Innovation Management plays a key role at BST eltromat International. What advantages does the company see in the company-wide coordination of its innovative capacity by a central agency? And how do customers benefit from it? For example, from feasibility studies like the inline monitoring of the curing of printed UV colors, the dynamic profiling of printing machines, or 3D measurement in rubber processing.
Dedicated Innovation Management in the form of a company-wide process results in a very positive external image. And the in-house effects and feedback are likewise highly productive. Our main aim is to optimally gather and analyze ideas from different sides, and to prepare them in such a way that promising projects can be realized within the company. Based on the structure established in our Innovation Management, we generate bases for optimal decision-making for the strategic orientation of our product portfolio. This ensures that investments in innovative solutions are made at the right time and pay off in the long term, both for us and for our customers.
Regardless of where the ideas come from – customers, our own experts, or cooperation partners – it is guaranteed that sensible suggestions do not get put off in favor of day-to-day business. Our Innovation Management activities also include close cooperation with scientific institutions and universities, as well as intensive work with committees.
As a result, we are working on innovative solutions to meet the demands of our core markets and potential new markets in various cooperation projects. We could hardly manage this depth of research and breadth of development on our own. The supporting and channeling function of our Innovation Management is extensively and regularly utilized, both within the company and by scientific institutions and customers. The benefit for our customers is that they are in touch with the latest developments at all times.
What does Innovation Management look like in practice?
In the age of Industry 4.0, with regard to the plastics branch, system networking is a focus along the value-added chain – beginning with the measurement of coating thickness in film production to film processing in print all the way to preparing the roll-shaped packaging material. The goal: maximizing the use of the systems for customers.
What does that mean, exactly? In every step of the process, data is created that is needed for the fulfillment of the individual tasks. Until now, generally speaking, this data was isolated. It does not flow from process stage to process stage. With the deeper integration of the systems, these communications barriers were overcome. Data gained in one process stage can flow into following processes, in order to optimize it.
For example, during production, film rolls can be marked with QR codes or RFID chips. These can be read in the following processes and therefore, the corresponding information, like coating thickness, width, and winding quality, can be imported from a system database.
The transfer of information from the measurement of the coating thickness to the inline color measurement offers interesting possibilities for process optimization. This color measurement ensures that flexo and gravure printing machines print flexible packaging exactly with the prescribed color values. Because if the film areas where the opacity is incorrect is already known from the coating thickness measurement, it can be taken into consideration in the inline color measurement. Ultimately, the cause of the error lies in the production of the film and not in the printing.
Another example: web guiding can serve as a “connecting element” in the shift from film production to the printing process as well as during the shift from printing to further processing. It controls and monitors rewinding after the print and is involved in the subsequent unwinding process, such as during slitting. That is how information on winding quality can be used practically in order to optimally control unwinding speed. Because the information from web guiding can be used to adjust the speed of the slitter to the circumstances in order to avoid waste and achieve the best quality.
Furthermore, our Innovation Management works on feasibility studies, such as on inline monitoring of the curing of UV colors printed onto films, on the dynamic profiling of printing machines, and on the 3D measurement in the processing of rubber.
Dedicated Innovation Management in the form of a company-wide process results in a very positive external image. And the in-house effects and feedback are likewise highly productive. Our main aim is to optimally gather and analyze ideas from different sides, and to prepare them in such a way that promising projects can be realized within the company. Based on the structure established in our Innovation Management, we generate bases for optimal decision-making for the strategic orientation of our product portfolio. This ensures that investments in innovative solutions are made at the right time and pay off in the long term, both for us and for our customers.
Regardless of where the ideas come from – customers, our own experts, or cooperation partners – it is guaranteed that sensible suggestions do not get put off in favor of day-to-day business. Our Innovation Management activities also include close cooperation with scientific institutions and universities, as well as intensive work with committees.
As a result, we are working on innovative solutions to meet the demands of our core markets and potential new markets in various cooperation projects. We could hardly manage this depth of research and breadth of development on our own. The supporting and channeling function of our Innovation Management is extensively and regularly utilized, both within the company and by scientific institutions and customers. The benefit for our customers is that they are in touch with the latest developments at all times.
What does Innovation Management look like in practice?
In the age of Industry 4.0, with regard to the plastics branch, system networking is a focus along the value-added chain – beginning with the measurement of coating thickness in film production to film processing in print all the way to preparing the roll-shaped packaging material. The goal: maximizing the use of the systems for customers.
What does that mean, exactly? In every step of the process, data is created that is needed for the fulfillment of the individual tasks. Until now, generally speaking, this data was isolated. It does not flow from process stage to process stage. With the deeper integration of the systems, these communications barriers were overcome. Data gained in one process stage can flow into following processes, in order to optimize it.
For example, during production, film rolls can be marked with QR codes or RFID chips. These can be read in the following processes and therefore, the corresponding information, like coating thickness, width, and winding quality, can be imported from a system database.
The transfer of information from the measurement of the coating thickness to the inline color measurement offers interesting possibilities for process optimization. This color measurement ensures that flexo and gravure printing machines print flexible packaging exactly with the prescribed color values. Because if the film areas where the opacity is incorrect is already known from the coating thickness measurement, it can be taken into consideration in the inline color measurement. Ultimately, the cause of the error lies in the production of the film and not in the printing.
Another example: web guiding can serve as a “connecting element” in the shift from film production to the printing process as well as during the shift from printing to further processing. It controls and monitors rewinding after the print and is involved in the subsequent unwinding process, such as during slitting. That is how information on winding quality can be used practically in order to optimally control unwinding speed. Because the information from web guiding can be used to adjust the speed of the slitter to the circumstances in order to avoid waste and achieve the best quality.
Furthermore, our Innovation Management works on feasibility studies, such as on inline monitoring of the curing of UV colors printed onto films, on the dynamic profiling of printing machines, and on the 3D measurement in the processing of rubber.
