Advances in Die-Cutting

Industry advances in die-cutting methods are offering improvements in production speeds, quality and customer satisfaction.

The MBO Group offers the BSR 550 Servo Rotary Die Cutter, designed for processing direct mail, greeting cards, folding cartons, labels, and other products in a one-up or multi-up production setting.

It handles paper stock ranging from 24# to 19 point and has a working width designed specifically for handling the common 20x29-inch format.

“Because of its flexible dies, the BSR 550 Servo can punch, cut, kiss cut, perforate, score, and deboss,” said Lance Martin, MBO America’s director of sales.

For thicker paper stocks, booklets or stacked products, MBO offers the BSM die cutters with various widths and accessories, designed for hole-punching or trimming applications.

The three common die cutting methods offer their own advantages, noted Martin, adding that key factors to consider include paper stock, job volume, and the product’s intricacy.

Flat-bed/clamshell has long setup times, “which is fine for high-volume job runs, but inefficient for short or medium runs,” Martin said, adding another drawback is the need for “nicks” or hold points when cutting.

“In order to move a product downstream, the waste matrix and product need to be transported together,” Martin said. “An additional refining stage is required to grind down the rough edges before a product is ready.”

Their advantage is in handling heavy paper stocks with ease in contrast to other methods, he added.

Rotary die cutting has very quick setup and can run at high speeds of 12,000 cycles an hour, making it ideal for short, medium, or high volume jobs, Martin said. Additionally, it can cut a wider variety of paper stocks from 24# to 19pt board, he added.

In flatbed die-cutting, nicks are required to hold the product during transport, “but they create flaws around the edges of the product and require subsequent production steps to remove the scrap and refine the edges,” said Martin. The MBO Group’s rotary die cutting process is designed to allow products to be made without any holding points or nicks, he added.

Laser die cutting is so precise that it can make intricate shapes that are otherwise impossible for highly-custom, ultra-detailed jobs, Martin said, adding that laser die cutters can handle a wide range of materials – not just paper – and thicknesses.

“Laser die cutters require no dies or tooling, so there is no setup, making them perfect for running very low qualities, or even quantities of one,” noted Martin. “However, they also have a very slow running speed, comparatively, to all the other processes, and become rather cost ineffective even in some of the typical short run scenarios. This technology is growing, changing and presents great potential.”

“In the feeding section, MBO has developed a pre-loading cart scenario to quicken pile changes,” he said. “In addition to print-to-lead edge registration, MBO can provide print-to-cut and side-to-side. Further improvements in the accuracy now allow print to cut accuracy of 0.1mm on many applications. Stripping rollers and belts are smaller for multiple-up jobs and programmable from additional output stations. Additional deliveries have been added to reduce staffing per machine.”

MBO also has improved the integration capabilities to include more MBO legacy and partner products and engineered the die-cutting solution into the traditional roll fed inkjet web market, said Martin.

The company utilizes a modular machinery concept so users can group modules together to get the results tailored to meet the customer’s demand, he added.

In choosing any die cutter, it's important to evaluate all potential applications, said Bob Flinn, Standard Finishing Systems’ director of business development.

A job may involve die cutting and kiss cutting in the same pass for sticker and label production or need additional folding after die cutting and require creasing. Not all die cutters have these capabilities, Flinn said.

Standard Horizon’s RD-4055 is capable of running an upper and lower die for creasing in a single pass when producing pocket folders and greetings cards, Flinn noted.

Another consideration: the ability to register the die to the print image to accommodate image shift throughout the run.

“Shorter runs and frequent changeovers require more automation to achieve higher productivity and more accurate results,” said Flinn. “Features such as job recall and barcode scanning that allow quick and easy setup is important, especially for less skilled operators.”

Standard Finishing Systems offers two rotary die cutters designed to meet the growing demand for short-run die-cut products. The Standard Horizon RD-4055 and RD-3346 is designed to die-cut, crease, perforate, slit, hole punch, and round corner in one process for digital and offset printed sheets.

“Both systems feature easy change-over and simple operation with intuitive touchscreen controls and vacuum belt feed with powerful air separation for consistent feeding performance,” said Flinn.

Die-cutting and kiss-cutting also can be performed at the same time to produce stickers and labels. A repeat register function allows multiple-up applications from a single-up die to minimize costs. An ultrasonic sensor is used for double-feed detection on a wide range of substrates.

The RD-4055 feeds, die-cuts, and separates waste in one pass at up to 6,000 cycles/hour and accepts sheet sizes up to 15.74x21.65-inches at a thickness up to .5mm (.019-inches). Creasing is available for applications requiring additional folding after die-cutting, such as boxes, pocket folders, and greeting cards.

The RD-3346 runs at 3000 cycles/hour on sheet sizes up to 13x18-inch at .35mm (.013-inches) thick and is ideal for small-format applications such as business cards, tags, and door hangers, notes Flinn.
A function of the Horizon RD Series of rotary die cutters, repeat register significantly reduces the die cost for many applications and provides additional flexibility, he added.

“If a job has been printed three times down the sheet in the direction of the feed, a die can be produced with a single pattern on it that will strike the sheet three times in just one pass, reducing die cost by as much as one third,” Flinn said.

“Likewise, a die that is produced for a one-up job can be used to die-cut one-up on a 9x12-inch substrate, or two-up or three-up on a 12x18-inch sheet for greater latitude during the design and print phases.”
If the gap or gutter between images on a multiple-up job varies, the repeat pattern can be adjusted for each image to ensure accurate die-cutting on all pieces, said Flinn.

