Goldrich Printpak Inc., a leading folding box company located in Toronto, has installed an Esko Kongsberg XN24 finishing table and ArtiosCAD software to finish samples and short production runs. Using the Kongsberg has not only made its processes more efficient, but cutting and creasing of specialized cosmetics boxes is now much more precise. As an added benefit, the system is able to cut coating blankets for its offset presses, allowing the environmentally-conscious company to reduce waste and cut costs. Operating from a 67,700-sq.-ft. facility, Goldrich is an integrated, full-service manufacturer of custom-printed paper boxes from concept and design to finished packaging and co-packaging. From its inception in 1953 as a commercial printer and lithographer, the company has kept up with packaging innovations, expanding its services to new markets and adopting new technologies, materials and design innovations. Goldrich also strives to be among the most innovative and sustainable packaging corporations when it comes to reducing the environmental impact of its business. For example, Goldrich prints using vegetable-based, non-toxic, low-VOC and direct-contact eco-certified inks – giving its clients confidence that their products are 100% consumer safe.
“One of the services we offer is short-run samples,” said Leslie Goldberg, Goldrich President and CEO. “A lot of our customers work with retailers who want just one pallet or less of product. We had an older CAD cutting machine that worked, but had hiccups. It cut samples, but we had to manually make the creases. We realized last year that it was on its last legs. We handle cardboard, thin corrugated and plastics and were looking for a machine that could handle these substrates. We wanted a quality machine that could cut materials very well and that was durable enough to work for us for the next 20 years. Local service was also very important. We wanted to make sure we could work with local contacts who could provide technical help and support quickly when we needed it. We did some rigorous testing before we invested in a machine. We gave each vendor some CAD drawings of multiple styles along with multiple substrates. This included sample boxes of cardboard, vinyl, polyester – as well as coating blankets for their lithographic printing presses. The other tables did an adequate job out of the gate, but the Esko Kongsberg table did a superb job and was on budget.”
The Kongsberg XN comes with a wide range of specialty tools offering speed, power and flexibility to automatically handle a wide variety of materials – such as corrugated, folding carton, solid board, foam, coating blankets and a long list of plastics.It can work with materials as large as 1,740 mm x 3,575 mm (68” x 140”). The speed of the Kongsberg also allows Goldrich to produce short runs of 100 to 300 units.
Goldrich Printpak also uses Esko ArtiosCAD software to create structural design files to drive the Kongsberg table for both folded cartons as well as coating blankets. At the same time, they take the artwork file from ArtiosCAD and import it into Adobe Illustrator to add graphics and to send 3D interactive virtual PDF files to their clients. They also include the 2D and 3D artwork files with a die line with the factory order as a traveler, and quick check the correct art file, structural shape and job to be produced.
