Waste generation is a persistent concern for the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers are expected to manage the amount of waste they generate but, as it is produced at every step of the production cycle, the amount they need to take care of can get out of hand — and bump up costs significantly.

Since responsible waste disposal represents money and labor spent that doesn’t transform into an item a customer is willing to pay for, it’s in the manufacturers’ best interest to employ effective waste reduction strategies. This is true for all sorts, including trimmings and scrap materials, misprints and inconsistent output, and especially packaging.

One of the ways you can reduce your packaging waste and production expenses is by switching to a flatbed die cutting machine. Compared to a rotary die cutter, a flatbed machine offers more benefits in terms of cost-efficiency.

How a Flatbed Die Cutter Reduces Waste

A flatbed die cutter produces less packaging waste than a rotary cutter. The former groups die-cut parts more closely on the sheet, reducing scrap materials and trimmings. This means you get to maximize each sheet or roll of the material you’re using.

Aside from this basic feature, significant advancements have also been applied to flatbed die cutting that make it even more efficient. Two of these modern techniques are laser cutting and the integration of CAD or computer-aided design.

CAD for Flatbed Die Cutting

With a CAD software, you can build 2D or 3D models in an imaginary space, letting you visualize the object’s properties, such as height and width.

This kind of software is more popularly used in architecture and engineering for creating blueprints and models. But in manufacturing and tooling, the CAD program will automatically send the design to the flatbed die cutter. The machine will read the model and use it to create the final product.

CAD integration has obvious advantages in terms of automation and increasing production speed, but it also offers the following efficiencies:

• CAD makes it easier to experiment with different designs and layouts without wasting materials to test them out.
• You can execute more complex designs that would’ve been time-consuming and expensive to develop without CAD.
• It can improve your client response times. CAD lets you take designs directly from graphic designers then convert them into a format that your die cutter can recognize.
• CAD uses mathematical algorithms to find the most efficient layout possible, utilizing more material and leaving less waste.

Laser Die Cutting

Laser die cutting works like a regular printer, but it uses a powerful laser instead of an ink nozzle and die backing instead of paper. The laser cutting machine reads the CAD file then cuts the die according to the design.

Just like CAD integration, speed is the biggest benefit of laser die cutting, but the laser also offers unique advantages:

• The laser is incredibly precise, allowing for complex designs and layouts. It can cut along difficult layouts without compromising output quality.
• The precision of laser cutting allows it to cut difficult corners and angles with very minimal waste.
• Combining CAD and laser cutting results in faster turnaround times.

How a Flatbed Die Cutter Lowers Costs

Reducing your production waste through automation directly impacts your expenses. You’re able to maximize your die backing materials, giving you more value for your money.

Additionally, leveraging modern techniques like CAD and laser cutting greatly improves your production efficiency. You’re able to complete orders faster, allowing you to take more projects to increase your revenues.

The automation benefits provided by laser cutting and CAD integration let you save on labor costs, as well. Automated die cutting processes need less human supervision, so you can reassign your employees to other, more critical tasks.

Automation leaves little to no room for human error. This lessens defects, misprints, and other mistakes that lead to waste, making your entire production line more cost-efficient.

Conclusion

Ultimately, how you use your flatbed die cutter will determine how much waste you reduce and how much you can save because of it. It comes down to the model you choose and the technologies you leverage to increase the efficiency of your die cutting process.

If you want to learn more about how you can utilize your flatbed die cutting machine to its fullest, SBL Machinery is here to guide you. We’re a trusted manufacturer of packaging equipment, including folding gluing machines and hot foil stampers.

Browse through our blog today for more information about improving your production efficiency and operating various packaging equipment properly. For enquiries about our flatbed die cutting machines, call SBL Machinery at +886 2 2680-2199 or fill out our contact form.