O.C. Tanner brings all packaging in house with investment in new Kongsberg digital finishing system

Award specialist boosts efficiency making own custom packaging and inserts

One of the largest manufacturers of retail and corporate awards in the United States, O.C. Tanner, has invested in the latest digital finishing technology from Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems (‘Kongsberg PCS’) to bring its custom packaging production in house.

Providing software, services and awards to businesses worldwide, the employee recognition company installed a new Kongsberg X24 Edge digital cutting solution at its headquarters in Salt Lake CIty, Utah (TBC), to eliminate third party packaging contracts and increase its own ability to bring new award designs to life.

Daryl Leiser, Packaging Engineer with O.C Tanner, said the investment had already had a huge impact on the business. “We provide employee recognition services and awards to more than 3,000 clients from various industries in more than 180 countries around the world, and many of our items require custom packaging,” he said. “Previously we would place bulk orders for packaging and make custom boxes and inserts by hand, which was both time-consuming and inefficient.

“As costs and lead times increased, we weighed this challenge with our own desire to have more control over the quality of our products and opted to create our own packaging department,” said Daryl. “Now, we are able to both make custom packaging and inserts as and when they are needed, while also giving our designers the ability to realise their ideas and make samples for new awards.

“The Kongsberg table has worked very well for us, already creating cost savings and exceeding our expectations,” he said.

Connie Adams, Kongsberg PCS Territory Sales Manager, said that the X24 Edge delivers O.C. Tanner a combination of tried and tested Kongsberg productivity, flexibility and best-in-class reliability, ideal for the company’s packaging prototyping and production needs.

“We like to say that the Kongsberg X Edge is the perfect start of a digital finishing journey, and Daryl and the team at O.C. Tanner personify that,” said Connie. “Having made the decision to bring packaging production in house, they needed a machine that could easily handle the full spectrum of materials used in its inner and outer packaging through as well as in the awards themselves.

“The machine is fitted with the MultiCUT milling unit, delivering 1kW of milling power and speeds up to 45,000 RPM for milling, contour cutting, routing, drilling and engraving. The BevelKnife Tool enables a 45° slanted cut for v-notching or single through cutting, while the Corrugated Crease Tool delivers perfect and distinct crease lines without perforation,” said Connie. “With its specialty tools, the X24 Edge handles a wide range of applications, offering speed, power and the flexibility to add new tools for new materials, new applications, or more capacity. Most importantly, the table can evolve to keep pace with the changing demands of Daryl and the team at O.C. Tanner.”

Daryl Leiser said that the ability to customize packaging to better meet customer needs was of key importance to the business. “With such versatile options we are now able to cut paper, cork and plastic,” he said. “Being able to customize our packaging has created significant cost savings, the ability to use more sustainable packaging, and as such we’ve enjoyed an increase in customer satisfaction.

“The versatility of the Kongsberg X Edge has meant we’ve not only been using the table for making samples and custom boxes, but also as a production machine,” he added. “Half of the working day consists of production runs and the other half of making samples and running test on new products.

“The X Edge has made our in-house production easier. It enables us to provide more customizable packaging at a lower cost, which has benefitted other teams within O.C. Tanner too,” he said. “While our packaging team is currently quite small, we are looking to grow within the next year. We decided to work with Kongsberg PCS because of the elevated level of customer service provided, and I look forward to collaborating with them in the future.”

For more on the Kongsberg X Edge or the entire range of digital finishing solutions and tools visit www.kongsbergsystems.com.

For more on O.C. Tanner, please visit www.octanner.com