No Compromise on Service at Kocher+Beck

At Kocher + Beck's UK operation, Lisa Twigg, Senior Customer Liaison for Labels & Business forms reflects on the challenges facing today's Flexible Die manufacturer.

“Each order is unique and requires an in-depth understanding of our customers’ requirements, presses and material specifications, we make every effort to meet our customers delivery schedule, even the same day ones, it all comes down to the complexity of the tool and capacity at that moment in time”.

Flexible Die Manufactures

“We handle a massive range of dies every day from the simplest rectangular label to phenomenally intricate designs that might take hours to machine, so careful scheduling is essential to our production line”

Kocher+Beck manufactures flexible dies not just for the envelope and label industry, but also for packaging and commercial printers at their 1,500 sqm custom built factory on a 24 hour shift pattern.

Overall there are 42 employees at Coalville, amongst them a team of seven personnel who manage the high level of orders flowing through the factory. The team divides its energies between two sections: One for envelopes and the IOC system, dedicated to offset press inline die-cutting which is led by Janet Frearson and the label and business form side headed by Lisa.

“No two days are the same. There’s never a pattern. Suddenly an influx of label orders will appear and we have to ensure all the correct parameters are met. One size just does not fit all. It’s not just a question of what type of press is the die destined for, but what material is it going to cut. This determines die height and the angle of the blade. It’s very specific.”

Lisa has worked at Kocher+Beck for nearly 12 years. The Company moved to their current premises in 2001 and the business has grown to the point that customers expect dies to be delivered often in hours rather than days. “Standard delivery is mainly 48 hours but we’ve had to respond to ever faster demands from the industry. If a supermarket wants labels tomorrow, they actually expect them today.”

As the world’s leading supplier of flexible dies Kocher+Beck tailor their sales approach to each individual customer. “It’s something I drum into my team that understanding the customers’ requirements means we can support them better.”

“Many of our customers are long established companies, but we also have new start-ups that need our expertise and guidance. With the support of our external technical sales team we have built great relationships all around the world.”

Kocher+Beck have four production sites, Germany, USA, Russia and the UK. Cylinders and specialist machinery is generally produced in Germany or the USA leaving Coalville to specialise on flexible die manufacturing. With agents in over 70 countries, Kocher+Beck can provide support for all the major narrow-web presses, such as Nilpeter, Gallus, Mark Andy etc, as well as offset presses.

“Once our relationship with a customer is established we use our in house computer system, which was uniquely designed for us, to track orders and ensure every element is checked and double-checked. Customers are always welcome to visit our plant to see dies being made and to see how we test the dies before despatch. We also provide training wherever necessary” said Lisa.

We are proud of how we’ve developed our customer relations. We aim to make it easy for customers to order from us and along the way we have fun”.

Lisa Twigg - Senior Customer Liaison - Kocher+Beck UK Ltd