New and Improved—Again

The quest to develop better, long-lasting dies and die manufacturing processes keeps

Bernal International on the short-list of top diemakers.

By David Luttenberger

Don't ask Paul Madill "what's new?" unless you really want to know.

For the past 50 years Bernal International, under a number of corporate flags, has created a steady stream of truly innovative and revolutionary die products and processes to meet the changing needs of package printers, converters and the consumer products industries.

Started in the late 1940s as Bernal, Inc., the company manufactured punches. It wasn't until 1966 that the company, who is today known as a rotary die pioneer, even began to dabble in that technology. Seeing an immediate niche for itself and its new rotary EDM and rotary pressure (RP) cutting dies, Bernal ushered the era of rotary cutting into the folding carton industry. The EDM process allowed Bernal to put hardened blades in solid rotary steel cylinders by removing portions of the steel, leaving only the blade standing. Previous attempts at such a process resulted in distortion of the blades, rendering the die useless.

In 1972 the division spun off as Bernal Rotary Systems. With manufacturing concentrated in just one area, key developments came quickly. In the late 1970s, Bernal developed the first rotary diecutting modules for the Bobst Lemanic. It also began to build a presence in the consumer products industries where it made dies for cutting floppy disks, Polaroid film and batteries. The technology, developed as part of the EDM process, enabled Bernal to duplicate virtually any shape on the surface of a die cylinder. This capability gave Bernal an entrée to practically any segment of packaging or consumer products.

Made to last

Never satisfied with the die technology at hand, Bernal and its president, Paul Madill, knew diecutters wanted a line of longer-lasting dies. Utilizing the resources of its advanced machining lab and the industry's only close-tolerance testing and development center, Bernal's R&D team of Ph.D. engineers and metallurgists, who had already developed a hugely successful "shaftless" die, set about to create a laser-engraved solid steel rotary die.

Four years, $2 million, six kilowatts and several patents later, Bernal is set to introduce at CMM International in April, its Ultra Cut Die Series—a line of cost-competitive, long-life, laser-engraved rotary solid steel dies. Historically, solid and segmented dies are made from expensive tool steels. The process to make them consumed tremendous amounts of time. Combining three different laser-engraving processes, Bernal can produce dies in the Ultra Cut Series in about half the process and manufacturing time as traditional solid steel rotary dies. According to Madill, dies in the series address the varying needs of companies with a broad product mix. Another advantage of the Ultra Series is the ability to be resharpened with the laser process.

Venturing out

Though Bernal's reputation has been made by being close to its customers—20 millionths of an inch in some cases—it has recently reached out to a new market half a world away.

After separating from Stevens Graphics just two years ago to become Bernal International, it became a majority owner in a joint venture with Yawa, in Shanghai, China. The newly formed partnership manufactures rotary dies for folding cartons and consumer products for this emerging giant.

With operations already established in Europe and around the Pacific Rim, Madill said the combination of China's fast-developing economy and Bernal's current engineering capabilities, which include degreed, Chinese-speaking engineers, was favorable for capturing a good share of the market there—just as it has here on its way to being the third largest diemaker in North America.