SEI Laser dedicated a two-day open house (October 17-18) at its headquarters in Curno (Bg) to the presentation of the latest proposal for the corrugated board sector. We are talking about X-Wave Converting, which we had the opportunity to preview during last drupa, where it received great interest among all the unconventional converting technologies exhibited at the show
After the positive reviews it received at drupa, here is finally the presentation to the market of the latest technological jewel by SEI Laser, which this time decided to develop a new cutting technology, laser of course, for the high-growth corrugated market.
We had had the opportunity to speak right on the stand at drupa about this latest innovation dedicated to the corrugated cardboard display and packaging market, and already during the fair we had noticed visitors’ interest in the line that was the protagonist of many daily demos.
SEI Laser owns the technology behind all its cutting machines that find applications in different markets. Until now we had never developed anything for corrugated cardboard, but given the growing interest, hand in hand with the decline in orders and the great demand for customization, the R&D department in Curno decided to focus strongly on cardboard as well.
Last October, in conjunction with Viscom, where SEI Laser was present with a booth, a two-day event was organized to learn more about cutting technology with Sei Laser technicians and professionals and then watch cutting demos.
Ettore Colico and Marco Capoferri told in detail where the idea of X-Wave Converting came from, which is ideal for small and medium-size cutting and custom applications, where digital converting technology, in this case laser and digital creasing, are the best answer to market needs.
The technical features of X-Wave Converting
Carbon fiber axes, used for both the creasing and laser die-cutting stations, ensure precision, accuracy and up to a 6-times higher production advantage over the use of traditional finishing systems. Speed and acceleration performance reaches values of 4 m/s and 6g.
The complete digitization of the process makes it extremely fast and intuitive, guiding the operator through all stages. The optical registers with which X-Wave Converting is equipped ensure fast and easy loading of material.
The scanner’s innovative technology for die-cutting and in-register creasing of corrugated board requires no maintenance or calibration over time.
The system is specially designed to be scalable and integrated into existing workflows. The processable sheet size is up to 1600x2400mm for a maximum recommended thickness of 7/8mm.
Face to face with Marco Capoferri, SEI Laser Head of Product & Business Development
Where does the need for this new machine dedicated to corrugated cardboard come from?
“The idea was born following a specific request from the market linked to the world of visual communication, in particular display and on-demand packaging, to have a completely digital and as automated as possible finishing system for corrugated cardboard, capable of providing productivity in line with the performance of digital printing systems available on the market and thus respond to the growing needs for the supply of medium-small batches, from a few dozen to a few thousand pieces, without start-up times and costs, with a time to market of a few days, if not even hours.
We know that the growing demand for corrugated cardboard as a base material for various graphic applications comes from the fact that it is one of the few truly “sustainable” materials, being 100% recyclable. This feature makes corrugated cardboard particularly interesting for all those applications, such as POP POS displays or customized packaging, linked for example to “instant marketing” activities, which by definition must have a limited operational “life” and allow the brand to ride, for example, the emotional wave linked to the event thanks to which a certain product is to be promoted. The Americans, who invented marketing, call it ‘marketing wave’”.
What are its distinctive characteristics also compared to digital converting technologies?
“The laser allows speeds and dynamics that are enormously superior to traditional cutting technologies thanks to the extreme lightness of the kinematics, which do not have to be oversized to transport large masses or withstand stresses due to the dynamics of cutting routing or with a knife.
The key element in designing the X-Wave line was to take the laser technology that we had already developed for high-performance cutting for the textile sector and adapt it to the processing of corrugated cardboard. This allowed us to drastically shorten development times.
The combination of high-performance magnetic linear motors with carbon movement axes produced with aerospace-derived technology allows X-Wave to achieve cutting performances that are unthinkable for a traditional system, especially in the creation of complex geometries, all without having any shape limitations, with total design freedom.
The same kinematics adopted for the cutting station is then also adopted for the creasing station, this allows a perfect balance of cycle times between creasing and cutting.
The real big news, however, is represented by the adoption of an exclusive SEI Laser technology for “on fly” production where all the stations that make up the line move the material on the fly, from loading to unloading to the register table, to creasing up to cutting, with the conveyors perfectly synchronized without ever stopping the material. The result is X-Wave Converting, a true complete “pallet to pallet” digital finishing line that allows you to obtain productivity up to 6 times greater than a traditional system, in a completely automated way”.
What space can this laser machine have on the market and who is it aimed at?
“The customer target to which the machine is addressed is very broad and varied, ranging from corrugated cardboard converters, who today represent the category with the greatest spending capacity and perhaps the greatest interest for the X-Wave product, to box factories and visual communication professionals such as producers of displays and packaging on demand who find in X-Wave the ideal solution to meet the demands for flexibility and productivity on a material such as corrugated cardboard.
Let’s think for example of large corrugated cardboard converters, with a production capacity of hundreds of thousands of pieces per day using traditional in-line printing and die-cutting/creasing machines. Today they increasingly find themselves having to deal with requests for the supply of small batches that come from their most important customers, to be fulfilled with extremely short timescales (let’s remember the concept of emotional wave linked to the event). These requests are uneconomical to fulfill using traditional machines, but above all unmanageable in the required timing due to the production times of the dies and the set-up and start-up of the machines, considering net costs that still have their weight. All these limitations actually represent the strengths of the X-Wave solution.
In general, how did 2024 go and what are your perspectives for 2025?
“In a political and economic situation like the current one, you can only survive if you are efficient in directing your efforts where the market requires it and where there is consequently more opportunity to develop business. I must say that 2024 was an exciting year for SEI, full of new laser applications developed in various sectors. But above all it was the year of Drupa which for us represented a huge effort in terms of investment in terms of research and development given that, in addition to X-Wave for corrugated cardboard, we were able to present new products also for the label converting, flexible packaging and paper converting markets, markets that are strategic for us and where we have been recognized for years as one of the technological references at a global level. For 2025 I can say that perspectives are positive, this despite the evident crisis that some traditionally reference markets for us are going through, such as the German one, in particular for the part linked to the automotive sector.
My optimism comes from a simple observation. SEI Laser has been operating for over 40 years in 15 different vertical markets, from textiles to automotive, from electronics to footwear, from visual communication to paper converting. In our portfolio we have more than 30 product lines and over 7000 systems installed to date in more than 50 countries. This variety of products, markets and application solutions allows us to always have opportunities. It is up to us to exploit them in the best way by perceiving in advance the changing needs of the different markets and quickly providing solutions, reinventing ourselves every time and trying to be innovative to arrive at the right time with the right solution in the right market. Easier said than done, but we always try”.
