Brand owners increasingly prioritize shorter run lengths with faster delivery times, while seeking more sustainable production methods. To meet these complex challenges, converters must turn to new solutions to optimize their productivity and maximize the efficiency of their processes. Today’s advanced converting machines can be digitally connected, generating actionable data that directly improves processes, such as reducing production waste or increasing machine uptime. 

Obtaining actionable machine data presents technical challenges: from sensor and hardware limitations to the complexity of analyzing the collected information. Despite these difficulties, two types of data prove essential:  Live production monitoring that enables production managers to address unexpected downtime and optimize daily operations to meet weekly and monthly targets and detailed analytics on completed jobs, including material usage, waste production, and average production speeds, enabling better optimization of reprints and resource planning. 

For today's label converters, profitability hinges on optimizing production uptime, reducing material waste, and identifying areas for improvement. BOBST Connect turns machine data into business insights, helping converters to harness the power of data-led decision-making. As a cloud-based digital platform, it enhances and improves packaging production. It brings data and digital services together in one fully connected platform, with BOBST machine insights and expertise built in, enabling overview and orchestration of the production process. CONNECT offers several key features designed to drive value for converters, including equipment monitoring and performance management, as well as BOBST ACCUCHECK system reporting. Equipment monitoring provides live monitoring of machine metrics, including speed, produced meters, waste, and overall utilization, all accessible remotely to enable simultaneous monitoring of multiple production sites. Performance management provides detailed analytics that reveal potential areas for improvement, ranging from basic production metrics to comprehensive analyses of downtime reasons, including duration and frequency of stops. 

BOBST machines are natively integrated with BOBST Connect, eliminating the need for manual data entry from operators. Finally, for DIGITAL MASTER series presses, BOBST ACCUCHECK system’s integration provides inspection reports, enabling converters to have a comprehensive view of production quality.

BOBST continues to develop the platform based on converter needs, working to enable seamless integration and communication between BOBST machines and other equipment on the production floor. For label converters like Kemna Druck Kamen, BOBST Connect represents a significant advancement toward the connected, data-driven future of packaging production. By transforming machine data into actionable insights without burdening operators, BOBST enables converters to maintain their competitive edge through enhanced efficiency, reduced waste, and optimized production.