Kongsberg and Re-board

Amazing new display material
These days, everyone in the industry is talking about Re-board – an amazing new display material developed by the Swedish company DesignForce AB that combines extreme rigidity with very low weight. Re-board is ideally suited for semi-permanent displays, furniture, walls and exhibition stands – even large, free standing displays can be easily lifted or moved by a person of ordinary strength. Re-board has 14 times the density of honeycomb and supports the installation of screws. Entirely made from paper fiber, Re-board has a very even surface and provides an excellent printing substrate.

Kongsberg gets the finishing job done right
Re-board is an incredibly tough material – in fact, it is impossible to cut using standard converting solutions. Esko's Kongsberg Digital Converting Machine is the only approved system on the market today that has the power and precision to reliably cut Re-board. The DCM effectively processes Re-board to precise specifications, applying the different operations for cutting, drilling and folding of the designs with impressive throughput.

"Re-board's construction requires special attention to the angles, joints and weights," explains Aswin Eshuis, founder of Re-board B.V, exclusive distributor of the Re-Board material in Central Europe. "The Kongsberg offers a proven, industrial-strength DCM solution that delivers top level results."

Kongsberg delivers customer-pleasing results
The straightforward functionality of the Kongsberg DCM ensures a short learning curve. The DCM is a cost-effective workhorse that's a perfect match for the needs for smaller runs of customized packaging, point of sale materials, or short runs of reorders. Low intervention requirements even enable the DCM to handle unsupervised overnight jobs.

Johan Gustafsson, owner of the Swedish signage firm Skylt & Butik, finds that Re-board is a superior choice for his clients' in-store promotion and product displays. "Corrugated is less expensive than Re-board, but in a month's time, a corrugated display is already breaking down. Most corrugated is about 3mm thick, compared to 16mm for Re-board," states Gustafsson. "We print the Re-board with an Inca wide-format printer, cut it with our Kongsberg and then run it through the varnishing machine," says Gustafsson. "The production time is simple and doesn't take much longer than corrugated."

Strong market potential for Reboard
Today there is a strong market interest in Re-board. Graphic World (The Netherlands) is well equipped to meet the demand. The firm recently installed a Kongsberg i-XL44 and Kongsberg DCM, along with two Inca printers, to process Re-board.

Wilfred Witjes, managing director, has high expectations for the adoption of this next-generation display material. "Re-board has the same durability and ruggedness as pricey materials like wood or steel yet costs considerably less," explains Witjes. "It is also very lightweight, so the material can be cut and folded into a compact package, then reassembled at the customer's site. This is a huge cost saver in terms of transportation and shipping costs and other indirect associated costs."

The staff at Graphic World quickly mastered the production techniques for Re-board. "The production process is very straightforward thanks to our Kongsberg cutting tables," says Witjes. "The Kongsberg works so precisely that we produce a lot less waste material compared to other cutting tables."

Witjes reports that the DCM's fully automated operation has produced beneficial time savings as well. The Kongsberg DCM automatically loads sheets from a stack of material up to 24” (600 mm) thick, cuts each sheet from a CAD file, and unloads the sheets – running virtually unattended. No cutting die is required, generating further savings in cost and turnaround time. Producing small runs for different sizes of 10 to 400 sheets very profitably – the Kongsberg DCM can pay for itself within a year.

A pathway to profits
Beyond its technical strengths, Re-board also offers financial advantages. Equipped with a Kongsberg, converters can profit by offering this exclusive material as a new value-added service.

"Re-board has huge potential as a display material and offers sign makers the potential for new business growth and revenue streams. The potential applications for Re-board are limited only by the imagination and offer exciting, profitable possibilities," states Tom Erik Naess, Esko Product Manager, samplemaking and SRP. “The Kongsberg — with its speed, flexibility, and high performance — is the ideal solution for easily and efficiently converting Re-board. Within a short time, the machine typically pays for itself. We have seen many converters exploit the Kongsberg DCM for new, high margin opportunities.”

Unique Esko benefits for Re-board material

• Reliable precision: Esko's Kongsberg DCM is the only approved system with the power and accuracy to reliably cut Re-board.
• Increased productivity: The DCM’s impressive throughput for cutting, drilling and folding operations provides notable time savings.
• Short learning curve: Its straightforward functionality is rapidly learnt.
• Low intervention requirements: The DCM can handle unsupervised overnight jobs.
• Simplified production: The easy-to-use, powerful Kongsberg tables simplify complex production processes.
• Minimal waste: Kongsberg DCM’s precise mode of operation produces much less excess than other cutting tables.
• Cost & time savings: Eliminates the time and expense of manufacturing a cutting die.
• Higher quality: Optical print-to-cut gives true-to-register alignment for outline cutting and high quality finishing.