NO. 1 2008 Newsletter for EMBA users 40 years of continuous refinement The EMBA Flexo-Folder-Gluer revolutionized the corrugated board industry when it was launched in 1968. Known as the EMBA 240, it marked a radical advance in corrugated packaging technology, pioneering innovative features that have since become indispensable in an increasingly competitive packaging industry. In the past forty years, the EMBA FFG series of corrugated board conversion machines has evolved steadily, introducing several key innovations. Part of the secret of EMBA s success is its concentration of all research, development and production in a purpose-built facility in central Sweden. Close collaboration between the customer and EMBA s research, design and product-development teams has promoted continuous improvement and innovation. The latest example of this ongoing tradition of operational excellence is the state-of-theart EMBA 245 QS Ultima, a machine uniquely qualified to meet the multiple challenges of the 21st century. Modest beginnings EMBA s origins date back to the 1940s, when Emballagemaskiner Larsson & Co started specialised production of corrugated boxes and corrugated packaging machines. In 1954, operations were rationalised, and the company was divided into AB Transportemballage (corrugated box manufacture) and AB Emballagemaskiner, which concentrated on development and production of machinery for semi and fully automatic folding and stitching of corrugated packaging. It was at this time, with an increasingly international market focus, that EMBA became the official trademark. Dedicated to innovation Until the late 1960s, the machines produced had limited functionality, being used for side-sealing only. This meant they folded and sealed pre-printed and slotted sheets of corrugated board, to form finished corrugated boxes. continued on next page CONTENTS A word from our Vice President, Sales & Marketing Page 2 Big investments Page 3 Growing markets Page 4 VPN Support Contract Page 5 Shortest stop time wins Page 6 New in the EMBA Easy.Up TM Range Page 7 US General Manager Page 8 SuperCorrExpo Page 8 The very first EMBA 240 still in operation
2 EMBA news NO. 1 2008 Customer driven development During four decades of machine development EMBA has always been faithful to the core design values that have become our trade mark. The quick-set capability and transport of the sheets with vacuum are important factors contributing to improved productivity and operational excellence. Development is also a question about adapting to the continuously changing environment with new challenges to our industry. It is difficult to believe that anybody could anticipate back in 1968 that we would have the oil and energy prices of today that seem to be here to stay. That fact and our increasing awarness of the impact we have on our environment is bringing new challenges to our industry and to our development work. Our customers are asking us to adapt to these circumstances and develop products that minimise the environmental impact and contribute to operational excellence. Our response is the 245 QS Ultima that features all the design innovations developed over four decades and complemented now with features contributing to lower energy consumption and paper utilisation. This new inline machine is designed for non-crush converting with vacuum transport of the sheets from the infeed unit all the way to the stacker. The industry norm to calculate with 15% ECT loss during converting is now eliminated. The bottom line will be reduction in paper costs in box converting and optimisation in design of corrugated boxes. When I look back to the achievements over the past 40 years by EMBA I am pleased to recognise that the evolution from the pioneering innovation with the 240 machine to today s 245 QS Ultima is a result of dedicated customer driven development. From previous page Acquisition by Sunds AB (later Sunds Defibrator AB) in 1964, with a change of name to Sund EMBA, injected both knowhow and capital, and in 1968, the company launched its radical Flexo-Folder-Gluer: the FFG 240. With its innovative vacuum transport technology, EMBA had once again revolutionised the corrugated board industry. It was this machine that really established EMBA as a major international supplier to the corrugated board industry, being the first of a whole series of progressively more advanced Flexo-Folder-Gluers. Accelerated development EMBA s pace of innovation continued to accelerate during the 1970s. The first EMBA 140 Mini FFG was introduced in 1977, followed by the EMBA Jumbo FFG series (360, 400 and 450) in 1978, the EMBA160 in 1983 and the EMBA 290 in 1985. Only two years later, it was already time for a new flagship, the EMBA 244, introducing still faster set-up times, exceptional print quality and greater productivity. The company s success had not gone unnoticed, and Berg Industries AB acquired Sund Emba AB in 