Category: Diecutting
Question: What is the Commercial Reality of Press Work?
In an aggressive, fast turnaround market, where the struggle to become the lowest cost manufacturer is paramount, it is important to review and improve every element of the diecutting discipline. In doing so it is critical the work teams and individual crafts personnel have a realistic and accurate understanding of where the operation is making […]
Changeover: Is the Steel Rule Die Up to the Job?
It is far too easy to be impressed with the majority of steel rule dies. After all the steel rule die is designed using specifically customized computer software, the dieboard is fabricated using the most advanced machining technology, the steel rule is manufactured to the most exacting tolerances, and the steel rule is cut and […]
It’s Not ‘Your’ Press Anymore!
My first activity as a 15-year-old new apprentice in Europe was as a “Machine Minder.” The department consisted of 12 large format Cylinder Diecutters and two new Wupa Autoplatens. My job was simple. I was to watch and, monitor the performance of 3 adjacent cylinder machines. If any of the machines stopped for any reason, […]
Question: What are Overlapping Pressure Zones?
The goal in the competitive field of diecutting is to organize the diecutting operation so well as to enable the first impression to be sold! For many this may seem an impossible and perhaps unreasonable objective, but how many impressions are necessary to achieve a level, stable cutting impression? In fact should not the number […]
It is critical to take full advantage of the technology you use, to increase productivity, to improve quality, and to deliver exceptional customer service. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this in diecutting, is to regard the stripping section of the press as a multi-purpose processing option. For example, the Achilles Heel of […]
Question: What is Changeover?
If we are attempting to improve any process, the first essential step is to ensure everyone participating has a clear and a comprehensive understanding of what the process involves and how it is structured. This is where we run into our first problem. Many discuss make-ready as though it were a single discipline, seamlessly flowing […]
Question: What is Rotary Crush Cutting?
Jacob Bronowski A highly effective diecutting technology is called the Rotary Crush Cut Diecutting System. This is a process where a web passes through the printing sections of a press before it arrives at the diecutting section to be processed. The Crush Cut system uses two sets of upper and lower cylinders to complete each […]
Your 30 Day Challenge!
In reducing the time it takes to changeover a diecutting press, it would appear to be a simple task of selecting and implementing the most effective training program. However, not so fast … training is either Behavior Development or it is Behavior Modification, But how much time? Remember your mother telling you it takes 21 days […]
Diecutting is a Toolmaking Process
This is an old story I have told many times and although certainly a sign of my age, the message is still relevant. I started an apprenticeship as a diemaker and I was surprised to be told I would spend the first three years of my training in diecutting. Equally puzzling was my friend, who […]
What is Cylinder Diecutting?
In the flatbed cylinder sheet fed diecutting system the steel rule die is mounted on a cast iron supporting table which travels backwards and forwards under a large steel rotating cylinder. See left. The material to be diecut is lifted individually from a stack of sheets in the feeder section of the press and then […]
What is Simultaneous Cutting?
Simultaneous Diecutting is a somewhat illogical means of ‘die-cutting.’see left, the entire knife edge of the blade is positioned against the surface of the material, see right, and then the upper edge of the blade ferule is struck with a hammer to drive it into and completely through the material! See below.
What is Incremental Cutting?
If you were asked to cut a thin sheet of material such as paperboard, or rubber, or plastic, the most likely and the most logical tool of choice would be a Razor Blade, see left, or a Utility or a Craft Knife, with a sharp blade. See right. This choice is fairly obvious when the […]
What is Cutting?
See right. In this tool the upper blade and lower blade gradually slice or split the material as the blades are forced closed.
What Really Happens On Press?
The pragmatic reality of most converting operations is a large proportion of available time is consumed in make-ready, which is clearly a commercial black hole. Compounding this perennial problem is a production phase following each make-ready, which rarely optimizes the productive capability of the die cutting press. As a result Managers and Supervisors continually struggle […]
Question: What is Converting?
‘What is Diecutting or Die Cutting?’ Although describing diecutting is not particularly difficult it is useful to put this high volume manufacturing process into the context of Converting. Diecutting is a Converting Process, which generally uses six toolmaking disciplines to Cut, Crease, Score, Perforate, Deboss or Emboss a substrate or a web or sheet of […]
False Anvil Diecutting
One of the challenges of the current diecutting process is in choosing the most effective type of anvil to cut “onto” or “into.” As production runs are shorter and shorter, an essential measurement has to be the impact of the anvil selection choice on a faster, lower cost make-ready. There are two perceived options.
The Scam of Productivity Measurement in Die Cutting?
The pragmatic reality of most converting operations is a large proportion of available time is consumed in make-ready, which is clearly a commercial black hole. Compounding this perennial problem is a production phase following each make-ready, which rarely optimizes the productive capability of the die cutting press. As a result Managers and Supervisors continually struggle […]
Question: How is Pressure Distributed in Platen Diecutting?
in platen diecutting should be more accurately described as reducing the distance between the upper tool and the lower anvil. See left
Question: How to Measure Press Changeover Performance?
The primary goal of every professional diecutting operation is to maximize press Speed & Yield, to optimize Quality and Consistency, and to reduce the time expended in Make-Ready, or Changeover from one job to the next. In practice Changeover is the most critical discipline, because apart from representing large blocks of non-productive time, it sets […]
Question: What is Inside-Outside Pressure in Platen Diecutting?
. In a situation where a center bevel knife is being used this has minimal relevance, other than the necessity of reducing the bevel angle of the blade as the density and/or the caliper of the material increases.
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