The industry’s latest trends are making their mark in the dies and tooling space, from digital printing and automation to sustainability. These trends have created ramifications for both suppliers and converters.

“The trend of digital printing affects our business positively, as every different job needs its own unique cutting tool,” states Andre Gysbers, marketing director, Wink. “However, most digital labels come with rather simple shapes, which requires us to produce and ship the required dies very fast and cost-effectively, and of course laser cutting is also finding its place in short-run digital printing.

Meanwhile, the shift toward automation has required die and tooling manufacturers to adapt their products to Industry 4.0 technologies. For Wink, this means tailoring its tooling and processes to ensure compliance and connectivity. The proof is in Wink’s SmartGap technology, which has been optimized for adjustable systems.

According to Keith Laakko, global vice president, marketing and business development, Maxcess International, the industry has seen several other notable trends over the past few years, which are evident in the company’s RotoMetrics brand. Specifically, the explosion of e-commerce has required an increase in the production of chrome coated flexible dies.  These dies require chrome coatings to increase durability and longevity.

“In addition, customers continue to pursue thinner and thinner liners as their customers and end users look for ways to reduce costs,” says Laakko. “There is also an increase in more complex dies, including the huge growth in tags and labels used for tracking products – which is seen with RFID labels.” 

The supply chain challenges have caused several industry shifts, too. “We continue to see a move to thin PET liners, particularly with the more recent material supply chain issues, as well as a trend to wider format diecutting at higher speeds,” states Jim Kissner, vice president of sales, Kocher + Beck USA. “As such dies and tooling have continued to evolve still further to provide even tighter tolerance tooling to support converting wider and faster.”

The shift to digital has also prompted another trend. “We see more converting being run with digital print engines and finished with semi-rotary diecutting systems,” explains Wade Fouts, VP of technical support, Wilson Manufacturing. “Flexible die durability has blossomed. Solid dies now offer better methods for slug removal and durability. Also, as a result, typical tooling requirements have transitioned to flexible dies without any print cylinder requirements.”

Kocher + Beck’s tooling must support this multitude of trends. “All the magnetic cylinders produced at Kocher + Beck USA are manufactured using through hardened steel bearers with a stainless-steel body, providing an extremely accurate and hard wearing magnetic cylinder,” adds Kissner.

Die and tooling manufacturers are not immune to the push for sustainability, either. The increased awareness around sustainability has spurred companies in the label and packaging space to develop products that leave a lighter carbon footprint.

“You’re seeing a lot of sustainability initiatives as organizations balance people, planet and profit variables,” explains Laakko. “Many of our new products at RotoMetrics, a Maxcess brand, are designed to help reduce material consumption, decrease waste and scrap, and enhance recyclable/reuse/remanufacturing options.”

Rotary vs. flexible dies
Flexible dies have certainly increased in popularity in recent years. Kocher + Beck’s flexible dies are 100% machine sharpened, offering an accurate, precise, and repeatable diecutting solution, with the additional benefit of being at a lower price point than a traditional solid rotary tool, the company says.  They are typically produced in 24 to 48 hours as quick turnaround times have become critical within the industry. 

Machine sharpening allows for the precise control of the blade profile of Kocher + Beck’s dies, ensuring a clean, efficient and precise cut of the facestock. “We also control the blade height to within a tolerance range of +/- 3 microns or less as standard and offer an even tighter tolerance die specifically for PET liner applications, allowing for precise conversion of the facestock without bursting through the liner,” says Kocher + Beck’s Kissner.

“Due to their lightweight design, flexible dies can be shipped on next day services at lower shipping rates,” he adds. “They also require far less storage than traditional solid rotary tools allowing valuable floor space to be put to more profitable use.”

As Wilson’s Fouts notes, the relative short existence of flexible dies – when compared to solid tooling – provides more innovation and interest in the flexible die market. “Flexible dies have not been around nearly as long as the traditional solid die. Therefore, the room for growth and process improvement is much greater for the Fdexible die in comparison to the solid,” he says. “Flexible dies offer benefits such as lower up-front cost, lower freight, easier storage, and better lead times. Flexible dies’ cons include limited substrate thicknesses and no viable method of slug ejection.”

