Finishing & Screen Printing

BOBST NOVACUT 106ER empowers Byblos Printing Press

Tuesday 15. August 2023 - Using both digital and offset printing presses, the business serves a diverse range of industry sectors, including pharmaceutical, food, publishing, and tobacco companies. Reaching an annual turnover of around $5m, Byblos is a major player in the Lebanese packaging market.

Located in Mount Lebanon, Byblos Printing SAL (‘Byblos’) is a leading printing and packaging company in Lebanon, with a 7,500m² factory and a team of more than 80 dedicated packaging professionals. Using both digital and offset printing presses, the business serves a diverse range of industry sectors, including pharmaceutical, food, publishing, and tobacco companies. Reaching an annual turnover of around $5m, Byblos is a major player in the competitive Lebanese packaging market.
Like many of its contemporaries in the region, Byblos cites significant challenges in Lebanon’s tumultuous market, including the economic and financial crisis, political instability, unreliable infrastructure, high raw material costs, market competition, and governmental regulations concerning sustainability. As a result, the company’s core priorities lie in sustaining operations and staying profitable amidst these challenges.
To help futureproof its operations, add greater capabilities to its arsenal and expand its production capacity, Byblos has partnered with BOBST by investing in a NOVACUT 106 ER Autoplaten die-cutter; the company’s first BOBST machine. With stability, reliability and expertise high on the priority list, Byblos chose BOBST due to its market leadership, extensive experience, innovative technology, global presence, customer focus, reliability, and industry partnerships.
The decision to invest in the BOBST NOVACUT 106 ER was driven by the desire to increase production capacity, enhance efficiency and productivity, improve quality and precision, expand offerings and enter new markets, while also remaining competitive and streamlining operations to reduce overall operating costs. As a result of these needs, the machine stood out as the clear choice.
Further underlining the importance of collaboration and the expertise of a market leader like BOBST, Byblos has observed changes in customer demands that include quicker job turnaround and delivery due to reduced stock levels, and sensitivity on delivery dates and prices as a result of currency devaluation.
The NOVACUT 106 ER Autoplaten die-cutter is a durable and reliable machine equipped with world-leading technology, based on the extensive knowledge and experience of the BOBST team. It offers exceptional versatility without compromising productivity. The integrated stripping and blanking at speeds of up to 8,000 sheets per minute guarantee optimal productivity, delivering perfectly stable blank stacks with counted batches, ready for the next production step.
The operator-friendly design ensures machine accessibility and rapid setup. Tools can be fitted swiftly and precisely, thanks to automatic equipment centering, quick-locking systems and dial indicators for accurate tooling adjustments. The intuitive HMI SPHERE interface also contributes to reducing the workload – ultimately saving time and money. This has allowed the Byblos to become more flexible and produce shorter runs profitably.
With its excellent price/performance ratio, the NOVACUT 106 ER proves to be a long-term asset for any printing and packaging business. Additionally, users benefit from access to BOBST’s comprehensive tooling solutions, service, and spare parts network, ensuring continuous support and maintenance.
Following installation by the BOBST technical team, the NOVACUT 106 ER has already made a significant impact on production time, reducing it significantly. Further ahead, Byblos expects additional improvements to be found in its operational efficiency and production capabilities.
Ziad Metni, CEO of Byblos Printing Press, comments: “While looking for ways to boost our productivity and capacity, the BOBST NOVACUT 106 ER stood out for various reasons. Our needs included improving efficiency and productivity, enhancing the quality and precision of our output, entering new markets and expanding our offerings, staying competitive, and streamlining operations to reduce costs. NOVACUT 106 ER ticks every box for us, and we are already beginning to see these benefits realised in our day-to-day operations.”
Ergonomically designed for intuitive use, operators at Byblos quickly adapted to the new BOBST NOVACUT 106 ER. The machine’s user-friendly interface, along with the expertise and experience of the team, ensured a smooth transition and successful integration into their workflow.
To support the machine’s installation, Byblos booked additional training with the BOBST team, to ensure operators could get the most from the machine, learn to handle diverse box varieties.
By investing in the BOBST NOVACUT 106ER, Byblos has made a bold move towards achieving its vision of growth and meeting customer demands more efficiently. The machine’s precision, efficiency, and sustainability features have elevated their productivity and quality standards, positioning them for a successful future in the printing and packaging industry.