Machinery energy consumption

Given the size, functionality, and technical performance of packaging machines producing at high speed and equipment designed to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the environmental load of machinery energy consumption remains a significant challenge in the packaging industry. Therefore, in addition to ink, waste, and substrate reduction, BOBST is focusing on keeping the energy needs of its packaging solutions to a minimum, to lower its customers’ production costs and decrease their carbon footprint.

BOBST’s 2021 Sustainable Report outlined that a packaging machine consumes the most energy during its use phase at the converter’s premises (around 90% of its life-cycle carbon impact alone). To improve the energy requirements on both new equipment and the base of installed machines, BOBST not only launched new features and training in 2022 but allocated two people to this subject, acknowledging the importance of measuring and reducing the climate impact of its packaging equipment.

The carbon and energy-saving calculator commissioned by the Business Unit Services & Performance (BUSP) has made it possible to compare obsolete direct current motors (DC) with new generation alternating current motors (AC). On average, the latter saves 13% electricity (equivalent to 18 MWh per year), as shown by the value BUSP has measured on retrofitted customer equipment. As a result, a yearly saving of 7 tons of CO₂ emissions is equivalent to what a fossil fueled car emits during a 50 000 km trip. With the present energy crisis, this retrofitting has a payback in 4-7 years.

In die-cutting, the new BOBST Hybridblanker delivers a versatile tool frame that replaces several dedicated structures, saving raw material and weight during shipping.

EXPERTFOLD 165 e-commerce version, a folder-gluer line, offers two features that proactively contribute towards sustainability in converting, while providing key operational benefits at the same time. The first is a split driving system, which has a key role to play in the reduction of waste and lower energy use by eliminating disruptive stop-start production runs. When the system detects an error in the process, such as incorrect glue application, the folder-gluer halts production of the defective boxes while continuing production of compliant boxes. In essence, the first half of the machine can be stopped to correct the issue, while the second half continues to run. The key advantage here lies not just in continued productivity, but in fluid correction of issues without stopping the entire production line. The second key sustainability edge in the EXPERTFOLD 165 e-commerce version is an update to the POLYVACUUM module. The technology has recently been updated to optimize energy resources; a redesigned lower vacuum conveyor system has resulted in better air flow management, alongside a reduction in air consumption of up to 20%.

In 2022, BOBST set up the first climate impact and awareness training within the Group (90 people from managerial positions including BOBST Board of directors and top management executives) and developed an online eco-design course for R&D engineers, managers, and supply chain actors. BOBST also approved a proper sustainability machine evaluation sheet and implemented it on 13 essential BOBST products by the end of that year. It has provided an overview of their environmental impacts (with a strong focus on energy consumption) and insights into needed improvements. In the past, electricity was the only energy to be tackled. With its new indicators, BOBST can also now account for compressed air and the occasional gas consumption.