1988, contributing whole new areas of expertise. Since then, EMBA Machinery has developed rapidly, opening subsidiaries in the USA, Germany and Italy and producing a steady stream of technological innovations. These range from RDD (Real Direct Drive) servo technology and Magna VSC (Vacuum Slotting Creasing) to Non-Crush Converting vacuum transfer, developments which have transformed the corrugated board industry. Strong base for a bright future It s interesting to look back and see how quickly the company has developed over the past ten years, says Niclas Berg, President of EMBA Machinery AB. Computerisation has led to even faster and more efficient machines. We mean to stay at the forefront of technological excellence, and to play an active role in the development of corrugated boxes. Today, some 99 percent of production is exported, backed by an effective sales and service organization with units and agents throughout the world. Forty years after the introduction of its first FFG machine, EMBA now numbers some 250 employees in several different countries. Strong, practical and recyclable, corrugated board is a sustainable product derived from a renewable resource. As a key supplier to the industry, EMBA s future seems bright! Niclas Berg, President of EMBA Machinery AB. Esa Koski Legally responsible for the publication of this newsletter: Esa Koski, EMBA Machinery AB P.O. Box 2067, S-700 02 Örebro, Sweden Tel +46 19300500, Fax +46 19311374 Produced by EMBA and NPP Advertising Agency. Printed by TETAB. Printed on CyklusOffset, environmentally friendly, recycled paper
EMBA news NO. 1 2008 3 Big investments at Carl Eichhorn From left to right: Mr. Friedrich Weingart, Mr. Lothar Kraska, Mr. Dursun Bektas, Mr. Jan-Erik Hallor (EMBA), Mr. Andreas Busch (EMBA), Mr. Hellmuth Eichhorn, Mr. Esa Koski (EMBA). Carl Eichhorn KG operates two board plants in the middle of Germany. The company employs 250 people. The company have for some time concentrated their efforts on providing a Stock and Serve service, allowing for just in Time deliveries to the customer base which tends to be within a 125 km radius of each plant. Big investments have been made in both plants. Central to the Eichhorn investment is the purchase of five case makers from EMBA Machinery of Sweden. The decision was taken in 2006 that we would base our investment around EMBAs high speed, quick set machines says Guido Hoogen, Assistant General Manager. We initially opted for two machines but were so impressed with what we saw, we increased the order to five, comments Mr Eichhorn. We have a lot of experience with many different types of case making machinery, and it was EMBA's production philosophy that we liked the most. We also had a wish list that EMBA were able to fulfil. To get our operators to support our decisions we arranged for the operating crews to visit EMBA in Sweden to undertake courses and get to know the machines that we were about to install. Complete range The EMBA product range of flexo folder gluers consists of the models 170 QS, 245 QS and 290 QS. They all utilise vacuum transport throug the machine, and in the case of 245 QS even through the slotting unit, providing full control of the sheets with extremely sharp tolerances during the converting and printing process. New to the market, is the midsize machine now available as a complete servo driven machine known as the EMBA 245 QS Ultima TM. The EMBA concept of top-printing and fixed units offers one of the quickest order changes available on the market realised through pre-mounting of printing plates and die-cutting tools while the machine is running. At the heart of the machine is the Operators Interface. All machine functions are controlled via user friendly and easy to use software that allows the operator to select repeat orders that that have been saved from previous production runs. The software also allows the operator to change settings on the move, as well as creating new job specifications while the machine is running. Full width vacuum transport ensures the fundamentals for kiss-touch printing. The vacuum transport throughout the machine also eliminates board crush, maintaining the best possible box strength. We opted for the EMBA machines, because they give us the ability to run multiple colour work, die-cut, score, fold and seal in a single pass, explains Mr Eichhorn. The fact that they are quick-set machines is also an advantage, but for us, one of the key strengths of the new Ultima Feeder is its true non crush converting technology, featuring the Ultima Feeder without feed rolls. Because we are running lighter weight papers on the corrugators now, we wanted to ensure that we weren t crushing the board on the converting machines, which inevitably reduces BCT and ECT for the finished boxes. We have been delighted with how well the new EMBA machines have settled into full production schedules so quickly, concludes Mr Eichhorn.
