Image caption (from left to right): Luis Manuel Luis, Production Manager at BOURQUIN; Tobias Leischner, CEO of BOURQUIN; Virginie Dubois-Guignard, Marketing & Communication Manager for Folder-gluers at BOBST; Pierre Binggeli, Head of Product Line Folder-gluers at BOBST; Sacha Bourgeois, RD&E Director for Folder-gluers at BOBST.

Mex, Switzerland – Responding to the demand to produce small and medium-sized e-commerce boxes efficiently, BOBST extends the production possibilities of its EXPERTFOLD 165 in collaboration with BOURQUIN.

The increase of digital commerce and the desire to create sustainable packaging - adapted to the size and purpose of the content - has seen growing demand for small and medium-sized e-commerce packaging. To meet market needs and increase production efficiency for one of its long-standing partners, BOBST has created a dedicated configuration for the EXPERTFOLD 165 folder-gluer. This adds another string to the bow of this already extremely versatile corrugated and litho-laminated board folder-gluer.

BOURQUIN SA, based in Couvet, Switzerland, is a successful supplier of packaging solutions across the e-commerce, pharmaceutical and chemical, medtech, wine, brewing, industrial, watchmaking and graphic sectors. The company already produces reusable boxes for the e-commerce market in two passes, on its MASTERFOLD 230 folder-gluer in line with the SPEEDPACK, and its ALPINA folder-gluer. A first pass to apply the opening strips and self-adhesive tapes, and a second pass to do the folding and gluing operations on the box.

However, faced with the increasing demand for e-commerce packaging, BOURQUIN was looking for a way to optimize the production of small and mid-sized boxes. “We regularly discuss production challenges with BOBST, and we therefore approached them to find a solution for our need,” said Luis Manuel Luis, Production Manager at BOURQUIN’s Couvet site.

Eager to rise to the challenge and respond to this new market requirement rapidly, the BOBST engineers integrated the POLYVACUUM and GYROBOX modules to the EXPERTFOLD 165 folder-gluer. The BOURQUIN production site in Couvet became a beta site for the new machine configuration. “We signed the contract for the EXPERTFOLD in March 2021 and the line was installed in our plant at the end of 2021,” Luis Manuel Luis commented. After a period of tests in collaboration with BOBST, the new folder-gluer line is now fully integrated in the BOURQUIN machine portfolio, providing the company with the productivity and flexibility needed to meet current and future market needs. According to Mr. Luis: “The new production line has significantly increased our productivity by up to 80%. User-friendly, efficient and delivering first-class quality boxes – our expectations have been fully met.”

Today, the EXPERTFOLD 165 e-commerce configuration has been officially introduced into the BOBST folder-gluer range. “BOURQUIN and BOBST have a long and successful partnership,” said Sacha Bourgeois, RD&E Director for Folder-gluers at BOBST. “We are happy to help our customers to face their production challenges and grateful to be able to work with them on site. This close collaboration with our partners is essential to make sure we deliver the best results and bring innovations to the market which make a real difference.”