Another new technology: on the Standard Horizon RD-4055 Rotary Die Cutter, operators can choose between two cylinder gap settings – either 0.8 mm or 1.0 mm – in a bearer-to-bearer system, which protects the die from damage and adds greater precision.

“It allows a counter die to be mounted to the lower anvil cylinder for creasing, embossing and debossing, which can be performed simultaneously with the die cut,” said Flinn. “It also offers the ability to choose between a 0.8 mm or less-expensive 0.6 mm flexible die depending upon the job requirement.”

Print mark register can be configured on Horizon die cutters, allowing registration to a print mark as opposed to the leading edge of the sheet and will automatically adjust for digital print image shift from sheet-to-sheet to ensure an accurate cut on every piece, said Flinn.

Allen Datagraph Systems offers the iTech CENTRA HS Digital Label Finisher, designed to be a high-speed roll-to-roll digital finishing system that laminates, die-less cuts, strips waste matrix and slits custom labels in one pass.

The machine is designed to cut any custom shape on demand – without costs, delays and limitations of conventional die cutting processes – using the same vector file normally delivered for die manufacture, said Mark Vanover, vice president, sales and marketing.

“It can convert materials from any digital or analog print platform, in a maximum roll diameter of 355 mm (14 inches), up to 355 mm (14 inches) wide,” he said.

The SMARTMark Optical Registration System provides print-to-cut registration, scanning multiple registration marks to automatically adjust the cut path, compensating for skews or scaling caused by the printer or material, said Vanover.

“It can cut in multiple depths within the same cut file allowing for perforations or multi-layer applications. The touch screen interface makes it easy to set up and operate,” he added.

Digital die cutting eliminates the cost and time waiting for dies, Vanover says, adding that for short runs, it is an efficient way to provide labels.

“For longer runs with flexo or offset presses, traditional dies still make a lot of sense economically,” he said. “In these circumstances, traditional methods are faster if the time waiting for dies is not factored in. Once the printer has the die, it can be used again.”

Ease of use is one factor to consider when choosing a digital die cutting method, said Vanover.

“These are systems that should not require a large investment in labor to operate,” he said. “Even though these systems are typically smaller than traditional die cutters, they must be reliable and be able to be used in a production environment.”

A die cutter should be versatile and interoperable with a wide variety of print systems, notes Vanover. It should be able to tie into an existing digital or traditional print solution or, if possible, a matched printer offered by the manufacturer, he added.

Additionally, printers will find that it is easier to offer fast turn-around services with labels of any shape with digital finishing, said Vanover.

Vanover noted that some systems are introducing manufacturing technologies that operate in a continuous mode, rather than cutting a label and then advancing.

“This allows the printer to continually print a job while the finisher is cutting the label independently,” he said. “Proof and cutting speeds become faster.”

Ease of use also is leveraged by systems that use plug-ins to Adobe Illustrator, allowing designers and pre-press departments to work within a familiar environment, he added.

Accepting shorter runs with the technology can lead to longer run jobs in the future, Vanover pointed out, adding “it’s a helpful way to diversify. Commercial printers can offer short label runs to their customers, and label printers do not have to turn away smaller jobs because they do not fit their larger presses.”

Quantity and production speeds can be a challenge.

“If a printer is producing hundreds of thousands or millions of labels, a traditional die-cut system makes economic sense,” Vanover said. “However, many products are being offered with more brand extensions.”
Additionally, demographics and geography have spread the number of labels that are created for the same product, he added.

“Thus, smaller quantities are being produced and digital becomes much more viable for these short runs,” said Vanover.

Spartanics offers combination laser die cutting and semi-rotary die cutting systems “that meet every possible label converting requirement, including hot stamping, embossing, screen printing, and slitting,” noted Mike Bacon, vice-president of sales and marketing.

“This technology allows a customer to utilize both traditional and laser die cutting technology when running a variety of materials and label configurations,” he added.

Digital die cutting promotes “up time” on a digital finishing solution, said Bacon.

“It is a complementary technology to a digital printer and promotes all of the same advantages, such as elimination of tooling or plates and new turnaround of jobs within minutes,” he added.

Integrated pre-press software utilizing Adobe Illustrator files to generate laser die cut files virtually eliminates job changeover times, Bacon pointed out.

“The operator acts more like a material handler because the jobs are set up in a job queue with all of the laser power settings for the specific material type already generated,” he added.

Faster software and more powerful hardware are allowing laser die cutting speeds to consistently reach throughput speeds of 50 plus meters per minute depending on the material type and cut configuration, Bacon said.

“Materials like vinyl and PVC are still not perfect applications for laser die cutting which is why we combine traditional semi-rotary die cutting in some of our systems,” said Bacon of the challenges. “Learning how to generate cut files for intricate cuts can be challenging in the beginning and most of these challenges are handled by the pre-press department, which can be new for these individuals.”

Just as digital printing is a complimentary technology to offset or flexo printer systems, laser die cutting is complimentary to traditional die cutting, Bacon pointed out.

“Laser die cutting averages speeds around the 30-50m per minute while rotary die cutting speeds are much greater,” said Bacon. “Semi-rotary die cutting averages between 30-50m per minute so laser cutting technology is similar.”

Spartanics informs printers that the actual running speed for a semi-rotary die cutting system is five to 10 percent faster than laser die cutting speeds, said Bacon.

“However, the throughput comparison is not complete until you factor in tooling cost savings and job changeover time where laser die cutting has a clear advantage,” he added.