Adhesive technologies are playing a pivotal role in driving sustainability and efficiency. Carlo Zucchi, Sales Director South Europe at Valco Melton, and Markus Bohnenkamp, Sales Director Northern Europe at Valco Melton share insights into new developments and innovations with Elisabeth Skoda.
ES: What emerging trends do you see in adhesive application that are shaping the future of the packaging industry?
Carlo Zucchi: I think it is an exciting and interesting time with a lot of opportunities, especially for the environment and sustainability.
New adhesive technologies are opening up opportunities to reduce plastics by switching to paper. And the paper, of course, needs to be bonded. At the same time, we have the solutions for reducing the amount of adhesives on existing plastics, paper wrapping or packaging applications in general. All this together gives us an enormous growth potential and contributes reducing O2 emissions.
Markus Bohnenkamp: I think sustainability and being green is a huge strength. In packaging and paper converting, smaller boxes and optimization, and packaging and gluing on demand are big trends. It’s no longer about doing more but doing better.
ES: What are some recent innovations at the company you would like to talk about?
MB: We showcased our complete solution for folding cartons, including flex gluers, camera-based and sensor-based glue applications, and our hot melt solution, EcoStitch. EcoStitch delivers significant glue savings by applying adhesive in precise dots rather than full patterns. Depending on the product, this method can reduce glue usage by 35% to 70%.
We also offer a complete range of folding carton solutions for cold glue applications. With our new GlueChek+ camera, UV adhesives are no longer needed to detect the glue, making these solutions more suitable for food products.
CZ: We have introduced several innovations aimed to enhance glue saving, performance, efficiency and quality in adhesive applications and quality assurance systems. Among our many solutions, we offer PrintChek, an advanced vision inspection technology for printing and converting applications. We also provide the OneView interface, featured in the new generation of pattern controllers, which enables powerful adhesive and quality data analytics tools. All these solutions provides our customers better control over their process with a measurable gain in quality, efficiency and cost saving.
ES: How is ValcoMelton leveraging advancements in automation and robotics to optimize processes for the customer?
CZ: Valco Melton is leveraging advancement in automation and robotics to optimize production processes, reduce human error and increase efficiency. With features like advanced vision inspection technologies and predictive monitoring powered by AI, we enable our customer achieve better quality control and higher productivity.
MB: We’re facing a shortage of skilled operators, which is increasing demand for robotic solutions that will make the operator’s job as easy as possible.
ES: Sustainability is becoming more and more important. What’s your offering for eco-friendly and sustainable adhesives?
CZ: Valco Melton provides technologies that enables our customers to save up to 70 or 80% of applied adhesive without compromising bonding strength. Through innovations like EcoStitch Technology, tankless hot melt systems and energy efficient adhesive systems we help our customers reduce their environmental impact, achieve cost savings and operational effectiveness.
MB: It all comes back to the adhesive. We reduce the amount of adhesive needed with our applicator heads, and that is a step in the right direction.
ES: Moving to the topic of e-commerce, what are the challenges and opportunities there for customers?
CZ: Valco Melton is uniquely positioned in this market as we design and manufacture inhouse complete solutions for the production of e-commerce packaging. It is important to highlight that our customers get a complete retrofittable solution from one single supplier. From the tear-tape, hot-melt, release liner applicators complemented with accessories and bracketry to retrofit a complete solution on any folder gluer, multipoint gluer or other offline machines. Valco Melton also provides quality assurance systems with sensors or cameras to control the correct positioning of adhesive, teartape and release liner.
MB: We are very well prepared for the growing e-commerce market, especially because we supply the adhesive and the application as well as the tear tapes. So we can combine that into a complete solution for our customers.
ES: What role does data analytics and predictive maintenance play in ensuring reliability and efficiency?
CZ: As mentioned before, Valco Melton gluing pattern controllers and a quality assurance systems provide our customers with data analytics that can be used to trigger predictive maintenance to ensure the reliability and maximum efficiency of their machines. The result is a production process with fewer disruptions and a higher efficiency of the production lines.
MB: It’s all about service, and service includes maintenance. This is one of our strong points. We have service technicians all over the world. After all, if you sell a product you have to maintain it.
ES: How is Valco Melton addressing the need for faster production speeds and shorter turnaround times in packaging operations and applications?
CZ: Keeping in mind that a properly adjusted and maintained gluing system should never limit the speed of the machine. Our innovations in high-speed dispensing, automation, predictive maintenance and customizable solutions for specific packaging needs help our customers to meet the increasing demand for speed, flexibility, and efficiency in modern packaging lines.
MB: We are very flexible with our solutions and can, for example, offer systems with 300 metres per minute, or up to 700 metres per minute. With our solutions, we can run at that speed, but of course, it always depends on the product itself. At the same time, we also have to prepare and make it as easy as possible to set up smaller products.
ES: In your opinion, what will be the next big innovation or breakthrough in the adhesive application sphere?
MB: We are already in the process of getting everything on demand. There is no need to carry empty boxes or air from point A to B. If you’re able to package a product on-demand with low amount of carton or paper packaging, that is the future.
We sometimes get the question of how often paper bags or cartons can be reused. But there are no easy answers because this means you have to transport empty boxes from point A to B just to reuse them again. So it’s a challenging and complex topic.
CZ: I think the next big innovations many customers would like to see is self-regulating adhesive systems. With the combination of smart technologies, sustainable solutions and the integration of AI, we will be able to automatically adjust adhesive viscosity, temperature and application patterns based on data from sensors or cameras.
No comments yet