Zünd at Drupa 2024 – «Performance across the board»

Digital cutting plays an important role in the value chains of packaging and display manufacturers, print service providers, and advertising professionals. This is where products take shape. Zünd cutters are also a crucial part of an overall workflow and, in combination with upstream and downstream processes, help optimize productivity. This, along with high quality and safe, error-free production, is a top priority for users. It applies to both small companies and large, industrial-scale operations. Lars Bendixen, Segment Manager Zünd, comments: “We have systematically expanded our portfolio to optimize the cutting workflow every step of the way. At Drupa 2024, we will be presenting innovative and highly productive solutions to help our customers digitalize their production on an individual basis according to their needs. During our conversations with customers, we take the time to really get to know their specific requirements, right down to the smallest details. This way, we can put together exactly the right combination of solutions they will need to ensure a successful and competitive production workflow. We actively support them in their transformation to the digitalized future.”

Zünd’s top priority is to digitalize and automate the value chains of its customers, thus increasing their competitiveness. To this end, Zünd’s cutting solutions are increasingly capable of producing independently and autonomously.

The new Q-Line generation of cutters—with Board Handling System BHS180 and integrated UNDERCAM optical capturing system—will be presented at a trade show for the very first time. This cutting solution sets new standards in industrial, non-stop production and represents the highest level of automated digital cutting. The fundamentally new machine concept behind the Q-Line with BHS180 has redefined performance limits in multiple respects and significantly improved production efficiency when compared to traditional die cutting.

The new Q-line substructure is made from a highly stable mineral casting. It ensures incredibly smooth operation and optimum cutting precision even when working at high speeds. The beams are made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, which makes them lightweight but exceedingly strong. This enables very precise cutting even of challenging materials at maximum speeds. With Q-Line, the Zünd portfolio of productive cutting solutions has been rounded out at the top level and now covers all performance classes and customer requirements.

Zünd shows how productivity and cost-effectiveness can be optimized with innovative solutions such as the new board-loading extension with optional UNDERCAM now available for its third-generation cutting systems. In a technology transfer from Q-Line with BHS180, this solution has been adapted and will be presented at Drupa 2024 together with a Zünd G3 cutter. Combined with the UNDERCAM optical capture system, the board-loading extension enables semi-automatic board feeding, job identification via QR code, and registration during the production process. This significantly increases productivity, particularly in cases where cutting and creasing are done on the reverse side of the board.

Visitors to the Zünd booth will have the opportunity to experience in live demonstrations how they can control robots and pick & sort finished parts automatically. Zünd is demonstrating this process with the Robot PortaTable 130. The Robot PortaTable consists of a mobile off-load table equipped with a robotic arm, which can be quickly and easily set up and moved from one Zünd cutter to another. The Visualizing Option ensures efficient job logistics, providing the operator with visual assistance when removing cut parts. Functions such as optical identification of cut parts and printed QR codes simplify order tracking, facilitate cutting and kitting, and ensure smooth, efficient logistics.

Zünd is also putting its digital expertise on display with its growing software portfolio and range of workflow-automation solutions designed for all requirements and applications. Above all, the ZCC Zünd Cut Center. The operating software has been fully re-engineered and now features an impressive, state-of-the-art, intuitive, user interface based on touch. Zünd Cut Center - ZCC helps the user optimize the production process before, during, and after cutting. Users only purchase the software components they need – no more, no less. More options can be added anytime as their need for automation continues to grow.

Then there is Caldera PrimeCenter, the software for simple and automated print & cut file preparation. This is the prepress control center that ensures high performance and efficiency in the data workflow. Fully nested, ready-to-go print & cut layouts can be created in just a few clicks.

Drupa attendees will also get a close-up view of how even the most compact models in Zünd’s cutter portfolio, the Zünd S3 cutters, ensure outstanding productivity. A Digital Textile Micro Factory is set up at the Textiles Touchpoint in Hall 4 and at the Canon booth in Hall 8A.