Customised, highly specialised packaging for brand owners
Automation for fast job changes
20 per cent less waste
Flexible production of short and medium runs
Modern, clean and flooded with daylight - this is how the entire Wittmann Druck & Verpackung plant in Neumarkt/Oberpfalz presents itself. Blue, fast and powerful is the Rapida 106 that has recently taken over the company's entire print production. Thanks to its inline quality control it offers the company and its customers consistent, reliable and high print quality.
This is necessary because the six-colour coater press is used in a company that produces mostly short-run folding cartons. 10,000 copies is a lot, says managing director Hans Schuster. But the print jobs themselves are quite something: the company produces very individual, highly specialised packaging for brand-name companies in the electrical industry, writing instruments, confectionery and cosmetics. Advent calendars in ever-changing designs are one of Wittmann's specialities.
High output and fast job changes
Particularly with short runs, the Rapida 106 brings a number of improvements to the printing operation: On the one hand with regard to fast and precise colour control, but also with regard to colour changes in the shortest possible time. Here the press scores with its EasyClean ink fountain coatings, which can be cleaned very quickly, and the inking units that can be coupled and uncoupled, which ensure that production can continue with the other printing units during an ink change.
The DriveTronic SIS sidelay-free infeed and the FAPC plate changers are other advantages that Hans Schuster and pressroom manager Stefan Zahn point to, especially for packaging production: "The press runs much faster than its predecessor. But much more important for us is that job changeover times have been significantly reduced," he says. The reduction in waste associated with new technology - currently by around 20 per cent - is in keeping with the print enterprise's environmental awareness.
Scoring with flexibility
With 32 employees and 4,200 m2 of production space, Wittmann Druck & Verpackung is one of the smaller packaging companies. But it is one that has a lot going for it. About a decade ago, it was one of the first to use migration-free printing inks. Since 2015, the sun has been one of the company's most important energy suppliers - thanks to a 285 kW photovoltaic system. Heat recovery - also from the new Rapida 106 - leads to further energy savings. Baling presses create the prerequisite for paper and board waste to be returned to the material cycle.
Wittmann also scores highly for flexibility thanks to its extremely flat structure. The reaction times from the creation of an order and the collection of data to production and delivery are extremely short. Software developed in-house plays a major role in this. New and redesigned forms are created in our own packaging development department.
Rapida 106 for 125th anniversary
Complete production also includes the assembly and filling of the packaging. Up to 1,200 pallets of finished products can be temporarily stored in a mobile racking warehouse. The customers receive their products exactly when they need them.
The company, which is now run by the third generation of the Wittmann family, has been in business for 125 years. With the Rapida 106 the company has given itself a worthy present for its anniversary. With this press, many other regular investments and the current trend towards packaging made from renewable raw materials, Wittmann Druck & Verpackung is well positioned to meet future challenges.
Now that the investment in the Rapida 105 has been completed, the management of Wittmann Druck & Verpackung is embarking on further extensive investment in finishing technology. Most recently, owner Oskar Wittmann held out the prospect of building a new production hall in 2022. "Now I will finally realise my long-cherished wish for another production hall," he recently told his staff.
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