Digital cutting boosts flexo plate business and expands offering for United Engravers

Across six decades, Illinois-based United Engravers Inc. has secured an enviable reputation as a full-service solution for the corrugated industry, simplifying flexo plate ordering, development, approval and production so that its customers can concentrate on growing their brands. The ultimate design-to-delivery provider for graphics and printing plates, United Engravers manages branding of globally recognized products, from Fortune 500 companies to innovative independents, and supports the corrugated printing plate needs for a range of clients across a broad spectrum of industries.

“We made our first purchase of a Kongsberg around 10 years ago when we wanted to streamline our flexo platemaking systems,” explains Walter Smith, General Manager of United Engravers. “We were looking for solutions that would assist in increasing our production speed. Actually, that was one of my first projects here. I’d only started the year before, and I’d seen the Kongsbergs in action before. I’d previously done the research when I was in a different role, so I knew just what the XN20 could do and how successful it could be for us. Now more than 10 years old, it is still a proper workhorse. Except for changing a couple of mats and blades over the years, it’s exactly the same durable machine as we had first installed!

“With heavy flexo plates, you’re dealing with thick polymers so you need a machine that has some guts.”

Expanding the offering

Walter explained that when United Engravers was looking to expand its business offering and take a first step into digital printing, the performance of this first cutting table made it an easy decision to stick with Kongsberg. “It was about six years ago, and we had no printing and cutting operation going at all,” he said. “Having previously worked with Fuji and after the success of our first Kongsberg we had a good relationship with both companies, so we bought a large format Fuji printer and a Kongsberg C60. This was our first foray into printing and cutting, primarily working with corrugated board, and that part of the business really just took off.

“This allowed us to expand our offering, not just in terms of full print-and-cut work, but also what we’d call ‘cutting-only’ jobs for customers,” added Walter.

“The C60 is ideal for short-run work, sample making and those jobs where the run is 50-100 sheets so it’s not worth making a die. That’s where the Kongsberg really comes into its own.”

“We started doing this work in 2018, and by 2022 we had such a high volume of work coming in that we decided to double our operation,” he said. “We added the even bigger Kongsberg C64 to help us cope with the amount of work. The department has grown from a single operator in 2018 to a team of seven now, and this work now represents about 10% of our entire business.”

Quality and versatility to handle any design

Walter said the team works with a range of customers, including design agencies that specialize in social media influencers, where there is a huge demand for the personalized ‘unboxing experience’. “It’s hugely important that the product has an excellent finish, that the parts all fit together seamlessly, and of course that there is repeatability so that these standards are maintained across the entire run,” he said. “Custom cutting also means that we can do literally anything. Customers are impressed by our quality, on everything from your typical big brown boxes through to bespoke high-end packaging, but it also means our team can make a one-off display if that’s what a customer needs, which is great. The cutting tables mean we can add value not just in terms of our speed to market but also in fulfilling the customer’s creative ideas.

“The ease of use for us is amazing,” added Walter. “It makes everything much simpler, so we can customize or change the design whenever you like. We have some customers who may want to tweak a flap here or a crease there, and we’re like ‘that’s no problem, we’ve changed the design now and that’s done.”

“Having the Kongsbergs means that we can produce high quality items very quickly while still ensuring the accuracy that’s needed.”

Driving business growth for the future

Following the acquisition of the C60 in 2018, the ‘digital print-and-cut’ side of United Engravers’ business has grown significantly and now represents a massive 10% of the company’s turnover. “Our customer base is the local US market,” said Walter. “Amazingly, this is a service we offer to our existing plate customers, which has allowed us to avoid advertising the business. Being able to do the fast turnaround, short run jobs has helped with our customer retention and growth success, enabling us to take advantage of opportunities that arise and display our ability to adapt and quickly react to customer needs,” he said. “Our customers know there is no need to wait, they can get their sample in just a day or two.”

“Starting from zero, as our knowledge grew, we were able to learn about the best tools and options to obtain the best results,” he said. “If a customer brings us something that is new to us, we can speak to the team at Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems and they can advise on the best way to cut and produce it. The support service is really important to us, and they’re always really responsive whenever we have a question.

“We have started talking about an additional cutting table due to the growth of our cut-only customer base,” he added. “The C60 and C64 have delivered massive efficiency gains, with the biggest help being the perforated crease combo tool. That alone has led to at least 30% savings on time with the perforation wheel, which is great.”

“A saving of 30% when you’re doing 100 sheets that take 10 minutes each is a huge saving in real time – and real money!”

Handling a 60/40 packaging/display split, Walter said the Kongsberg C60 and C64 tables are such a successful part of the business that United Engravers is looking at the next logical steps in its journey. “We’re now considering automation solutions, the addition of another table, and even looking at the possibility of acquiring the new Kongsberg Ultimate,” he said. “Exciting things are on the horizon!”

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More info

• Kongsberg C series
• Digital finishing solutions
• United Engravers