Making the Cut

Digital die cutters can open up new possibilities and potential markets for print shops that are willing to push the envelope. But before you bring digital die cutters in house, much has to be considered.

Just a few of the questions to keep in mind: Is your current or potential customer base interested enough in die-cut products to justify the cost? Do you have the space required to add the equipment? And do you want to start out small a piece of equipment that is relatively inexpensive? Or would you prefer to jump in with both feet, necessitating a considerably more costly acquisition?

Cutting fine and close

“Die cutting is an ancient way of cutting, but because of the size, set-up, and cost of the machine, it's very similar to the offset printing press,” says Peng Chou, product manager with Duplo USA Corporation, maker of the Duplo UD-300 rotary die cutter, which can be utilized to produce short-run digital print and packaging products, custom-shaped brochures, direct mailers, stationery, retail packages, labels and folded boxes on demand. In the rotary die cutter, two cylinders roll together, Chou says. The paper is squeezed out through the gap between the cylinders, and the die cuts the paper.

“However, in recent years, the printing technology has changed . . . so the size is much smaller than offset. We successfully downsized the size of the die station, to fit the paper size from the digital press. And at the same time, we simplified the method of changing the die, so it becomes very easy to change the die between jobs. Because of this leap, the digital die cutter is pretty much on-demand to fit the short- and mid-range of job runs, though of course the definition of run size varies.”

The die cutting makes possible a variety of shapes, including round corners and irregular shapes, rather than 90-degree-angled squares and rectangles, Chou says. Print service providers “can make basically all kinds of cards,” he says. “Business cards, greeting cards, retail tags for packaging affixed to clam shells – and don't forget photos and bookmarks.”

Meanwhile, 90 percent of the customers of German-made Motioncutter digital high-speed laser systems purchase the equipment for their current finishing workload, reports Shaun Stanley, the company's global sales director. Most calculate their ROI on the machinery by being able to remove die-cutting costs and speeding up productivity, he says.

With an average set-up time of a few minutes, compared to waiting days for a new die form to be made – or 20 to 30 minutes changing over forms in machinery – the Motioncutter is streamlining the finishing process.

“It isn't just cutting – it's creasing, perforating and half cutting sheet labels,” Stanley says. “On top of this, you have personalization, so that each sheet can be cut uniquely using a CSV file, similar to digital printing.”

Motioncutter has no real consumable costs or click charges, meaning all the value is added to the top-end margins, says Stanley. There's no stripping out, knicks, or holding points of fibers. And the cut is cleaner and more precise, allowing print providers to cut finer and closer together than traditional die cutting. “Due to our maximum speed of 7,500 sheets an hour for simple cuts, the Motioncutter can keep pace with other machinery and often cuts out the backlogs in the manufacturing process,” he reports.

The Motioncutter enables PSPs to tackle new markets and cover their current finishing needs, Stanley says. Labels can be created quickly and easily with automated sheet-fed label half cutting. Plus, short-run packaging is easy, with no need for dies, and PSPs can also offer personalized pieces with names or logos cut out. Direct-mail pieces can feature intricately cut logos or use cuts to personalize pieces, dramatically improving return rates. 

One of Motioncutter's customers in Germany saw a leap in return rates after incorporating the company's NameCut personalization into its designs. And Motioncutter's high speeds and automated performance mean hundreds of thousands of mail pieces can be produced quickly and with minimal man hour time, Stanley says.

Engraving is yet another function simplified by Motioncutter. “Most people have seen acrylics, glass, or wood that's been laser engraved or etched,” he says. “We are also able to take ink off a sheet back to the white again, or take coatings off sheets to create tactile and beautiful 3D images. Imagine spot UV machines building up. With lasers we can dig down.”

Finally, Motioncutter handles greeting cards and arts and crafts projects, he says. Stunning greeting cards can be created using the fine laser cutting. “The craft market is also very good at the moment, and being able to offer short-run pieces is very lucrative,” he notes.

Adding value at the post-print stage

Print providers and converters are having to fight harder and harder satisfy and retain their brand owner clients and put up with their increasing demands for time to market, alongside last-minute marketing driven changes, says Shelagh Hammer, marketing manager, Highcon Systems, which produces the Highcon Euclid digital cutting and creasing machine and other finishing solutions.

“The primary bottleneck in the finishing process is the creasing and cutting because of the need for a die – this slows the whole process down. The answer is a digital solution that performs in-house, independent of an external supply chain, matches the quality of the analog process, but is faster, cleaner, greener, smarter, and more profitable. The Euclid was designed to solve just these issues.”

The Highcon technology, points out Hammer, separates the two processes of cutting and creasing. “The conventional die covers both processes in one. But the different parts of the processes have different needs. In general, the creasing does not have to change that often, but the cutting can and should. The limitations that caused them to be implemented together on the die are removed with digital technology, allowing each to shine in their own way. By separating the processes, Highcon enables converters to offer the flexibility, creativity, and responsiveness their brand owner clients are so strenuously demanding, while at the same time encouraging the brand owners to develop new packaging and marketing concepts. Not only are they able to produce more creative designs, but they can also fine tune them by proofing without wasting time or money or materials.”

