Castle Colour’s operational excellence has been enhanced with the installation of a Bobst Expertfold 80 folder-gluer. Paul Densley, Operations and Technical Director at Castle Colour, said, “To stay ahead and compete with the rest of Europe, it’s important to work smart. By utilising the latest operational techniques, we are maximising efficiency and delivering the best solutions for our customers. Prior to the Expertfold 80 folder-gluer being installed, Bobst delivered a comprehensive training programme at our facility. We really appreciated their input and are now running the business with highly skilled, quality staff and modern business and operational practices. The mindset change, as a result of the training, was outstanding.
“We are as thrilled with the machine as we were with the training – its potential is huge and has already provided a 50.7% improvement in our folder-gluer running speed compared with our old line. We are now running two-day shifts and achieving up to 400m/min or 60,000 per hour on the machine with ease, creating significant capacity uplift. The Expertfold 80 has delivered more than the team anticipated in terms of sheer running speed and efficiency savings.”
The Expertfold 80 is Castle’s second Bobst folder-gluer and sits alongside two Bobst die-cutters. With its integrated detection system and barcode reader, it is one of the most flexible machines on the market, letting converters fold and glue up to 3000 box styles. The Accufeed feeding system ensures every box enters the machine in perfect alignment and the system is focussed on cutting make ready time while reducing waste.
Established in Norwich in 1991, Castle Colour Ltd has built a strong reputation for delivering high quality carton and blister packaging solutions to the food, personal and household care markets. Today turning over circa £8M with over 70 staff, the business is focusing on delivering exceptional customer service from a platform of operational excellence.
