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New Die Cutter Delivers ‘Staggering’ Benefits

Canadian folding carton manufacturer’s machine boosts throughput 63%, run speed 32%, resulting in improved uptime, quality and bottom line gains.

Left to right: Tom Fitzgerald, KBA-Iberica Manager;Mike Gibson, Ellis Paper Box Plant Manager; and Dave Ellis, Ellis Paper Box President have developed a trusted partnership with the recent installation of the KBA-Iberica Optima K die cutter.
Left to right: Tom Fitzgerald, KBA-Iberica Manager;Mike Gibson, Ellis Paper Box Plant Manager; and Dave Ellis, Ellis Paper Box President have developed a trusted partnership with the recent installation of the KBA-Iberica Optima K die cutter.

At its 60,000 sq-ft Mississauga, Ontario facility, Ellis Paper Box focuses on folding carton production for the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, however, the company detected trends that collided with the facility’s production throughput.

For example, new legislation enacted in Canada deemed that all pharmaceutical boxes must be redesigned to include additional compliance information for plain English text. Ellis has worked with its clients to increase the size of the folding carton or add a fifth panel to existing styles to accommodate this legislation. Also, its over-the-counter packaging is being designed with more value-added properties, such as inline cold and hot foil, embossing, inline Braille, and specialty matte and high-gloss coatings.

Part of the company’s strategy to become a “one-stop shop” is the ongoing addition of new equipment, which now allows it to produce quantities as few as 500 cartons with spot colors to as many as five million eight-color specialty work quantities with inline inspection. With its international clientele, a variety of languages imprinted on the boxes is no problem due to the firm’s 100% inline carton inspection systems.

Fitting into that strategy was last summer’s purchase and installation of a new Optima 106 K die cutter from KBA-Iberica Die Cutters, a subsidiary of the Koenig & Bauer Group. Ellis Paper Box’s purchase was part of the Ellis Group’s investment in new automated high-speed die cutters across its three facilities. Another new die cutter purchased from KBA North America is planned to be installed at a sister facility, Ellis Packaging, later this year. The Ellis Group organization has three facilities, all centered amid the Toronto, Ontario region.

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Break out of the ordinary: see what’s new in life sciences packaging
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