South German label converter fs-Etiketten, a family-run business that has been active since 1965, has always been open to innovations and new technologies. The company is led by Simone Stockigt, Bernd Koch and Roland Schlegel, and it has found success with MPS “Talk to me” concept.

From letterpress to flexo printing
Koch, chief information officer (CIO), is always looking for ways to make the process more efficient. Koch says, “We always worked with letterpress machines. But flexo received a lot of positive attention over these past years. Flexo technology is faster and has reduced the disadvantages of the letterpress. That is why the acquisition of a flexo press was the most logical next step for us.”

When fs-Etiketten was looking into buying a new flexo press, MPS was one of the machine builders they visited. “To me, MPS is the number one press builder in terms of technology,” says Koch. “They are always on the forefront of innovations, and in the field of connectivity, they are the first. Connectivity is something I was already interested in, and MPS gave me the opportunity to think along with them about their connectivity platform.”

The higher the automation, the higher the productivity
The connectivity platform “Talk to me,” in combination with the machine, was absolutely essential for Koch. “The advantages of this connectivity platform are that it is faster, the changeover time is shorter, there is less waste, and the connectivity asks less from us, because everything is centrally controlled by the Management Information System (MIS) we were already working with” explains Koch.

The CIO has a clear vision of the functioning of “Talk to me.” 

“The connectivity platform works automatically. So, if there is a printing job on the machine, we use job memory to take the pre-settings from the press,” he explains. “So, when the operator gets to set up the next print job at the terminal, the press is already automatically set up in the right position. Therefore, the changeover goes very fast. As changeover time is the time where you do not make money, you want to keep the changeover time as short as possible. ‘Talk to me’ contributes to this, because thanks to the connectivity platform, there is more time for production of completely converted labels. The higher the automation, the higher the productivity.”

“Talk to me” connectivity meets all expectations
fs-Etiketten is now working with three shells of the connectivity platform. “My expectations are all met,” says Koch. “Now, the instrumental improvements need to take place, we want to integrate the systems even more. At the moment, we work with four terminals on the machine, each with a different task. One screen is for the AVT inspection camera, one for the CC1 register control, one for the CERM MIS and one for the BST optical camera. We would like to see all systems connected so we can experience an even more increase in productivity.”

For fs-Etiketten, “Talk to me” has proven its advantages. In their daily production they experienced less waste, faster changeover times, and thus more productivity.

“As we were the first MPS customer with the “Talk to me” platform in the development stage, we could collaborate with MPS. We believe this way of working is the way to go. We have experienced the benefits almost immediately after introduction. Due to the connectivity, I can arrange everything myself, it saves time. For now, the trial of “Talk to me” means no investment for us, but I would definitely invest in it if I had to, now that I have the experience with the advantages of connectivity,” Koch concludes.

About the author: Marjolein Ekkelboom has been working as global marketing manager at MPS since 2017.