Was it worth it? It was!

By purchasing an MBO K8 RS folding machine and a stacking robot, the Budapest-based Aduprint Printing House has placed its entire production structure on new foundations. Zoltán Tóth, the company’s managing director, shared the details and experiences behind this decision.

The investment was preceded by a long decision-making process. What were the main milestones and criteria that ultimately convinced you to proceed with the investment?

Many factors had to come together before we finally leaned toward a positive decision. What initially put me off was the price of the machine. There was a huge gap between the cost of what we might call a traditional machine and that of this newly developed, new-technology system. When we first started looking at the K8 RS – or rather its earlier version – the price, which was almost two and a half times higher, was quite discouraging.

Did this price refer to the entire line, including the stacking robot?

Yes. However, many circumstances changed along the way. First of all, “traditional” machines also began to become more expensive, which reduced the price gap. In addition, we had to move away from the idea of increasing capacity in an extensive way – meaning that instead of two machines we would have three, instead of three we would have four. This approach had already become unsustainable for us under any circumstances, partly because of space requirements but mainly because of the operating staff. We experienced that even for our existing machines we could not find enough experienced operators. Over the past few years we had expanded our folding machine fleet and already had five machines in total, but not everyone was able to operate them properly, so we could not optimize them efficiently in relation to each other. We knew that sooner or later something had to be done about this.

Another problem was the role of folding in the overall printing production process. If we cannot push jobs through the folding department, then obviously we cannot bind them either, which creates a bottleneck between printing and finishing. Sometimes we even delivered half pallets to the perfect binder just to avoid stopping the machine and leaving the staff waiting idly. We could not allow the limitations of the folding department to prevent us from utilizing our printing and finishing capacity.

Were there any other factors that helped you make the decision?

Quite unexpectedly, a grant also became available in Budapest that was not purely about capacity expansion but also about innovation. A highly automated and robotized system like this met the criteria perfectly. In the grant application we were able to demonstrate clear development prospects for the printing company, so we decided to go ahead with the investment.

How did your colleagues react to this innovation?

From the very first moment, the new machine was received very positively. Of course, there is always some uncertainty in such situations: one machine is dismantled and a new one arrives, and people naturally wonder what will happen to their jobs. Even considering what I mentioned earlier – that there had been some hesitation in operating the older machines – a new system can also mean a new opportunity. The employees liked the new design, and the overall attitude was positive, but we also had to realize that we could not simply assign anyone to operate this machine.

We often experience – especially with H+H machines, where product complexity and the sensitivity of the paper make the initial phase difficult – that company managers have to face challenges during the early stages, even if we do everything we can to transfer the necessary knowledge. How did this process unfold at your company?

For us as well, it meant a gradual learning and familiarization process. At first we progressed very visibly and achieved very impressive folding performance, everyone was enthusiastic. Then a period followed when problems came one after another and we clearly got stuck. This was difficult for my colleagues, and I was worried that they might lose motivation and that the failures would discourage them from further efforts. Then suddenly a breakthrough happened. I cannot say exactly what triggered it, but from a certain point onward we were able to carry out changeovers and adjustments without any problems. We started working in two shifts and achieved very solid folding performance.

We installed the machine last January. There was additional training in March, and even in July you still received support from us regarding machine settings. According to you, the machine only later fully met expectations.

Yes, the breakthrough came around October. From then on there were far fewer fluctuations in production. We no longer started the morning wondering what kind of problems had occurred during the night shift or how production had gone. I should emphasize that we are talking about one of the fastest folding machines in the world. Folding is no longer a bottleneck – in fact, in some cases it even catches up with printing.

How does the stacking robot fit into the system? Do you see it as an integral part of the folding machine? Are you more productive, or does it mainly make the operators’ work easier – which, of course, is not negligible either?

We do have some smaller-format jobs that the robot head cannot handle (although a smaller-format head is available for the system), so in those cases we still have to stack manually. But if I look at the overall picture – the fact that the operator no longer has to bend down most of the time to unload the products because the robot arm does it instead – I see that colleagues approach their work differently. They are no longer tied to the delivery section of the machine and are relieved from the physical strain. The time they gain can be used for fine-tuning the machine and checking quality. At first the robot arm really seemed like a luxury, but now I see that it significantly contributes to our productivity. Perhaps the operator is often just standing next to the machine, but that is perfectly fine if production is fast and jobs are being folded one after another.

So in this setup the operator is basically “the boss of the machine”?

Yes, colleagues sometimes joke about it. They say a good operator is not the one who is constantly elbow-deep inside the machine and covered in oil, because that would mean something is wrong. If they are just standing next to the machine, then everything is working properly – they are handling and setting the machine correctly.

Are there any other factors – waste, paper consumption, energy efficiency – where you see additional advantages?

I cannot report on any significantly impactful factor that would be noticeable even in the short term. The elimination of the bottleneck is the most important result — it has made our lives so much easier. By always being on time with the folding, we have also been able to improve the utilization of our other machines. That is what truly made this investment worthwhile.

Aduprint

I should emphasize that we are talking about K8RS, one of the fastest folding machines in the world. Folding is no longer a bottleneck – in fact, in some cases it even catches up with printing.

Zoltán Tóth
Managing Director Aduprint Kft., Hungary