Bobst Group North America

The Foil Stamping and Embossing Association (FSEA) will ‘Pop It With Foil’ when the organization holds its 2008 National Convention April 10-12 at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas in Scottsdale, Ariz. The convention offers a supplier trade fair, educational programming to address trends in the industry, and an awards banquet where the best of the industry will be honored. The supplier trade fair and welcome reception will kick off the convention, offering attendees the opportunity to discover what’s new from industry suppliers, network with peers, and sample regional fare. General sessions on Friday morning will commence with PIA Executive Director Michael Makin in

ROSELAND, N.J.—Bobst Group North America has set the dates for Direction ‘08, the Folding Carton group’s Open House. “We’ve chosen the dates of October 2-7th, 2008 to host Direction ‘08,” says Chris Raney, vice president of Folding Cartons for Bobst Group North America. “It maintains our schedule without posing any conflict to the DRUPA exhibition. It will also provide an opportunity for those who may not have had been able to visit the DRUPA exhibition to experience first-hand some of our latest diecutting, folding and gluing, and foil stamping technologies.” The Direction ’08 Open House will also, as it has in previous Direction events,

CLAYTON, N.C.—Folding carton manufacturer Colonial Carton recently purchased a new Bobst Alpina II 75-A2 folder/gluer. This is the third Alpina folder/gluer Colonial has added to its full-service folding carton facility in the past two years. In addition to many other productivity enhancing features, including a Cartonpack GT, Colonial’s newest Alpina II will be the first in the US configured with the Bobst AccuBraille rotary Braille embossing system. “We are continually looking for ways to improve our efficiencies, control costs for our customers and provide quality products and services that not only meet, but exceed expectations,” says Joe Elphick, owner of Colonial Carton. “Our latest

NILES, Ill.—Graphic Technologies, a leading finisher to the graphic arts industry, and second largest in the US, recently installed a second Bobst SPanthera 106-LER Autoplaten diecutter (with in-line blanking) to their metropolitan Chicago operation. This installation comes just three months after the installation of their first. This is the newest addition to their growing equipment list which now includes over 15 diecutters and foil stamping and embossing presses. In addition, Graphic Technologies offers a full compliment of finishing capabilities including folding, folding–gluing, laminating, kitting, in-house tool production and a full structural design lab. The new installation further enhances the company’s ability to efficiently convert

CLAYTON, N.C.—Folding carton manufacturer Colonial Carton recently purchased a new Bobst Alpina II 75-A2 Folder-Gluer. This is the third Alpina foldergluer Colonial has added to their full service folding carton facility in the past two years. In addition to many other productivity enhancing features, including a Cartonpack GT, Colonial’s newest Alpina II will be the first in the US configured with the Bobst AccuBraille rotary Braille embossing system. “We are continually looking for ways to improve our efficiencies, control costs for our customers and provide quality products and services that not only meet, but exceed expectations,” says Joe Elphick, owner of Colonial Carton. “Our

ROSELAND, N.J.—Alex Gigon, director of customer service and support operations for Bobst Group North America has announced that InTouch, the company’s online system for parts has now exceeded $25 million in sales. Begun as a small-scale test project in mid 2005, utilization of InTouch has mushroomed to the point where nearly a third of Bobst customers in North America use it routinely. Alex Gigon explains, “Once a customer has signed up for InTouch, and has 24/7/365 access to our parts inventory, there’s little reason for them to ever want to go back to the old way.” The InTouch system allows registered users to check

ROSELAND, N.J.—Bobst Group North America has announced that InTouch will be available to Bobst customers in Canada. Launched in 2005 in the United States, InTouch provides customers a means to check parts availability, receive instant pricing, order parts, and track parts orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Canadian version of InTouch automatically performs currency conversion and is bi-lingual, offering full French text in addition to English. “The response of customers in the U.S. has been phenomenal,” says Alex Gigon, director of customer service and support operations for Bobst Group NA. “Practically everyone that has been introduced to it has taken

BIELEFELD, Germany—The Grautoff family—majority shareholder of Fischer & Krecke GmbH & Co. KG—has signed an agreement concerning the sale of its shares to Bobst Group S.A. in Lausanne (Switzerland). The agreement affects the shares in Fischer Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, a majority shareholder of Fischer & Krecke GmbH & Co. KG, as well as Maschinenbau Wilhelm Kochsiek GmbH. As a result of the acquisition, Bobst plans to amend and extend its existing portfolio for printing machines. Dietrich Bernhard Grautoff, majority shareholder and chairman of the advisory board of Fischer & Krecke said, “My family sells off the company very reluctantly. After thorough consideration in the family

What do you do when you have established tried-and-true converting methods and along comes a new innovation? You react and adapt. Some suppliers of folding and gluing equipment have already done so with their product offerings. In light of new European standards requiring Braille application on every pharmaceutical carton, companies like Bobst Group North America and American International Machinery (A.I.M.) have incorporated this technology in their product offerings. “A.I.M. is expecting this European trend to move here to the U.S. very soon, and has uncovered a low-cost, high-speed process that will apply Braille to the product as it is being produced on the folder-gluer,”

BIELEFELD, Germany—The Grautoff family—majority shareholder of Fischer & Krecke GmbH & Co. KG—has signed an agreement concerning the sale of its shares to Bobst Group S.A. in Lausanne (Switzerland). The agreement affects the shares in Fischer Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, which is majority shareholder of Fischer & Krecke GmbH & Co. KG as well as Maschinenbau Wilhelm Kochsiek GmbH. As a result of the acquisition, Bobst plans to amend and extend its existing portfolio for printing machines. Dietrich Bernhard Grautoff, majority shareholder and chairman of the advisory board of Fischer & Krecke said, “My family sells off the company very reluctantly. After thorough consideration in the