4 EMBA news NO. 1 2008 Growing market in the Middle East and Asia EMBA Machinery is a global company supplying machines for the Corrugated Paper Board Industry all over the world. Over the years we have learnt that investments are some times more intensive in certain parts of the world than others. The growing economy in the Middle East and Asia has created a great interest for the modern technology and efficient EMBA machines. During the last 2-3 years EMBA has delivered 9 new EMBA Flexo Folder Gluer machines to the Middle East and Asia and more are to be delivered later. The majority of the machines are the EMBA 170 QS but also the EMBA 245 QS has been delivered to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate, Israel, Iran, Pakistan and Egypt. The latest installation was at Hi-Pack in Egypt and the picture shows the five operators in front of their new EMBA 170 QS equipped with 4 print units, die cutter and creasing station. FCBM Conference Theme: Future Perceptions and Global Perspectives. EMBA Machinery AB, Sweden was given the opportunity to give a presentation in the Technical session with the Theme: Future Perception and New Innovations in Machinery in the recently concluded 36 th FCBM (Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers) Conference in Varanasi, India (6-8 Dec). EMBA Machinery AB was the co-sponsor for the event along with other suppliers. The subject of Case Maker was given by the panel member Mr. Weine Widar, EMBA Sales Manager, Asia & Middle East. The presentation included a video of EMBA-170 and 245 machines in operation at Ajman (U.A.E.) and Visy Board respectively. The statistics achived in those plants received applause from over 300 delegates participating in the conference. After the presentation, on behalf of the association, Mr.Harish Madan, past president of FCBM and Director of a corrugated box making plant, presented a Memento to Mr. Weine Widar of EMBA, in appreciation of the efforts of EMBA Machinery AB, Sweden. With the advent of new technology and the increasing role of packaging, the Perceptions on Packaging have undergone a sea change in India. The perceptions will continue to change in the future. The proliferation of global brands and the mushrooming of malls have made the importance of packaging even more vital. The future will bring more challenges. Corrugated boxes will be increasingly used as primary packs with colorful graphics and handling devices to attract the customer. In a globalized marketplace the perspectives of manufacturing and marketing are fast changing. Imported machinery and equipment is becoming a norm not a novelty. The response of the Indian Market since the end of 2004, when EMBA became active in this market, is very exciting. The interest in this event prompted Mr. Chiranjeevi Sastry, the EMBA agent in India to quote confidently the first EMBA Machine for the Indian Market will be finalized in 2008, which will make a good article in a future EMBA News!
EMBA news NO. 1 2008 5 EMBA Comfort Team strengthened and improved EMBA is committed to continuously improving our after sales service, and so the EMBA Comfort Team has recently been strengthened. EMBA Comfort, comprising the EMBA Upgrade Programme for updating existing EMBA s with the latest technical improvements, EMBA Original Spare Parts, EMBA Professional Technical Service and the EMBA Training Academy, is a vital aftermarket service to our customers, and we are determined to improve and expand From left: Tomas Andersson, David Karlsson and Stefan Klingberg. EMBA provide knowledge...by VPN Support Contract For some time customers have been able to choose a VPN Support Contract as an option when investing in a new EMBA FFG. However, from now on we can also offer this product as an Aftermarket option. it to give an exceptional level of support. As a result of recent changes, David Karlsson now heads the EMBA Comfort Team as Manager Aftermarket, which includes Tomas Andersson as Service Manager and Stefan Klingberg as Manager Customer Support who oversees the sales administration and spare parts team. It s not the VPN in itself that is the revolution, it s what it can provide! In order to reduce your down-time we have dedicated engineers that connect with your EMBA FFG over the internet, being able to assist and analyse the machine performance, only after customers approval, from our headquarter in Örebro. Using the VPN Support Contract an EMBA Technician can immediately see the EMBA FFG:s Operators Interface from his own working space with all EMBA's expertise and knowledge only a step away. Unlike using