With more than 60 years of printing experience as a successful commercial printer, WestCamp prides itself on producing the highest quality marketing materials for its customers and operating the latest technology by its team of expert craftsmen in two production facilities: Westerville (a suburb of Columbus, OH) and Cleveland, OH, totalling more than 100,000 sq ft. As the company has grown from its commercial printing role to naturally expand into the fast-growing folding carton market, management has selectively chosen cutting edge technology to enable high-speed turnaround and unfailing accuracy. This past spring, the company added a Koenig & Bauer Allpro 110 folder gluer to its capabilities in Westerville, OH.
Left to right: Robert Morris (President and CEO) and Steve Chappelear (Director of Manufacturing).
“Traditional commercial print is good, steady work but other segments provide more growth, innovations, and creativity,” says Robert Morris, President and CEO. “The packaging market provides increased opportunities and a natural expansion coupled with our existing capabilities. When our customers began to ask about folding carton production, we explored a move into adding packaging work to our mix. We found that we already had in place all the steps leading up to the folder gluer so the Allpro 110 was an easy addition.”
The Allpro 110 allows users to exceed production requirements, maximize productivity and profitability, and produce endless carton box design possibilities. These include straight line, double wall, crash lock and optional four- and six-corner with single finger servo fold for high-speed precision as well as inner partition, Z-fold, conical crash lock and CD boxes at a maximum belt speed of 400 m/min.
When Morris was asked what the most important feature of a folder gluer is: automation, flexibility, sustainability, quality, efficiency, or speed, his answer was “yes” to all of them. “We are a production shop, so whatever folder gluer we chose needed to have excellent speed because that is expected in all of our areas. We’re also known for our high-quality so our folding cartons need to match the rest of what we do.”
Since its installation this spring, operators at WestCamp appreciate the Allpro’s array of features. The Allpro 110’s fully automatic processes combined with its memory functions are helping WestCamp’s operators achieve the shortest possible makeready times. An intuitive, touchscreen-based operating concept provides folder gluer operators with exceptional ease of operation while high-precision processes reduce the amount of waste.
“Whenever we invest in new equipment, we always research our possibilities, preferably looking at no less than three choices,” says Morris. “Since this was a new area for us, we looked at even more possibilities. We wanted a machine that could produce whatever we dreamt up to create. The Allpro 110 had more flexibility than any other we could find.”
Not only was Morris pleased with the Allpro 110 but the backing and commitment of Koenig & Bauer. “Choosing this equipment from Koenig & Bauer was simple,” he says. “They have a great reputation and the Allpro delivers our type of high-quality product. The availability of Koenig & Bauer’s knowledgeable and caring staff made entering this new area a comfortable transition. Everyone at Koenig & Bauer has been great to work with and very supportive.”
To date, the Allpro 110 folder gluer has addressed the needs of WestCamp’s customers. “Our current customers come first before we target new markets. The Allpro is expanding our abilities to deliver our customer’s message and allow their vision to come to life. It’s one more effective means in our arsenal to provide collaborative solutions which are coordinated within a customer’s overall campaign.”
