DCC Eliminates Downstream Bottlenecks with New Heidelberg Diecutter and Folder/Gluer

Digital Color Concepts (DCC), having recently upgraded its sheetfed technology to the Speedmaster XL 106, began seeing bottlenecks in the finishing area of its production after being unable to keep pace with the high speed of its new press. Located in Mountainside, N.J., DCC purchased an Easymatrix 106 CS and Diana Easy 115 from Heidelberg to increase its overall throughput and alleviate the issues it was facing with its 10-year-old diecutting and folding gluing technology.

No More Nightmares

DCC, whose largest customers are in the pharmaceutical, fashion, and food industries, utilizes the Easymatrix and Diana Easy primarily for finishing its commercial work. Since the onset of COVID-19, however, the company has seen a shift in its business to more packaging jobs. “While we decided last year that we needed to address our weaknesses in finishing, the Easymatrix and Diana have really set us up nicely for the transition of work that we have been seeing, and they will help us continue to grow more into the packaging segment moving forward,” says Jim D’Alessandro, VP of manufacturing.

Installed in August 2020, the Easymatrix 106 CS was added to DCC’s production to complement an older Heidelberg Varimatrix diecutter. Processing boards as thick as 78 pt. and up to 29.4x41.7˝ format, the Easymatrix 106 CS diecutter runs at speeds of up to 7,700 sheets per hour and cuts down on the company’s makeready times thanks to the intuitive touchscreen interface, along with the motorized cutting pressure adjustment and quick-lock technology for dies and stripping tools.

“Even though the Varimatrix is still a very reliable machine, we have really shortened our production time with the Easymatrix, and sheets are feeding more smoothly,” said D’Alessandro. “Jobs that used to give me nightmares in the middle of the night are completed seamlessly, and we have seen a tremendous increase in the capacity of our finishing area.”

DCC is also seeing increases in throughput on the folding gluing side of its finishing department with the new Diana Easy 115. Installed together with the Easymatrix, the Diana Easy produces cartons at speeds up to 1,150 ft/min and is a significant speed upgrade from the company’s older folder/gluer. The Diana Easy offers a high degree of operator user friendliness with features like feed belts that can be changed in less than a minute, and Digiset, a software that suggests the position of each carrier after the operator enters the key carton dimensions. “Between the high speeds and level of automation on this machine, the Diana is blowing our other folder/gluer out of the water. It does everything our old machine could do but faster and better,” said D’Alessandro.

At 50 ft in length, the Diana Easy is the ideal solution for DCC thanks to the folder/gluer’s smaller footprint. According to D’Alessandro, “We are very limited on space, and we wanted to go with a high-speed folder/gluer, but we were having trouble fitting it into our space. The Diana fits just nicely with room for our operators. I probably wouldn’t be able to fit anything else and still maintain the speed of this machine.”

From left, Ron Persaud, folder/gluer operator, Jim D'Alessandro, VP manufacturing, and Anil Balram, folder/gluer operator.

'A Different Level of Professionalism'

Servicing the high-end industries of New York City, DCC is a full-service graphics company that offers everything from premium photo retouching to offset and large format printing. While the printing and finishing side of the business was not established until 2002, the company was quick to trust Heidelberg technology to provide the best quality products for its demanding clientele. DCC boasts an impressive production portfolio from Heidelberg, which also includes a Suprasetter CtP, Prinect workflow, a Speedmaster XL 105 and XL 106, POLAR cutters, and Stahlfolders.

DCC continues to turn to Heidelberg because, “When you deal with Heidelberg, there is just a different level of professionalism that you don’t get with other manufacturers in the industry. From sales to technical support, the level of service is unsurpassed,” said D’Alessandro.

Source: Heidelberg