Jamestrong Packaging has installed a new KBA MetalStar 3, with the managing director Greg Bessant saying he wants to beat the competition with his new press.
“We bought the press because the Australian and New Zealand market is a bit lacklustre in its technology. We want to beat the competition by getting the latest technology. This printer is the greatest thing in the southern hemisphere. If you want to get anything similar you will have to go to Indonesia to get what we have. The market has a calling for it,” he says.
The KBA MetalStar 3 printer is being installed in a purpose-built facility at Jamestrong’s Milperra plant in NSW, with the capability to operate in a positive air-pressure environment – equivalent to the HEP3 air filtration used by fillers in their production environments.
Bessant says this purchase was necessary as the company was wanting to upgrade. The press will also reduce spoilage.
“At the moment we have 5 per cent spoilage and we are hoping to half that or drop it by two thirds,” he explains.
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Tim Bright packaging print manager at Jamestrong says the plant was impressed by the capabilities of the press during trials.
"All early signs of the machine confirm it absolutely flies. Jobs that used to take us four passes can now be done with a single pass. It is a real job-eater. With our older metal presses we used to put about 500 finished sheets on the floor in an hour. Now with the MS3 press we think – and it is only early days – that figure per hour will increase to 4000 finished sheets.
"If you multiply that by hours we can have the machine in production, potentially 24-hours per day, six days per week, you can see how much we will increase our capacity by.”
The KBA is currently in the commissioning and training phase, and Jamestrong expects that it can reach full production by second quarter 2017. KBA claims the MetalStar 3 is the world’s fastest metal printing press.
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