Just in Time

For example, in the label industry, flexible dies have been overtaking what traditionally has been a solid rotary die market, according to Bill Reichard, president and CEO of Gerhardt USA. Both the converters and die manufacturers are adjusting in this instance, again because of just-in-time demand. “Although there are still some long run jobs, there is a lot of just-in-time demand right now, so people are running shorter jobs and not stocking as many labels,” says Reichard. He adds that flexible dies are very easy to set up and run. “The manufacturing process is much quicker for flexible dies. Therefore, lead times for most flexible dies are one day, where that of a rotary die can be from three to five days. there’s an initial cost of magnetic cylinders, but by the third time you use a flexible die with the magnetic cylinnder, you have covered the cost of it,” he says.