Maxcess’ Laakko says there are a lot of myths prevalent in the industry when it comes to this topic. “The use of flexible versus solid tooling comes down to each specific customer application,” he explains. “Historically, the longer the run the more solid tooling makes sense from a durability standpoint. You can also re-sharpen and refurbish solid dies up to four or five times to extend life. Flexible dies offer greater flexibility and work great for shorter runs or for presses that change jobs a lot. The fact of the matter is no one die can do it all.”

According to Laakko, engineering a single die type and then adding coatings or using laser hardening to claim increased longevity is a faulty endeavor, too. “Only chrome coatings add significant life to a solid or flexible die. Laser hardening only adds a small amount to the die life,” he adds. “RotoMetrics, a Maxcess brand, uses proprietary, vertically integrated chrome processes to give the greatest consistency and quality of added chrome life with the fastest turnaround time.  Additionally, RotoMetrics has integrated the best manufacturing practices from RotoMetrics, Electro Optic and MLC Brazil to create portfolio of dies that are designed for customers’ specific application.”

Wink has made high investments in machinery, research, and personnel to promote even further progress in the area of high-level flexible die production. This relates in particular to production efficiency and delivery speed, notes Wink’s Gysbers, but also to etching and engraving techniques for extreme precision and individual cutting-edge geometries.

“Flexible dies have become the first choice for most label and narrow web applications, as they offer so many advantages: Production and delivery time are very fast, they allow diecutting of very intricate shapes, and they facilitate transport, storage and handling enormously,” adds Gysbers. “Moreover, thanks to special surface treatments flexible dies have become very durable, so that service lives are comparable to solid dies. Overall, this makes flexible dies typically more cost-effective than solid dies.”

Kocher + Beck will work hand-in-hand with its customers when they transition from solid to flexible dies. The company first ascertains an idea of the customer’s current range of tooling repeat sizes.  Kocher + Beck would then draw up a list of magnetic cylinders repeat sizes that best meets their needs, with the goal of consolidating as many repeat sizes as possible. 

“We then suggest the customers takes their most common single repeat size and transition this over to a magnetic cylinder and flexible dies, allowing for a controlled transition,” states Kissner. “We offer to be on-site during the transition process, so we can support the operators on the correct handling, use, cleaning and storage procedures for flexible dies.”
There is a place for solid tooling, though. “For some applications solid dies are the better option, especially when converting very thick materials like booklet or other multi-layer labels, which require high cutting blades,” comments Gysbers. “Moreover, solid dies allow for extra features for waste removal and material movement, which cannot be handled with flexible dies.”

Navigating a challenging landscape
The ongoing supply chain challenges have presented obstacles for die and tooling manufacturers. “Given the supply chain issues over the past year, we have seen an increase in material variability, as customers have had to either substitute vendors or use different materials,” says Laakko.

While patience has been a virtue for label converters, suppliers must handle these challenges, as well. “Material cost and availability have created new challenges for everyday production, as well as R&D projects,” comments Wilson’s Fouts. “In the end we can achieve our goals, but they often require additional time and patience under these circumstances.”

Maxcess has responded to economic uncertainty and the ongoing supply issues by investing more in its people and products. Much of the product development has come from direct collaboration with the company’s customers and meeting demand for their pain points. According to Maxcess, it will continue to do so in the future.

“We have made a concerted effort to invest in new product development projects,” states Laakko. “We have invested millions of dollars over the past two years and we are seeing that investment paying off in products our customers want that leapfrog current industry technologies. In feedback from our customers, their challenges right now revolve around reducing waste and material consumption, need for skilled labor, dealing with material shortages and variances and long lead times. We are engineering products to eliminate, reduce or alleviate these challenges. This requires an emphasis on automation, increased use of electronic components and enhanced engineering resources.”

Wink has made the same commitment to its customers. Most recently, the company expanded and modernized its Cylinder Competence Center in Simmerath, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The Cylinder Competence Center was established in 2014 when the Simmerath-based cylinder specialist “FST Form- und Stanztechnik” became part of the Wink Group. The product portfolio includes a wide range of rotary precision tools for the printing and converting industry. Wink’s magnetic cylinders, rotary dies and anvil cylinders are used, among other things, to produce labels, packaging, medical goods, hygiene articles, and automotive and electronic components.

