Large Quanity Paper Cutting

[Wil Lambert]

I have been doing a lot of prototype paper cutting for a company. Now they are looking into a full production run of the parts. I was given the chance to quote on the production run but it is out of my league for quantity and my machines capability. They was a total of 20 million pcs to be run. Any one know what the best machine to run quantities like this would be? It surely is not my Epilog 60w. Maybe a Galvo? Thanks for the info, Wil

[Jiten Patel]

Hi Wil,

What sort of paper parts are going to be cut? size? 20 mil is a scary amount - galvo is the way to go with auto feed capabilities. Maybe sub-contracting it out to a company who has one (as they cost £100-250k) may be an option?

[Joe Pelonio]

I would consider that a die-cut application. There are companies that you can have do it for far less than on a laser.

[Wil Lambert]

Jiten, I can't really say what they are due to NDA's. Basic premiss is a 4" x 8" "card" with details cut into the card. The material is still in question. We have made this design in over 40 different papers. Most are 80-100lb stock some with plastic coverings. I may have to look into a different machine. This is the first opportunity for this type of project but there are many more in the workings.

[Wil Lambert]

Joe, Die cutting has not been working. We prototyped on the laser then they moved to die cutting for small production runs and it has been a complete failure. The inner details do not allow die cutting to work well. They have come back to me to continue the process until the full production starts. Thanks, Wil

[Jiten Patel]

Die cutting was my first thought - but I made the assumption you wanted laser due to the detail. ooooh secrets - love it - sounds like a mammoth project - would love to have something like that come my way!

If you go on youtube and search for laser-cut greeting cards - check out the machines with auto-feed capability - that's what you are looking for (or search for sei paper blaster which is a slower version).

[Wil Lambert]

Jiten, Thank you for the suggestions. This is the type of machine I am looking for. Now to get pricing and see if it's a good investment or not. Thanks again, Wil

[Ross Moshinsky]

Jiten, Thank you for the suggestions. This is the type of machine I am looking for. Now to get pricing and see if it's a good investment or not. Thanks again, Wil

I'd look into outsourcing the work. 20 mil turns into 10mil turns into 100k pretty quickly. Also the "we're going to do several more projects like this" turns into "we got a new manager and they decided not to go this route" pretty quickly as well.

There are people who do this type of work all the time. Investing 250k on a machine for one job is VERY risky.

[Ian Franks]

I would look at lasx (http://www.lasx.com/) they have smart machines.
Note I have no connection to them and have just been an interested observer.

[Joe Pelonio]

I'd look into outsourcing the work. 20 mil turns into 10mil turns into 100k pretty quickly. Also the "we're going to do several more projects like this" turns into "we got a new manager and they decided not to go this route" pretty quickly as well.

There are people who do this type of work all the time. Investing 250k on a machine for one job is VERY risky.
I have to agree. The unknown is how long they remain your customer before they decide to go ahead and buy their own machine and do it in-house. Are they local to you? In one case I lost a $4,000/month customer when they discovered that the shipping charges were more than a laser payment.

[Wil Lambert]

Joe, The company is local (within 30miles). I am there a few times a week in meetings and working closely with them on these projects. There is no rush to invest in the new equipment but it is nice to know how it's done in mass quantities. You never know what may come around for other opportunities. Thanks, Wil