communication with the machine. Groupe Vacher was awarded certification by the Swiss group in 2019 to integrate the technology named Toolink. It is to this day the first French die-maker to sell these connected tools. Two French convertors have already equipped themselves. One of them served as a beta-testing site. “Technical validation took several months because it was necessary to travel to and from various plants and the Bobst teams had to be brought it. But results now live up to expectations” explains Frederic Vacher, CEO of Groupe Vacher. Much like a plug and play device, the cutting system recognises the tool as soon as it is mounted. Settings are implemented immediately and completely automatically. All motorised guides put themselves in position based on the job to be performed. The result is more flexible machines that are ready to start a new production run more quickly after a change of settings
TAKING THE DIE-MAKING PROFESSION ONE STEP FURTHER
“Operators no longer need to spend time setting up machines” says Eric Viallaron, the group’s sales and marketing director. The use of connected machines could save 10 minutes relative to a setup carried out in 30 minutes in the simplest cases, 2 hours in the more complicated cases. “Thanks to onboard intelligence, machine performance is also enhanced as one can gain insight into whether a blade is getting worn faster than others and thus program its replacement in advance” clarifies Frédéric Vacher who views these connected machines as a means of taking the die-making profession one step further. The CEO considers that information feedback will soon enable to reinforce knowledge of materials used in tooling such as steel and foam for example.
Based in Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert, north-west of Saint-Etienne (Loire), Groupe Vacher has four production sites in France, one in the Netherlands, one in Poland and one in Belgium. It has a turnover of 23 million Euros, 180 staff and three areas of expertise: cutting dies, stamping & embossing tooling and thermoforming moulds. The group boasts both compact and corrugated cardboard know-how and positions itself as the second European die-maker.