a modem you KNOW that the VPN connection will work when you are depending on it, as you can be constantly up linked and verify the status of the connection meaning you are only one click away from the support! For production optimizing the VPN- Support Contract opens up opportunities for customers to get support with troublshooting, updating software & resetting. If requested, we can also take back-up copies of the Operators Interface (your database of articles & settings) regularly for your safety. If you have a system breakdown we can easily download the latest copy, for your own protection - stored in our secure Service Contract server located in our Headquarter in Örebro! We can also provide a production analysis programme which will enable skilled EMBA technicians to analyze the customers production and suggest improvements that can be implemented. For more details please see EMBA Comfort News edition 1-2008 (if you do not already have the EMBA Comfort News please sign up for your copy at www. emba.com) EMBA Production Analysis Programme EMBA machines are known for quick set-up times and minimum downtime. We proudly present the next step with the introduction of our EMBA - Production Analysis Programme. To reduce down-time even further we have developed a tool that will help you analyse the production of your EMBA machine. Our Production Analysis Programme can be used for easy follow-up of production statistics and will give you the possibility to identify bottlenecks in your production by logging the stop codes of your choice. This gives you an essential tool to improve productivity. The EMBA - Production Analysis Programme can also be used as a key to preventive maintenance. Thanks to the unique statistics of logged stop codes you will have the tool to identify the causes of production down-time and use this to maintain continuous high production. View unique statistics for each order. Overview the stop codes of your choice. Identify the causes of production down-time. Overview production statistics by; - Shift - Month - Day - Quarter - Week - Year
6 EMBA news NO. 1 2008 Shortest stop time wins We once again proudly present new members of the EMBA Century Club. The companies achieving membership criteria are Manncraft Coperation, Tullytown PA, United States and SCA, Tampere, Finland and Smurfit Kappa's Stalybridge Factory in UK. Manncraft Corporation On the seventh of October 2007 they ran a total of 126.039 boxes in 8,5 hours, which is 14.828/hr. Congratulations to the second shift crew and their fantastic production result. Goddiel Torres: Supervisor Carl Ceriani: operator Frank Massanet:assistant oper. Kevin Collazo: feeder SCA Packaging, Finland, Century Club member. SCA Tampere is one of the first companies to adopt an EMBA Service Contract. After an overhaul of the machine and education of the crews in EMBA Training School we are very proud to present this addition to the EMBA Century Club. It shows that with some hands on hard work and training you can get very good productivity even on older EMBA machines. From left Vesa Kokko - Raine Pirnes - Miika Myllykorpi. In front of the EMBA Machine. The crew getting their plackets from Vice President Sales & Marketing, Esa Koski. It happens in Brazil During March this year the first EMBA 170 QS model was installed in Brazil.The installations was in the ADAMI S.A. corrugating plant located in the southeast of Brazil. This is the first EMBA 170 QS model in the Brazilian market and we foresee some more orders coming this year, comments Roger Boufleur, the EMBA agent for this area. Mr.Mauricio Adami Telck, reports that he is very satisfied with the machine and he was surprised with the easy and quick installation direct on the plant floor. The installation ran smooth with our well qualified field technicians Mr. Anders Ericsson and Tim Eriksson, and very good support from the plant crew. On the first days we achieved running an order with good quality and operation speed of 430 boxes/min. Ms. Suellen Boufleur and Mr. Roger Boufleur The R.Boufleur International RBI partners
