Optimising post-print efficiency Polar-Mohr

OPTIMISING POST-PRINT EFFICIENCY

Polar-Mohr is the global leader in the design and manufacture of integrated cutting and diecutting equipment and solutions. Philip Yorke talked to Dr Markus Rall, the company’s speaker of management board, about its latest innovative products and growing presence in Asia and South America.

Polar-Mohr was founded by Adolf Mohr in 1906 in Hofheim, near Frankfurt, Germany and began as a machine factory producing cutters for the furniture industry. A major milestone in the company’s history came when it began working in partnership with Heidelberg in 1949, which resulted in the formation of a mutual sales organisation that has systematically expanded over the years. Today the company remains an independent, family-owned business that specialises in the manufacture of high-speed cutters and peripherals for the graphics and paper converting industries. Polar-Mohr is the clear market leader as well as the technology leader in its field. Currently, the company employs over 500 people worldwide and in 2012 recorded sales of close to €100 million. Pioneering new integrated systems

Polar-Mohr continues to pioneer the concept of fully integrated systems and automated workflow for the post-press print industry. The company integrates work processes to enhance efficiency, minimise labour costs and maximise profits for printing companies and paper converters both large and small. Polar-Mohr offers a diverse product portfolio that ranges from high-speed cutting systems and jogging solutions to label and gripperloading systems.

The company’s long-term commitment to investment in new products and innovative post-press solutions has resulted in the launch of its revolutionary Three-side Trimmer at DRUPA 2012. Known as the BC-330, this unique product made its official trade debut at the international Hunkeler Innovation Event held in Lucerne, Switzerland in February this year.

The robust, networkable one-knife trimmer automatically cuts perfect-bound or saddlestitched products, and takes book-body production to a new level of efficiency. In contrast to any three-knife trimmer it has no formatdependent plunger. Sizes ranging between DIN A6 and DIN A4 can be processed in succession without the need to convert the machine. This latest product from Polar-Mohr is operated using an ergonomically positioned 18.5” touchscreen display.

The BC 330 has the option of a built-in barcode reader so that no programming is required by the operator. With the barcode the correct cutting programme is selected auto-

matically and the machine adapts itself within seconds to the corresponding format.

Dr Rall said, “All our products are designed to provide our customers with optimised systems that give them the competitive edge and enhance their efficiency and profitability. We develop and design all our own hardware and software in-house and guarantee quick turnaround times along with unparalleled reliability. We are the clear technology leaders in our markets with a 50 per cent or more share of sales worldwide. We believe this is because we offer reasonable pricing structures and deliver the most reliable, glitch-free products on the market. What is more, we also guarantee the supply of replacement parts to models dating back 25 years. Furthermore, our spare parts service achieves next day deliveries for over 95 per cent of our consignments. We operate our spare parts warehouse facilities and services almost as a separate company and being located close to Frankfurt airport adds significantly to our logistics operations efficiency.

Dr Rall added, “In 2006 we invested in new production facilities in China, near Shanghai. These are designed to serve not only the Chinese market but also other Asian and Pacific Rim countries. China is a big producer of print and this strategic move has helped us to offset the flat performance currently experienced in our EU markets. We are also increasing our presence in North America and other fast-growing markets in South America. In a separate strategic move we recently acquired a packaging machine company to accelerate our overall growth and to provide another income stream in a sector that is more buoyant and less prone to market fluctuations. Although we are consolidating our investments at the present time, we are still keeping the door open for other acquisitions should the right opportunity arise”.

Extending applications for high-speed cutting

Traditionally, Polar-Mohr’s high-speed cutters have been designed to meet the specific demands of the global printing industry and

Eaton

Polar-Mohr and Eaton have enjoyed a close, long-standing partnership that begins at the development stage of new Polar-Mohr machinery. In accordance with its Lean Solution philosophy, Eaton supplies, for example, preconfigured and fully-wired mechanical engineering solutions to the manufacturing facilities, thereby saving them considerable time and effort. The fact that both partners are global companies ensures efficient cooperation and easy access to all continents and enables Eaton to incorporate its products in accordance with the various global standards, such as those of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the Underwriters Laboratories/Canadian Standards Association (UL/CSA), and China Compulsory Certification (CCC). Eaton is a diversified power management company providing energy-efficient solutions that help its customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. A global technology leader, Eaton acquired Cooper Industries plc in November 2012. The 2012 revenue of the combined companies was $21.8 billion on a pro forma basis. Eaton has approximately 103,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries.

For more information, visit: www.eaton.eu

all over the world hundreds of thousands of Polar machines are busy cutting both printed and unprinted paper. However, all Polar-Mohr guillotines are also ideal for cutting a wide range of other materials, such as plasticised PVC, polyethylene, acetate film and plastic signs. This is in addition to wafers, plastic wraps aluminium foil rubber and even felt and fibreglass insulation materials.

Polar-Mohr also enhances productivity through its ‘linked work sequences’ such as lifting, jogging, loading, unloading and gripper systems to automatically controlled processes. Equipped with modular components, standalone machines can be upgraded to systems to provide optimised workflow to post-press operations. Furthermore POLAR offers pile turners to be used in printshops.

Most cutters can be integrated into the digital production workflow by using P-Net. It starts with taking the digital sheet layout as ppf or jdf file from prepress into Compucut® to generate the cutting program outside the cutter. By this the makeready time at the cutter is down to almost zero. To further optimise the process loading of any cutting program can be done by an barcode reader. And finally the communication of production data to a MIS-system. In 2000 POLAR started with its LabelSystems. The range starts with manual die-cutters in punch through and counter pressure principle and goes up to highly automatic in-line LabelSystems for the production of up to 1.2 million labels an hour. n

For further information about the advanced integrated post-press solutions offered by Polar-Mohr visit: www.polar-mohr.com