Hugo Beck News

July 2009

Hugo Beck Maschinenbau showcases innovation and added value

Efficient print finishing and film packaging specialists Hugo Beck have just closed the door on a highly successful OPEN HOUSE event highlighting print and paper processing technology held as part of its on-going policy of specialist dialogue with users and industry representatives. The company welcomed over 150 visitors to its headquarters in Dettingen/Erms on June 18th and 19th. As well as showcasing the new machine generation servo X, the event also focused on presentations held in its new Demo Centre, recently extended to an impressive 450 square metres.

Dettingen/Erms 18 June 2009 - It is particularly in times of crisis that innovative drive coupled with close customer dialogue are seen as the key to success. Those in charge in the print and media industry are currently faced with the challenge of tapping all available scope for additional earnings and potential savings. Print finishing processes play an increasingly key role in the face of growing customer expectations in respect of flexibility and versatility. Given these ever more stringent demands, Hugo Beck Maschinenbau saw the current climate as an ideal opportunity to draw forward its planned new developments and present them to an interested trade public as an integral part of its graduated product portfolio. The globally active specialist in the field of systems, machines and feeders for print finishing processes duly threw open the gates of its factory, at the same time unveiling its new Demo Center, extended from a former modest 300 square metres of floor space to an impressive 450 sq.m. Visitors were certainly impressed by what they saw. Distributed over three buildings, 14 machine system and feeder presentations were featured under realistic performance and production conditions.

Simpler - faster - more economical

Alongside upgraded features developed for the new neo X, a new system for complex print finishing processes unveiled for the first time at the Drupa 2008, attention also focused on the maiden presentation of a whole new machine generation , the servo X. This film packaging machine, operating at an impressive 8,000 cycles per hour, boasts not only outstanding application flexibility but also extreme operating convenience and simple changes of format. Impressive features of the servo X include the ability to process both individual products and stacked items with uneven gaps, and also simplified infeed with uneven gaps and different product lengths. Using a co-pilot function, it is also possible to activate all settings at any time from the product data memory. Another bonus for the operator lies in the facility for electric motor-powered height and length adjustment of the transverse sealing unit with continuous coupled motion of the sealing die. And importantly too, because of its fully modular design, the servo X is on sale at a pricing level which qualifies it as an entry-level option and which attracted plenty of attention among visitors and customers interested in its potential for providing economical packaging solutions.

Opening up new performance potential for customers

A particularly efficient complete system also caught the eye of visitors to the Open House in the form of the ESM inserting machine, demonstrated operating at speeds of up to 18,000 cycles per minute in two versions: both for inserting, collating and addressing adhesive bound magazines and also in conjunction with a neo X for individual magazine packaging. Of particular interest here were impressive implementation of the different addressing directions stipulated by the German Post Office, and also the ideally coordinated workflow of the feeders themselves. Depending on the production specification, the servo technology permits the feeders to be freely added, exchanged and variably interchanged as needed: The products are opened, dispensed, inserted, glued, addressed, arranged in stacks, aligned and finally packaged in film.

Flexible response to changing markets

The economic benefits of this type of flexible technology were clearly demonstrated in particular by the Mailline complete system. This is a suction belt with product alignment which permits combination with wide-ranging different feeders and printing systems. The extreme flexibility of the independently operable feeders from Hugo Beck allows the system to be adjusted to perform a wide range of different functions within minimal resetting times. This facility offers users scope to grow in step with new assignments and future challenges.

Another highlight at this year's Open House was the unveiling of high-performance rotary feeder TA 4418, a product capable of dispensing different thicknesses at speeds of 18,000 cycles per hour.

This year's event culminated in a technology tour staged by the 20-strong Open House support team under Managing Directors Dipl. Ing. Horst Heimann and Dipl. Wirt.Ing. Dieter Beck through the component production, trainee workshop, after-sales, feeder assembly, design and final assembly departments.