S&S Packaging doubles production after Bobst’s latest die-cutter buy

Savla said, he did not look beyond Bobst as he was not just looking for machinery but beyond it. “I wanted to uncover every opportunity to gain a competitive advantage with higher productivity and efficiency. The idea was to produce more with less.”

Savla opted for the Bobst Novacut 106E 3.0, a new third-generation die-cutter with a new maximum size format of 760x1060mm. The machine is capable of producing up to 8,000sph and run solid boards up to 2,000gsm and corrugated boards up to 4mm. The machine was installed in December 2019 at the company’s 25,000sqft plant in Silvassa.

Savla said, “The new machine has helped us move towards faster job changeovers, reduced stoppages even further, more flexibility for the operator and easier job setting and hence resulting in more productivity.”

S&S used to produce 4,000sph, but after the installation of the Novacut 106E 3.0, it started producing more cartons at the machine’s maximum speed. Savla said, “The quality is excellent when production is running at full speed,” said Savla, adding “The main advantage is an increase in the capacity of production. We now produce close to 1,00,000 sheets as against half the number we used to produce before the installation.” The company, however, still uses the manual machines for other short-run jobs, when needed.

Bobst Novacut 106E 3.0: is capable of producing up to 8,000sph, solid boards up to 2,000gsm and corrugated boards up to 4mm

S&S specialises in producing carton boxes and insert labels for FMCGs, pharmaceuticals, and garment companies and also tobacco companies jobs, which also requires high precision. Besides the Bobst Novacut Novacut 106E 3.0, the company is equipped with a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster, a six-colour fully-loaded Kohli gravure press, and a slitting machine among others. The company outsources plates from a pre-press bureau in the plant’s vicinity. The company employs about 100 workers, who work in a single 12-hour single shift in different departments such as designing department, post-production and sales department and the operators who work on the machine.

Savla is also all praise for the machine’s high registration accuracy and reliability due to criticality of their jobs. “ Due to Bobst’s unique double cam sector drive for the gripper movement and chain locking we achieve accurate register at almost full speed of the machine for our critical jobs, which has meant we have been producing at zero rejection rate.” He added, “It has also saved on raw material wastages by up to 2.5%, which means we are that producing that much more cartons.”

Though S&S packaging was established by Savla in 1997, he had been part of the family business much before he started the new venture. “Our parent company was Friends Printery, which was established in 1968,” said Savla, who is assisted by his son, Siddhant, in managing S&S Packaging business.