Bobst targets OEE through automation and smart workflows

Connectivity and real-time data tracking emerge as primary benchmarks for packaging converters seeking to maximise production efficiency. Speaking to an audience of industry professionals at the event, Rosenbusch emphasises that digitalisation can no longer remain a corporate afterthought. 

The platform known as Bobst Connect centralises machine telemetry across multiple production steps. By utilising open interfaces, converters can bridge the communication gap between disparate equipment types, capturing live data streams from CI presses, blown film extrusion units, cast film lines, and downstream slitting systems into a single dashboard. This approach to data allows plant managers to replace guesswork with metric-driven decisions regarding machine diagnostics and daily capacity utilisation.

Structural press configurations and film stabilisation

The technical configurations of the Bobst Bielefeld product portfolio reflect a modular approach to matching speed, print width, and repeating accuracy to specific market applications. The entry-level model is the Vision CI, a standardised machine designed for flexible packaging films and paper substrates up to 100-gsm.

It operates at a maximum velocity of 500 metres a minute, handling print widths between 920-mm and 1,520-mm with a repeat range spanning 300-mm to 1,120-mm. To service global consumer markets, Bobst has transitioned the assembly line for this press to its manufacturing facility in Changzhou China, where each module undergoes automated quality control and testing against European CE standards prior to international delivery.

For applications demanding high levels of tailor-made versatility, the Expert CI operates at 600 metres a minute across web widths of 1,100-mm to 1,700-mm. This platform integrates inline downstream modules, including rotogravure units, flexographic coating decks, ultraviolet assemblies, and electron beam systems.

The flexibility allows converting plants to configure distinct setups for surface printing, laminate coatings, and heavy cardboard up to 400-gsm on a single press layout.

At the high-performance tier, the Master CI platform drives productivity with speeds up to 800 metres a minute and web widths up to 2,200-mm. For wide-format industrial applications, the specialised Master CI 90Six operates at 600 metres a minute with an extended width capability of 1,850-mm to 2,800-mm and a sleeve circumference that reaches 2,060 mm to handle heavy linerboard pre-printing. This asset uses automated robotics to load print sleeves continuously alongside four plate mounters on the production floor.

Automated pre-setting and layout validation

Short-run flexible packaging applications demand reduction in changeover waste to protect narrow margins. The press lines provide two distinct approaches to automation. The semi-automatic Smart Set system integrates certified traverse cameras from AVT or VST to guide press operators through register and impression alignment.

The fully automatic Smart GPS system shifts the configuration step entirely off the press. By measuring the plate topography at the mounting stage, the system feeds positioning parameters directly to the press computers.

When the new job is accelerated, the cylinders lock automatically into registration, limiting startup substrate waste to approximately 10 metres per changeover, even on eight-colour or 10-colour jobs. This workflow is supported by an alternate hardware partnership with AV Flexologic. It blends the automatic plate-adjustment software directly with the Bobst pre-setting pipeline.

To intercept plate errors before generating waste at 500 metres a minute, converters utilise a digital inspection table. This quality control asset projects the original digital TIFF or PDF proof file directly onto the printed sheet via an overhead laser beamer. This allows operators to check text rendering, graphic elements, and barcode positions against the digital original at the first print pull.