IVE Group doubles down with Zünd installation

The IVE Group has purchased its second Zünd D3 3XL-3200 dualbeam cutting table with BHS150 automatic board handling system that has been installed within its new digital printing facility at Kemps Creek in Sydney. According to Zünd Australia managing director Dale Hawkins, the process leading to the selection of the technology and creating a business case for the Zünd D3 3XL-3200 and BHS150 at the IVE facility in NSW closely followed the process of the identical installation at the company’s Braeside facility in September 2024.

“IVE Brand Activations operations manager Mike Hart and his team did a lot of due diligence before making the decision to install the second D3 3XL-3200 cutting table with BHS150 automation,” Hawkins said. “We were sent client files for evaluation by IVE and developed cut simulations both locally and at our head office in Switzerland to measure timings and help put together a cost-benefit analysis.”

Hart explained the process behind researching their cutting solution. “We looked at other cutting tables and marked up their speeds as well as dwell times and we decided to move forward with the Zünd D3 3XL-3200 and BHS150,” he said.

“We had older Zünd models and wanted to upgrade these machines to a faster model, but to make the business case work in terms of being cost effective and realising the benefits in terms of saving labour across multiple shifts – we needed to add the BHS150 automation.”

“We also went to Melbourne and spoke with Stuart Gittus and the IVE team at Braeside and following that conversation, we decided it made absolute sense for us to move forward with Zünd. Compared to the IVE site in Melbourne, here in Sydney, we have different clients and produce different work on the Zünd that comes straight across from the two Durst P5 machines that have been installed.”

“We produce a lot of tower displays and in-store merchandise on B Flute, Corflute, and foamboard with longer runs that can be 400 or 500 pieces at a time. We can load up to two pallets on the Zünd that can be cut and creased over an entire shift with just one person overseeing the entire job. For our work mix – this machine is perfect. With the older machines we would need up to six staff members because they were smaller tables and there was no automation and as a result this meant there was a lot of manual labour and handling.”

According to Hawkins, this brings the total number of Zünd machines across both IVE sites to six. “The Zünd D3 3XL-3200 alone can deliver increased productivity of between 70 to 100 per cent using the two cutting beams that can cut and crease at the same time,” Hawkins said. “This machine also operates with Version 4 of the ZCC Zünd Cut Center that supports operators with smart, intuitive digital cutting functions throughout the production workflow.”

After installing the new Zünd D3 3XL-3200, a new V-Cut tool was required following new work that was won by the IVE business.“Often when we on-board new clients, they have different needs. The benefits of this modular system means that we could create a business case and easily install a new V-Cut tool to deliver the work,” Hart said.

Hawkins said additional resources were allocated to ensure installation and training were at the highest levels for such an important installation: “To complete the installation, we used our local service team as well as a technician from our head office in Switzerland. We also sent one of our Sydney-based team members to Switzerland for additional training on the automation to assist the IVE team at Kemps Creek.”

“We put the Zünd team under a lot of pressure with the installation of the D3 3XL-3200 and BHS150 as we were installing several machines simultaneously across the new facility, but at no point was there an issue and everything went very smoothly,” Hart added.

First published in Australian Printer