EMBA news NO. 1 2008 7 All 3 EMBA 245 QS Crews At Smurfit Kappa s Stalybridge Factory Join EMBA Century Club The EMBA 245 QS installed at the Smurfit Kappa factory at Stalybridge in England has always been very productive since its installation in November 2005. However, the forward thinking management at Stalybridge were not content, and EMBA have recently run Productivity Optimisation Programme training at Stalybridge to achieve further progress. Also, the machine benefits from an EMBA Service Contract, with EMBA Technicians visiting Stalybridge several times each year to keep it in good condition, enabling reliability and high performance. during their shift, which equals 9,290 square metres per machine hour in metric units. Of course, while it is excellent to achieve shifts that qualify for EMBA Century Club membership, machines should be highly productive all the time: - and the EMBA 245 QS at Stalybridge is! It is now regularly the best mid size flexo folder gluer in the Smurfit Kappa Group productivity statistics! B shift members: P. Etchells, Z. Coxon and A. Watson. Qualifying shift 9,578 square metres per machine hour, equals 103,097 square feet per machine hour. The results of this are that all 3 of the highly motivated 245 crews at Stalybridge, backed up by their support services people and management, have now become members of EMBA Century Club by producing above the qualifying rate of 100,000 square feet of corrugated board converted per machine hour C shift members: M. Harrop, M. Hill and M. Fiveash, have achieved 2 Century Club Shifts. Qualifying shift 9,984 square metres per machine hour, equals 107,471 square feet per machine hour. A shift members: K. Bailey, L. Bettsworth and A. Whitehead, have achieved 2 Century Club Shifts. Qualifying shift 9,942 square metres per machine hour, equals 107,015 square feet per machine hour. New in the EMBA Easy.Up Range: Leadway vacuum transport systems for flexo printers 160 and 200 EMBA Machinery GmbH of Lübeck, Germany is now offering the range of Leadway vacuum transport systems also for flexo printers of 1.600 and 2.000 mm working width. The range of upgrades includes vacuum transports for 2 to 4 colours, sound insulation, a variety of dust handling options and, if required, an increase of board height and new operator platforms. Independent of how the machine is currently set up, the modular upgrade solution will always lead to an operator friendly walk-in solution, eliminating the old transport rolls. Like on other installations of Lea d w a y vacuum transports, after the upgrade the printto-print register accuracy is improved significantly so that an existing piece of equipment can easily cope with today s requirements of print quality.
8 EMBA news NO. 1 2008 New General Manager in USA Frank J. Smithhisler has been appointed General Manager at EMBA Machinery, Inc., Avon, Ohio, USA. Anders E. Berg remains President of the company. Frank was General Manager in his previos position and he started with EMBA last February. We welcome Frank to the EMBA Group! President Anders E. Berg and General Manger Frank J. Smithhisler. SuperCorrExpo SuperCorrExpo is the largest trade show in the Western hemisphere catering for the corrugated industry. Exhibition in Tehran The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA will host SuperCorrExpo 2008 in September 22-26. The specific focus on the corrugated industry attracts the most influential people from around the world. Here you will meet all from owners and presidents to operators and maintenance technicians. Every converter who wants to stay on the leading edge of the corrugated industry should attend. Come and see us in our booth # 2420, where we will of course introduce you to our new and patented Non-Crush Converting TM technology. Will you be there? We will! Pack Karton Fair in Moscow During January 29th to February 1st 2008 EMBA Machinery participated with a booth at the 14th Packaging & Printing Exhibition in Teheran. The EMBA Upgrade Program is now also available for McKinley machines For additional details and machine applications, please look for information on our web-site: www.emba.com Head office EMBA Machinery AB P.O. Box 2067, SE-700 02 Örebro, Sweden Tel +46 19 300500 Fax +46 19 311374 Austria EMBA Machinery Rennweg 77, AT-2345 Brunn am Gebirge bei Wien Tel +43 2236 36544 Fax +43 2236 36546 China EMBA Machinery A29, Room B337, No. 14, Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020 Tel +86 10 60240167 Fax +86 10 60240163 Germany EMBA Machinery GmbH Postfach 160228, DE - 23519 Lubeck Tel +49 451 619920 Fax +49 451 692080 Great Britain EMBA Machinery Goodyear Business Park, New Street, Mawdesley, Lancashire L40 2PQ Tel +44 1704 822311 Fax +44 1704 822611 Italy EMBA Machinery S.r.l. Via Padova 282, IT-20132 Milano Tel +39 02 26306408 Fax +39 02 27208679 USA EMBA Machinery, Inc. McKinley Machinery, Inc. 1265 Lear Industrial Parkway, Avon, OH 44011 Tel +1 440-937-6300 Fax +1 440-937-3105 Vietnam EMBA Machinery Swedish Trade Council 8A/11 D1 Thai Van Lung Street, District 1, HCM City. Tel: +84 8 824 3634 Fax: +84 8 824 3633 www.emba.com