New IOC (Inline Offset Cutting) Department

IOC (Inline Offset Cutting) department now open offering a focused service to the sheet fed industry

Commercial Printers have for many years had to die cut off-line using relatively slow platen machines, or off site through a dedicated print finisher. Both methods can be slow and costly, in terms of both time and materials.

Inline Offset Cutting (IOC) System

Over three years ago Kocher + Beck in Germany developed an “Inline Offset Cutting” (IOC) system in conjunction with several customers, the value of this system to the printer has been proven over this timeand is now available in the UK directly from Kocher + Beck UK Ltd.

Our staff in the UK have undergone extensive training in order to provide a fast dedicated service, as well as the technical expertise to assist first time users to In-line cutting. Janet Frearson, Senior Customer Liaison for the IOC department said “This is a new market place for Kocher + Beck UK Ltd and we have gone through a learning process on the various technicalities and differences to the Web fed industry. With a dedicated IOC department now open we can offer a focused service to the sheet fed industry”.

The IOC system is simplicity itself: it can be utilised on most Offset Presses, in one of the print stations (the last is most commonly used), or in the coating unit. The blanket is replaced with a flexible die and underpack set combined together to raise the finished height back to the original blanket thickness.

Depending on the application, an adhesive backed steel or plastic protector sheet is provided and once stuck onto the impression roller, forms the anvil for die cutting against, whist protecting the expensive impression roller from possible die strike.

To demonstrate  the arrival of this new service from Kocher + Beck UK Ltd, the 2007 Christmas cards sent to all our existing customers were actually produced using this new system.

Our partner in producing the Christmas cards was Imprint Colour in North Yorkshire, using a Heidelberg SM52 5 colour.

The job was produced in two passes, the first pass was printed 4 colours and varnished on the outside of the card, the second pass printed the colour on the inside of the card and at the same time the profile was die cut and creased utilising the last print station.

To convert the print head ready for die cutting, the blanket is removed and replaced with the underpack set provided by Kocher + Beck. The flexible die is installed over the underpack set utilizing either pre-fitted bars, or as on the SM52 by using the removable blanket bars provided with the press.

The self adhesive backed protector sheet is installed onto the impression roller/jacket to give a surface for the cutting plate to cut against without causing damaging.

Finally adjust cylinder settings until the desired level of die cutting is achieved. Because the cutting plate is produced to your print layout there is minimal adjustment required to obtain a perfect registration. With the IOC system there is no time consuming fixing of dies using double sided tape, and none of the associated registration and uneven die cutting problems experienced when the tape is misaligned or not sealed correctly to the carrier.

The process of die cutting using Flexible dies has been extensively accepted by the web fed self adhesive label industry for over 20 years and is capable of converting a wide range of materials from card and paper to synthetics such as PP and PE.

Depending on the layout the tooling maybe slightly more expensive than an equivalent flat steel rule cutter, but becomes more cost effective by virtue of higher production speeds and the fact that the cutting process can be achieved in the same pass as printing. Specific cutting edge profilesare tailored for most materials currently available, this is achieved through our unique high precision CNC milling process.