Just in Time

If you ask die manufacturers and converters what the most important emerging trend in the diecutting market is, you’ll understandably get a variety of answers. This market is as diverse as the applications that use dies in their finishing processes. The name of the game if you’re a converter or die manufacturer these days is adaptation. Gone is the separation of church and state between large-volume and small-volume diecutting operations. Now, large volume converters can take those last minute jobs and use lasers on their presses to run the smaller jobs.

Die manufacturers are also learning to adapt. Rotary die makers must address the emergence of flexible dies and their effect on the rotary die business. Some, like Gerhardt International, manufacture flexible dies and magnetic cylinders, along with solid rotary dies.

The driving forces behind these trends are many, but one common thread pervades the diecutting market today: converters are running smaller volume jobs and are switching tools more frequently. “Our clients, the converters, are switching set ups more frequently and running smaller quantities for just-in-time (JIT) delivery,” says Garrik Kumjian of General Metal Engraving. “Everyone in the business is trying to lower inventory and increase flexibility. Packaging and branding are becoming more customized and shorter runs are more common.”

Lower volume jobs mean more frequent tool changes, which means that diecutting products that help converters achieve the quickest set-up times possible are a must. More frequent tool changes also necessitate clear, concise communication between converters and die manufacturers to ensure dies arrive without imperfections, which requires education.

Educating the manufacturer and end user

As converters continue to reduce their product runs, communications between them and their die manufacturers becomes increasingly important. Communicating well requires converters to know the materials they’ll be cutting, their machines, and in particular, how to select/spec the right die ahead of time. Robert Weidhaas, president of the Weidhaas Group LLC states, “Everyone wants to get the job on and off the press as quickly as possible because the volume of sheets continues to drop.” The materials being cut also impact the diecutter. “There are a lot of plastics being cut today. Plastics will react differently than paper products,” says Weidhaas. “When you get into plastics, you really have to know your machine well, because the trend is fast set up.”

The answer? According to Weidhaas, the answer is education. “If you take into consideration what gives you a quick set-up time, it comes back to training, it comes back to equipment. Having equipment that can accomplish a fast setup means selecting the right tooling to put into the press.” Customers often receive the artwork for a box or package they want to cut, and just send that file to a diemaker to make the die to handle the project, essentially hoping for the best. “Nine times out of ten that die will come back, and it will be made wrong, whether it’s the type of rule used, or the bevel, or the ejection rubber. All of those things, if made incorrectly, increase the load on the machine,” says Weidhaas. Increasing the load on the machine translates into longer set-up times. “Instead of being able to set up a job in nine or ten minutes, it might take 90 minutes. So the trend is to get better educated in the selection of the die, the communication between the customer and the die maker, and purchasing machinery that reduces set-up times,” he says.

Shorter runs lead to industry-wide adjustments

Large- and small-volume converters, as well as die manufacturers, have made adjustments to the way they do business in light of the ever-present push for reduced set-up times. These include migrating toward flexible die use, setting up die shops within a business, adding lasers to presses for short runs, and working with other die companies and associations to provide training to customers.

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.

In the case of General Metal Engraving, the company is refining its vacuum die products for the folding carton and pharmaceutical industries. Kumjian states, “As the flexible die has emerged as a viable alternative to the traditional CNC-engraved solid die in accommodating this trend toward shorter, faster runs, so have our vacuum dies developed to serve as an excellent alternative to male/female punching.”

Commercial die makers are adjusting to these trends as well. In more and more instances, packaging companies are starting to make their own dies by setting up their own in-house die shops. The advent of lower powered/lower cost, yet easy-to-operate laser systems has made this possible, along with automated rule processing and bending systems. Although one might construe this as a threat to commercial die makers, David Buckley, president of Data Technology, Inc., disagrees. “In most cases the installation of a low-powered laser system doesn’t actually compete with the commercial diemakers. In fact it can actually help them on account of the fact that [the in-house shops] are now able to burn ‘emergency’ jobs, eliminating potential pressure between the customer and vendor. Therefore, I don’t see it impacting the commercial diemakers to the point of seriously affecting their businesses.”

Digital printing’s impact

Short-run production is also becoming more mainstream because of digital printing. “The advent of digital printing, i.e. short-run ‘die-less’ production, is also getting far more prevalent within the industry,” says Buckley. He adds that while this development could also be seen as a threat to the commercial diemakers, several have already responded in a unique way by installing a digital printer and cutting table, then offering a finished product to their packaging customers for resale to their own end users.

Weidhaas Group Corporation now focuses on any and all things related to set-up time, including the design of its equipment for today’s plastic products, how the tool is mounted into the press, and to communication by getting involved with the trade associations, writing articles, and using trade shows to host live educational training events on selecting the correct die for the correct material. “All things considered, if every press is equal, the number one area where people make a mistake is the correct die for their material which increases set-up time,” says Weidhaas.

The downward trend

The reality in the diecutting market is that production runs are being reduced. There are still large-volume jobs out there, but the large-volume companies also now are doing shorter runs. As new products decrease set-up time, companies that predominately run large-volume jobs are able to throw some short runs into the mix, which impacts converters whose businesses are all short-run jobs. To keep up, the small-volume converters must do everything they can to reduce their set-up times to do more product runs. “Each year Weidhaas sees more and more shops asking for equipment with faster and faster setup times. This not impacts press selection, but it brings us back to the need for education to properly construct dies and incorporate techniques that reduce setup,” says Weidhaas. “On a large run, you can amortize slower setup times without a problem. However, with the low volume, you have to reduce that, otherwise it dramatically affects your bottom line in a negative way.”

Reichard views the economic impact of the shift to flexible dies positively. “We are also a rotary die manufacturer, so we offer that product as well. But what we’re finding is that if we don’t try to do this for our customers, then someone else will. We want to be the ones to switch them to [flexible dies] to help them become more efficient and more successful. This type of partnership with our customers is how we build long-term relationshps and keep building on those relationships. We will develop our rotary die business in other non-label markets.” pP