The digital process also allows far more flexibility in editing, changing, and correcting files, she points out. “In fact, the digitization of this stage of the process requires us to come up with a new name for the process. The term ‘finishing’ demonstrates that this has traditionally been considered a necessary part of the process required to complete the job – but has not provided added value. By using digital technology we have put the value back into the converting of the cartonboard into attractive, differentiated, effective packaging.”

Consultant Mike Ferrari of Ferrari Innovation Solutions LLC, divides digital die cutters into to two types. The first, he says, is a slower-mode category of cutter to be used for prototyping or sales samples due to non-production speeds. The second category comprises production machines, where the machine can keep up with production printers, and typically offer both digital die cutting and creasing, and feature lasers.”

There are a great many ways shops can put digital die cutters to use in their operations, Ferrari says. He likens the steps of embracing digital die cutters to rungs up a ladder.

On the bottom rung of the ladder, Ferrari says, PSPs can make their current production system more productive by taking low-volume jobs run once and transitioning them onto a machine that uses digital lasers to do the cutting instead of steel-ruled dies. “The current method is to punch out your outline, and you have to make a knife for that, and you have to set that up, which creates scrap and takes 45 minutes,” he says. “They can take all these low-volume jobs that take more time to set up, and now run the jobs with very little set-up. That’s the productivity side, taking on those low-volume, non-repeat jobs.”

Rung two is handling hurry-up jobs that don’t provide enough time to make dies. “Machines like the Highcon Euclid can really help you take on the jobs that require short turnarounds,” he says.

Rung three is accepting unique and special jobs that were never possible on any other machine until production-level digital die cutters were introduced. “I’ve seen calendars with the skylines of different cities punched out for each of the months,” Ferrari says. “I’ve seen stores create holiday-oriented sleeves for in-store wine boxes. You have the old stock in store, but refresh it by making it seasonally relevant.”

One of the biggest steps upward for PSPs is being able to handle jobs traditionally turned down because they were pain points, or that were seen as loss leaders because PSPs didn’t want to turn down a higher-volume job from the same customer. “They can serve their current customers and take on new ones by offering faster turnarounds,” Ferrari says. “And they can also charge more for those faster turnovers, and for third-rung jobs that add value.”

Dual customization

Digital die cutters have made possible the creation of StickerYou in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founder, president, and CEO Andrew Witkin went live in 2010 with his e-commerce company, which enables customers to order the best in custom sticky products, including stickers, labels, wall decals, magnets, and iron-on transfers.

“We looked at the market, and saw customization of shapes, not just customization of what is in the shapes, was needed,” he says. “Up until then, those ordering custom shapes had to order 10,000 to justify the cost. So we said, 'Why don't we look to build a company that, given the advent of digital die cutters, would be capable of digitally cutting vinyls, woods, plastics?' We enable people to order a page of customized die-cut stickers for $9.99.”

The company invested in coding that allows customers in real time to design custom stickers, including both the image and the cut, and automatically have that design printed. As far as cutting hardware goes, StickerYou utilizes an Omega Digilase by ABG International as well as Zund S3s cutters and a Graphtec FC8000s.

Many of the shops using digital die cutters are cutting vinyl, Witkin says. “Some are doing it for signage, some for window decals,” he adds. “It always depends on the product you want to make, and what your customers need . . . People will pay for something that is uniquely cut. Sometimes that's because the design looks good, other times because of what they need it for. It might, for instance, be a label for a uniquely shaped bottle. You might need a window entirely covered with a decal shaped specifically to the space. If you have a digital die cutter, you can do a one-off affordably.”

Witkin also points out that shops shouldn’t neglect the advantages that a flatbed cutter offers (see sidebar). A flatbed can greatly expand the number of products a shop can market, he says, and “can provide you with great precision. It will allow you to do different substrates and harder, thicker substrates. So if you're doing corrugate, for instance, that won't unwind on a roll – that has to be done on a flatbed cutter. Thinner magnets you can do on a roll, but thicker magnets can only be done on a flatbed.”

Another company leveraging digital die cutters is INnUP Deutschland GmbH, an online printer in Germany, primarily marketing a wide array of stickers to businesses.

“We don’t produce the products we sell in-house, but rather source these from the best-suited production site for the respective requirements,” says INnUP’s Phillip Bock. “Our customers often apply these stickers to existing products with predetermined available space for the application, and so need their products in very precise shapes. What's not predetermined is the printing technology used. Often, we’ll produce a product one week in screen print, and the next in offset or various forms of digital print. The choice depends on factors such as the number of stickers needed, colors used, years of weather resistance, appropriate foil specifications, turnaround time, and more.”

