WestRock and Eurographic have made investments into Highcon’s Beam digital cutting and creasing platform, as the manufacturer reported a record-setting year for its customers.
This has seen the number of jobs produced on Highcon equipment up 29% for the first three quarters of 2023, relative to the same period in 2022. This is the strongest growth seen by the company’s customers since Highcon narrowed its focus to folding carton and corrugated in mid-2019.
Moreover, jobs per system are up 15%, ‘indicating that the growth is both organic and driven by new installations,’ according to Highcon. Systems at several customers are reported to be reaching full capacity, indicating the opportunity to install additional systems at these sites.
Charles Linney, director at Linney, commented, ‘Our Beam 2 system has become a key element in our offering. In the most recent quarter we produced 999 Highcon jobs – the largest number for a quarter. This quarter we have already produced 50% of the entire production volume of Q4 last year.
‘We are currently reviewing a second machine as, although the Beam 2 is extremely reliable, we like to have spare capacity on our kit to make sure we can accommodate our clients’ requirements if needed and a back-up plan just in case of any unexpected issues.’
WestRock has now signed on to take its third Highcon unit. With the first two installed in North America – one being in Mexico and used for folding carton converting and the other in the US for corrugated applications – this new machine, a Beam 2C model, is to be installed in Europe and will be targeted at health and beauty folding carton applications.
Also in Europe, Eurographic, a printing and packaging company with activities in Sweden, Denmark and Poland, has purchased a Highcon Beam 2. Destined for its Polish operation, the system will be used, amongst other things, for digital web-to-pack folding carton production as part of a complete digital workflow. With this installation, Poland will be the first country in Europe with both Highcon Beam 2 and Beam 2C installations, the latter being at UDS.
Bartosz Nowakowski, Poland country manager, Eurographic Group, said, ‘Highcon’s Beam 2 system perfectly meets our need for high quality, small batch carton production. With its short setup time and tool-free production, the Beam 2 will help us meet the demanding service levels that we have committed to our customers.’
The Highcon Beam investments in Europe equate to some $4 million and are noted in the company’s restructuring and refinancing development.
