‘Mastercut 1.65 is the only machine on the market that has been specially designed for litho-laminated converting. It can handle strong corrugated board and carton equally well – making it one machine for all jobs. Tooling compatibility and a good level of automation guarantee minimal downtime when switching from one material to another,’ maintains Marco Lideo, product line director for die-cutters, hot foil stampers, flexo post printers and litho-laminating
‘The development of this machine is the result of engagement with some of the most experienced professionals in the packaging world. When we asked what they were looking for in a flatbed die-cutter, the feedback we received was for a machine that has the capability to handle multiple substrates, while still offering a high level of productivity and unrivalled production quality,’ Marco remarks.
The Mastercut 1.65 can process both robust and delicate materials, ranging from 300g solid board to 7mm BC double wall litho-laminated at speeds of up to 7 000 sheets/hour, and its high-cutting force enables precise die-cutting quality, even for complex box designs. It has been designed to be versatile, robust and equipped for Industry 4.0 and can be combined with a range of downstream peripherals to create a full production line. Precision and ergonomic quality control features guarantee minimal waste, saving resources and reducing cost.
The redesigned Smart Feeder 3 top feeding system ensures a smooth start to operations. Built-in suction units ensure friction-free feeding for all substrates. Meanwhile, a feeding table with a dedicated pressing device has been tailored for careful processing of warped materials. With delicate and precise feeding, production stoppages are reduced to a minimum.
A bespoke Power Register offers contactless sheet registration and preserves sheet integrity. The optical register can read printing marks from top/bottom and lateral/leading edge, allowing flexibility in layouts and substrate choices. The registered sheets pass into locked gripper bars for exact die-cutting, providing folding carton print-to-cut precision for corrugated and litho-laminated board.
The die-cutter is also the only solution in the market for corrugated and litho-laminated board blanking in size VII and offers a cutting force of up to 5.5MN for perfect cutting of solid substrates, while low pressure on the sheet ensures delicate materials remain undamaged, Marco asserts.
To enable short job changeovers, the intuitive Bobst HMI Sphere allows for quick navigation and the storing of up to 5 000 job tickets. With HMI Sphere, the machine is also ready to join the Bobst Connect platform, opening up the possibility to interlink and optimise the whole converting process in the future.
Mastercut 1.65 is available with TooLink, a platform that connects the die-cutter with tooling to bring together the entire converting process and retrieve job data in a matter of seconds. This simplifies job changeover by automating the recipe management, saving time and eliminating the risk of human error.
‘With the Mastercut 1.65, we have brought together a combination of tools and technologies that reflect and support our vision for the future of the packaging industry, in terms of automation, connectivity and sustainability. It has been built to serve as a long-term asset for converters,’ Marco asserts.
Southern African market representative, Beswick Machinery, adds that all die-cutting solutions have traditionally been a compromise – a machine designed for folding cartonboard could do a bit of light corrugated board and a machine designed for corrugated board could process some very heavy solid board. ‘Now, for the first time, there is a machine that perfectly bridges the gap between folding carton and corrugated board converting,’ comments MD Bruce Beswick. ‘Beswick Machinery has several South African customers converting folding cartons, litho-laminated and corrugated board and because the new Mastercut 1.65 is equally proficient at processing all materials, and includes a full blank separation station, it becomes an interesting option for these converters.’