Given that his company sources services from different printers, says Bock, working with physical die-cut plates rather than the digital die cut would impose an unacceptable degree of inflexibility on his company. “So a central requirement for our printing partners is they offer digital die cut,” he adds. “This allows us to source the die-cut stickers in parallel from different printers for the same customer with the same shape, each of them optimally printed by a specialist in the respective printing technology, without having to wait for the die-cut plates to be sent around between production sites, or having to create one for each production site.”

For INnUP, the use of digital die cutters makes possible a much shorter turnaround times, says Bock, “and lays the base for the possibility of not having to compromise on the printing technology and production site best suited for the respective product.”

Factors to consider before in-housing

The first consideration PSPs must keep top of mind when weighing the decision to acquire a digital die cutter is cost of ownership, Chou says. “At this moment, the machine is not cheap,” he adds. “It's similar to a printing press. You need to do some research on your customer base and current and prospective customers.”

The second consideration, of course, is the productivity of the machine, Chou says. “Because it's easy to change jobs, it's possible to easily change from one job to the other, saving labor. And with this machine, you improve your workflow.”

For his part, Ferrari believes PSPs need to look at what equipment is currently available, and what type of equipment might be available in the near future. The Highcon Euclid can currently turn out 1,500 sheets per hour of the large size sheet, he says. But on the horizon is a 5,000-sheet-per-hour machine, the Highcon Beam. “It’s being installed in several sites around the world during the coming months,” he says. “When you talk about potential customers, do you see yourself needing 1,500 or 5,000 sheets per hour?”

Stanley reports that when seeking a laser system, customers must look for cut quality, speed of production and versatility. “We currently have a machine in Hershey's Chocolate World, which is being used to engrave printed chocolate tins and plastic cases,” he says. “The same Motioncutter is in Smartpress in Minnesota, cutting thousands of sheets a day.”

Lasers have their limitations on certain substrates like PVC, which lets off toxic gases, and with thick felt boards which melt under heat. However, 99 percent of all digital and offset cutting and perforating can be done on a laser, Stanley asserts.

For his part, StickerYou's Witkin believes shops must determine how much their current or future customer base values die-cut products. If it's determined that customer base does value the products, the shop owners must decide what volume they're likely to need. The answer to that question will help inform the decision as to whether to go large or small.

“If you're dipping your toe in the water to see how robust the market is and how well you can create a workflow, the lower-end die cutter would be better,” Witkin says. “It also takes up less space.”

He also notes it's essential for shops to take into consideration the fact they will add 50 percent to the time projects require because of the need to manage the complexity of not just the graphic but of the die cut itself. As well, they could be devoting an extra 80 to 100 percent of their shops' space to machinery, so they have to plan for space utilization.

Meeting the world’s new demands

As he looks ahead, Ferrari says he believes digital die cutting is likely to create the same kind of paradigm shift digital printing brought about years ago. “Digital die cutting is the new game changer, and together with a digital printer, I'm seeing synergistic effects,” he says.

“It's not one and one make two, but one and one make 10. I say this is the future. This is the space printers will need to focus upon in order to complete the conversion of their shops to the demands of the world in which we live today.”

The Flatbed Solution

Another option for your cutting needs: the flatbed cutter. Companies including Esko, Graphtec America, MCT Digital, MultiCam, Trotec Laser, and Zund, to name just a few, produce these machines, which cut either by mechanical blade or by laser. Flatbed cutters can prove to be invaluable, particularly when you have to tackle thicker substrates and relatively smaller runs.

Blink (blink-print.com), a full-service printing house in the UK offering some of the latest wide-format, POS, and cutting technologies running alongside its digital and traditional litho presses, has utilized its Zund S3 flatbed cutter and router to produce some intriguing projects.

For example, in the lead up to the fifth birthday of the Nissan Juke, Blink was approached by London-based paper-and-craft artist Owen Gildersleeve to help him build a life-size origami-inspired paper car. The shop worked closely with the artist, offering guidance and expertise on production specifications as well as machine capabilities. One of the biggest hurdles was to ensure complete alignment of specialist cutting and creasing on all materials, before they went into production, Blink reports.

The flat form paper model was delivered to Gildersleeve and his team, who spent more than 200 hours carefully assembling the model which, when complete, comprised approximately 2000 separate folded polygons. Working alongside Gildersleeve was model maker Thomas Forsyth, who produced digital CAD drawings of the internal framework on which the paper shell was built.

Also produced with the Zund S3 cutter and router by Blink, and again in conjunction with artist Gildersleeve and model maker Forsyth: a life-size Iron Man paper sculpture. Created for the Silicon Valley Comic Con for their first event at the 30,000-capacity San Jose Convention Centre, the Iron Man paper sculpture combined Blink’s cut-and-crease capabilities with the client’s artistic and design expertise.