The Mansfield, Texas division of Southern Champion Tray (SCT) has added a new Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 41-inch seven-color press, which is located next to an existing Rapida 106 seven-color press that was installed several years ago.
The new press is just one of several significant investments at the 120-employee Mansfield site to serve the growing Dallas/Fort Worth market. In addition, the plant supplies cartons to multiple states in the Southwest region of the U.S., and even transfers product to Southern Champion Tray’s headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee for national distribution. The company is a dominant force in the production and distribution of paperboard packaging products for the bakery, food service and custom retail markets.
“Our Mansfield operation is a fast-paced manufacturing environment that has to address all of the evolving trends in our market,” said Brian Hunt, SCT’s COO.“Our customers are demanding higher-end graphics, shorter run quantities, and faster turnaround. We’ve solved these demands by ensuring that our new Rapida 106 is running at its maximum press capabilities to print our cartons and improving make-ready speeds — all of which are game changers. The new Koenig & Bauer ColorTronic ink control system has made a big difference in reducing our makeready times. Our new digital printing system is a great solution for small volume items and matches well with the capabilities of our Rapida 106. We are quite confident that we can handle all of the demands requested by our customers in the area of folding cartons.”
“We expect a 20% overall improvement in OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) on this new machine,” said John Simpson, SCT General Manager of the Mansfield facility. “There’s no doubt that this machine runs well at rated speed. We intend to take full advantage of this improved efficiency and tout its unique features to our customers. Internally, we’ll be seeing improved efficiency in make-ready and run speeds that will improve our cost competitiveness.”
(Far left) Rich Dreshfield, KBA North America Senior Vice President of sheetfed sales and Scott Brown, KBA North America Regional Sales Manager (far right) join SCT Mansfield employees Deven Dye, Production Manager (second from left), Robi Siklosi, Manager of print and digital technology (third from left), and John Moreno, Pressroom Manager (second from right).