The challenges in this segment extend to the dies themselves, too. For example, with Kocher + Beck’s wide format, high-speed cutting station, it was not just as simple as taking a traditional diecutting station and making it wider.

“Past a certain width and speed the forces and loads placed on a station change significantly, and as such we needed to totally re-design a cutting station capable of accepting such loads and allowing accurate and consistent diecutting,” says Kissner.

To better service its customers, Maxcess has also opened a new Rotary Die Center of Excellence in Eureka, MO, USA, to improve rotary die R&D, increase flexible die production and integrate tooling solutions to improve die performance. 

“We are constantly testing new materials and finding ways to get dies to customers faster,” explains Laakko. “We are collaborating with OEMs and other suppliers to get ahead of these technology advancements or changes. This ensures our technology will work right the first time, right out of the box. We will continue to monitor the marketplace and invest in automated, Industry 4.0 solutions to meet the industry’s demands.”

Product finder
Kocher + Beck has tailored its latest products to answer the call for wider format diecutting and higher speeds. “For this reason, alongside several OEMs, we have developed several wide format high speed diecutting stations for both inline and off-line applications,” says Kocher + Beck’s Kissner. “These robust cutting stations provide stability, efficiencies and most importantly reduced downtime.”

In addition, Kocher + Beck has introduced its new GapMaster EM and the EM Retrofit (Electrically Motorized), which offers the ability to change the increments of adjustments through a touchscreen display down to as small as 0.25 microns. The system also incorporates a job saving function, as well as the ability to set a limit on the range of adjustment allowed. 

“The GapMaster EM has a user-friendly calibration function and a home/start function that can be set by the customer,” adds Kissner. “The EM Retrofit has all the same functions as the EM GapMaster but can be retrofitted to all existing Kocher + Beck GapMaster units.”

RotoMetrics, a Maxcess brand, recently highlight numerous new product launches at the company’s Social and Innovation Summit in Rosemont, IL, USA. The event, which took place on September 14, featured the RotoMetrics AccuAdjust Adjustable Anvil. In addition to live presentations, the company detailed plans for upcoming product launches.

“Given the variability we have encountered with materials over the past year, the AccuAdjust helps customers adjust die strike on the fly to reduce waste and scrap significantly,” says Maxcess’ Laakko. “We will be launching the RotoAdjust easy upgrade in Q4 that automates the process to reduce human error, stores data and jobs for quick recall and lays the foundation for Industry 4.0 RotoScan in 2023.”

Another product that received attention from attendees was Maxcess Vision Systems. This vision system analyzes images on a moving web to inspect for defects, providing 100% inspection. 

“We offer a wide range of print and surface inspection solutions for every price point,” notes Laakko. “We also offer advanced workflow automation solutions. Maxcess Vision Systems is the next level of Industry 4.0 solutions to minimize defects, reduce scrap, and improve product quality.”

In the future, customers can look out for other new products hitting the market in Q4 of 2022, including Maxcess’ Tidland AutoCut auto positioning slitter. This fully automated narrow web slitting system offers faster setups and improved safety. “Our FIFE-500MAX narrow web guide gives customers more accurate guiding, smoother actuation and advanced networking capabilities at a more affordable price,” adds Laakko.

Wilson has launched a wide variety of products to meet the needs of label converters seeking an assortment of dies and tooling. “At Wilson, we have focused on developing ways help customers gain more opportunities from their tooling inventory,” states Fouts. “We have introduced a new digital adjustable clearance anvil, universal flex dies, pin eject solid dies and a new portal for customer convenience.”

Wink has a wide range of die and tooling solutions to meet customer demand. The company’s SuperCut flexible dies deliver trouble-free diecutting of ultra-thin PET liners. Plus, Wink’s new premium non-stick coating keeps the dies clean and maximizes efficiency when cutting tough adhesives.

Meanwhile, the SmartGap adjustable anvil system allows for ultra-precise adjustment of the die strike and helps maximize production efficiency. “The SmartGap ‘Touch’ was the first digitally controlled adjustable anvil, setting new industry benchmarks,” states Gysbers. “We have further developed our tool with leading OEMs and key accounts worldwide, to enhance functionality, including many additional smart features, connectivity and fully-automated diecutting control.”

Wink has also invested in the expansion of its cylinder production, which can be seen in its PowerCut solid dies and OptiMag magnetic cylinders.