Automation

Zünd will be exhibiting at Fespa Global Print Expo in Amsterdam from March 19 to 22. At the trade show for digital, large-format printing, you will have the chance to discover how you can automate digital cutting in many different ways.

At Fespa 2024, Zünd will present solutions in digital cutting and workflow automation to cover every need and every application. Photo: Zünd Systemtechnik AG.

At Booth D40 in Hall 1, the company will demonstrate how powerful digital cutting technology, combined with intelligent software and a range of optional solutions for automated material handling, can make digital cutting efficient and cost-effective. Using Zünd cutting solutions, print service providers of all sizes can maximize their operating times while simultaneously lowering production costs. This, in turn, sustainably boosts the overall profitability of their cutting and finishing operations.

The offered product line is highly modular, which makes it possible to add additional tools and material-handling options quickly and easily as requirements increase or change. The ability to configure Zünd cutters to specific requirements makes them a secure and cost-effective investment in the future.

Semi-automatic board feeding during ongoing production

When it comes to further boosting cost-effectiveness with innovative solutions, the new board-loading extension with Undercam, is a case in point. It enables semi-automatic board feeding, job identification and registration, all while the production process is ongoing. The resulting efficiency and flexibility of the cutter operation saves both time and cost. The system consists of a cutter extension with a glass plate and undercam for registering jobs from below. This significantly increases productivity even with applications that involve cutting and creasing on the reverse (top) side of the material.

Smart cutting with software from Zünd

In Amsterdam, on show will also be workflow-automation solutions for every requirement and application. PrimeCenter is one example, this software enables simple and automated print & cut file preparation. As de facto control center in prepress, it ensures a highly productive and efficient data workflow. Nested print & cut layouts that are ready to go can be created in just a few clicks.

Zünd Connect, the simple solution for production monitoring and analysis, plays a key role in identifying potential areas for optimizing the production process. By calculating the Overall Equipment Effectiveness of connected Zünd cutters, the monitoring and analysis software helps improve production efficiency and provides important indicators for sustainable production optimization. This, in turn, enables significantly improved machine availability and performance.

Efficiency, from ordering to shipping

Zünd will also be exhibiting various solutions for partial and fully automated material handling. These solutions offer huge potential savings to signage and graphics manufacturers of all sizes. What they all have in common is their ability to work without human intervention and ensure consistent, uninterrupted production. Such production cells are particularly effective at reducing labor costs.

Visitors to the booth will have the opportunity to see how they can use the completely revamped Zünd Cut Center (ZCC) to also control robots and automatically pick & sort finished parts. The company will be demonstrating this process with the Robot PortaTable 130 from Zünd partner Robotfactory. This solution consists of a mobile off-load table equipped with a robotic arm, which can be flexibly set up and moved from one Zünd cutter to another. The Visualizing Option, with optical part marking and the use of printed QR codes, offers more ways to facilitate the production process and make it more efficient. The use of metadata enables end-to-end job tracking and guarantees smooth and efficient logistics throughout.

New subsidiary in Brazil

Zünd Systemtechnik AG is moving even closer to its Brazilian customers. As of the beginning of 2024, Zünd acquired its long-standing sales partner BG Soluções Tecnológicas, which is based in Porto Alegre.

Automation in the printing and embroidery industry

Read here the article that we published in our magazine about automation in the printing and embroidery industry.