Screen printing house, Data International specializes in product identification
and custom electronic assemblies. Rather than standard products, Data
International builds specifically to the customer's specifications, printing on
polycarbonate, polyester, aluminum and vinyl for name plates, overlays, labels
and decal-type products. Their business is all custom to meet the specs of
their customers.
Bobby Welter, Production Manager with Data International stated that, "Our
operation is very unique, not just for the quality of the work we produce, but
it's our people who really make the operation unique. In sales, manufacturing,
really everyone who is in the company. It's because our mission lies in being
extremely customer focused and driven in our attention to customer service. We
are very strong in ideas and trying to find better ways to produce products for
our customers. We believe that our business will grow if we stop asking, 'how
can I benefit', and instead start considering what we can do to truly benefit
our customers."
What
really stimulated Data International in their effort to meet customer's demands
for increased production and reduced costs was their purchase of two 20"x28"
CONTECH UltraPress die-cutting presses, one in '95 and the other in '96.
Several Data International fabrication staff had attended a die-cutting seminar
given by Dave Salsgiver, CONTECH President. That was in 1995 and the attending
staff were quite impressed with the advantages of the CONTECH die-cutting
process.
The CONTECH UltraPress offered infinite possibilities in die cutting from decals
to intricate membrane switches, thermal die cutting, embossing, hot and cold
steel rule die cutting and steel rule kiss cutting. Data International had been
using some old clamshell and econocut-type presses. They bought the CONTECH
die-cutters specifically to improve on the steel rule die cutting they had been
doing for years with their old presses. However, the old presses had two main
problems: (1) They didn't cut evenly over the entire surface of the die,
creating uneven cuts across the sheet and excessive wear at the bottom area of
the dies. (2) They couldn't hold the close tolerances often required by
customers.
Welter stated further, "The beautiful thing about the UltraPress is that we can
adjust each corner independently. The adjustable stop blocks on each corner
make it quick and easy to set up the press so that cutting pressure is spread
evenly over the entire surface of the material to be cut. This saves hours of
time in set-up, and it eliminates the damage to dies so that they can last much
longer. And we've saved our customers a lot of expense on dies, because they
just don't have to be replaced as often, and customers really appreciate that."
With CONTECH technology, the X,Y, Theta registration allows the table to move
rather than the die, so there is virtually no trial and error during the set-up
phase. This obviously allows the press to hold a very tight tolerance in
registration and depth, and to utilize a longer cutting area in the X and Y
axis on each cycle to reduce rejects and wasted materials. Now they can cut
more parts at once, sometimes twice as many without damaging the die.
When asked about the efficiency of the UltraPress, Welter said, "The CONTECH
press operates at a slightly slower speed than our clamshells, but the very
quick make-ready more than makes up for it. Once I saw it operate at the
seminar, I knew it was going to be better than our old clamshells, and I was
firmly convinced that this was the way to go. Now, I'm even more convinced.
Rather than thinking of the CONTECH presses as an expense, they were truly an
investment in our business growth."
In regard to the UltraPress performance and CONTECH service, Welter stated, "The
equipment did exactly what CONTECH said it would. The machines are very low
maintenance. The one time we did call CONTECH, they bent over backwards to get
the press back up and running smoothly. And I must say, they have always done
what they said they would do. They are experts and innovators in their field,
beyond competent and most certainly customer friendly. Anything, anytime,
CONTECH is there to help and that means a lot. It's hard to ignore the value on
something like that. Would we buy from CONTECH again? Absolutely, definitely!
We are not just comfortable doing business with CONTECH, we're actually happy
to do business with them because they hold the product quality and customer
service to such high standards. The CONTECH presses have really exceeded all of
our expectations."