Paper Cutters Honing a Competitive Edge

"There is no money being made in cutting operations unless the knife is cycling," Simons notes. "Material handling consumes the largest amount of time in the cutting process. Therefore, automating the way material flows to and from the cutter is the best way to increase production."

At Print 2001, the MAN Roland booth featured a 54" Wohlenberg paper cutter with an integrated waste evacuation system, Simons reports. "By adding a pile hoist, jogger with an air removal system, curved gripper transport system and an unloader to this cutter, we were able to show an increase in production of two to three times that of a standalone cutter," he says.