Koenig & Bauer announces metal packaging sustainability boost
Samuel Teufel, product manager, with the sensor technology for VisuEnergy X in his hands. Image: Koenig & Bauer
Koenig & Bauer MetalPrint will be helping its customers to achieve their key sustainability goals in future, including the ones required by law.
The company’s production site in Stuttgart will now start equipping all factory-new printing systems with the hardware required to record energy data. Additionally, it will configure them with the innovative VisuEnergy X energy management system for complete data monitoring and reporting. The system is the only solution available on the market that is optimised for the requirements of print and packaging production. According to the company, the standard sensor system makes it much easier to get started with successful energy management. If required, the software can be flexibly added at any time and implementation can start immediately.
In times of skyrocketing energy costs, increasing social responsibility for future generations, as well as new legal requirements, energy management is becoming a decisive competitive factor in the print and packaging industry. “In metal decoration in particular, energy management has a key significance because the production processes are so energy-intensive,” said Samuel Teufel, product manager at Koenig & Bauer MetalPrint.
“Digital technologies such as VisuEnergy X allow data about factors like power consumption, CO₂ emissions and many others – from production to building technology – to be recorded and visualised. Transparent data monitoring provides the basis for identifying potential savings and introducing specific improvement measures to the company,” added Michael Billa, VisuEnergy X product owner at Koenig & Bauer.
As an energy management system specifically optimised for the print and packaging industry, VisuEnergy X provides genuine added value, regardless of the substrate being printed. VisuEnergy X displays industry-specific KPIs such as kilowatt hours consumed in relation to production output. For models without sensor technology as standard, it can be either selected as an option for new machines or retrofitted.
“The close collaboration between Koenig & Bauer MetalPrint and the Group’s Digital Unit has paid dividends. Together with our central unit for digital transformation, we have recognised the pressure on our customers to be more sustainable and to keep energy costs down. By integrating measuring instruments into our machines, we’re making it easier to start using an energy management system. The modularity and system independence of VisuEnergy X fit perfectly into the metal decoration industry’s production environments, offering our customers real added value,” said Teufel.
“With every new machine, customers are given the technical basis for automated recording of energy data and have the opportunity to put the energy management system to the test,” Billa added. The measuring concept can be broadened to cover the entire production site. The open system concept of VisuEnergy X means all existing plants can be included in the system, regardless of manufacturer and type.