Highcon, developer of the revolutionary “Euclid” digital cutting and creasing technology for paperboard, recently announced the commercial release of a new machine, Euclid IIIC, which can cut and crease thicker media, in particular several grades of corrugated. The new machine features can work with single ply paperboard, laminated stocks, and N, F, G, E, and B-flute corrugated from 1mm to 3mm in thickness (40-120 points). The Euclid IIIC thus allows the Euclid series to expand further, thanks to the new printer’s ability to finish thin to medium grade corrugated media. That media category has grown quickly in the past few years because of is use in packaging, in particular for primary packaging such as small but sturdy boxes for cosmetics, consumer electronics, and home furnishings.
Highcon IIIC digital cut & crease machine for corrugated
About Highcon Euclid
Highcon made waves back in 2012 when it released its first product, the Euclid digital cutting and creasing machine. Noticing a need for digital alternatives to traditional post-press processes, Highcon developed the Euclid to be a suitable replacement for analog die cutting and creasing. Its first installation took place in 2013, and since then Highcon has placed units in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
A hallmark of the Highcon Euclid series is the separation of the cutting and creasing processes. Unlike traditional die cutting and creasing, where these processes typically occur simultaneously, the Euclid performs these tasks one after the other. The creasing is carried out by Highcon’s proprietary Digital Adhesive Rule Technology (DART). Before the production process, a specialized polymer is jetted onto a Highcon DART foil and cured. During production, the sheets pass between this DART cylinder and a drum, creating the crease lines.
Creating the DART rules
Sheets then automatically pass to the cutting station which uses a series of high powered CO2 lasers and scanners to follow the instructions given by the DXF file. The Euclid’s laser cutting technology can also be used to create a number of special effects including variable cutouts, perforations, etching and possibly others. With the Euclid’s digital technology, it is also possible for the operator to make last minute changes to the cutting parameters for corrections, design changes, or new versions. This allows converters to take on more complex designs, including “one-off” designs, and to offer their customers a higher degree of flexibility than they could with analog technology alone. The Euclid III generation, of which the new Euclid IIIC is now part, work with B1 (40” x 29”) sheets—about the same size as the sheets used by most offset presses for folding cartons—and can crease and cut them at up to 1,500 sheets per hour.
The Euclid IIIC at LxBxH
At the end of 2015 Highcon installed its first Euclid IIIC at a company called “LxBxH,” located in Kirchberg, Switzerland. LxBxH, which specializes in folding carton and corrugated packaging, has since then been using the Euclid to offer short runs at competitive prices. The success of the Euclid IIIC at LxBxH is encouraging as it demonstrates a demand for high quality short run packaging. Highcon CEO and co-founder Aviv Ratzman noted about the experience at LxBxH that box compression tests that have compared the digitally produced boxes with conventional ones have proven that boxes produced with the same substrate on the Euclid are stronger than those produced on conventional machines. That finding implies that packaging can have the same strength with less material, and possibly less cost.
Packaging Moves to Corrugated
Highcon has been a source of exciting news for the packaging and printing industries since the company first exhibited at drupa in 2012, and Euclid IIIC continues the Israeli company’s habit of expanding and improving its core technology. This new ability to work with corrugated is helpful and timely, given that makers of consumer products have increasingly made use the thinner grades of corrugated, in particular for primary packaging. To be able to make test runs and short runs of such packaging is now an attractive option for brands worldwide, and one the new Highcon technology helps enable.