Routing and Cutting for Everything from Decals to 3D

MultiCam’s Digital Express cutting system offers a 60” X 120” cutting bed, and knife-cutting capabilities for x/y cutting of rigid substrates. (Image courtesy of MultiCam)

Adding an automated cutting/routing system to your workflow requires a detailed analysis of your production, from the materials being used to the types of applications you would like to do in the future. The word that comes up most often when discussing whether or not a sign or print shop should add an automated digital cutter to the mix is “bottleneck.” It’s not a pretty word, particularly when you’re talking about the lifeblood of your business, but it’s a great place to start if you’re considering an automated cutter and/or router.

A shop’s biggest bottleneck (there’s that word again) is usually in the finishing department. It’s that final touch—the cutting, trimming, packaging and whatnot—that often takes the most time and slows production.

This is especially true in shops that don’t have an automated cutting system. Cutting by hand obviously takes more time then slapping the print on the cutter and letting it go, hands-free. Plus, hand cutting relegates the print shop to rectangles and squares; contour and shape cutting is basically out of bounds.

A good CNC router can enable numerous applications, such as store fixtures and displays like this golf display, which was created using a Thermwood router. (Image courtesy of Thermwood Corporation)

Still, this article is not an ad for the various automating cutting and routing systems available on the market; it’s simply a general guide toward making that decision... or not making that decision. For sign shops that don’t do a lot of printed volume as part of their overall sign product mix, their current setup may be just fine. But, if you sense the dreaded “bottleneck” in production due to finishing, it may be time to consider your options.

NOW & LATER

But before considering the options, there are key elements about your business and its workflow, now and in the future, that need to be defined. As with any capital equipment purchase, it’s important to lay out a three- to five-year plan. It’s not enough to look at your current needs, because you want to have as much flexibility going forward to minimize future upgrades.

“What is the material size the machine can cut and does that fit into your three-year plan? If, for instance, you’re thinking of adding a three-meter roll machine down the road, then look at a cutter that can process a three-meter roll as opposed to a machine that can cut 50, 70 or 80 inches. That’s the one thing you can’t change; you can’t make the cutter wider, longer or bigger,” says Pete Alsten, North American product manager for Zünd. “The other thing to keep in mind is how upgradable it is. Can I purchase something that can cut banners today, and then add a CNC router or other various cutting tools as needed later on?”

Alsten adds that most sign and print shops start looking at a digital cutter because they’ve added a flatbed UV-curable printer and need a better way to cut out rigid board materials. However, they soon find that using it for roll material makes a huge difference in production.

Roland’s VersaCAMM VS Series of printer-cutters is available with metallic silver inks. (Image courtesy of Roland)

“Based on feedback from our customers, it costs roughly $1.50 per banner to manually trim one banner. With digital cutting, that labor cost goes down to only 8 cents,” says Alsten. “So, if you’re looking at a production run of 50 banners, the cost savings would be $71; for a run of 300 it is $426. That’s pretty dramatic.”

Beyond budget, the two primary areas to look at are materials and markets. Both should match the cutter in capability, size and material handling. Some shops have begun to delve into more three-dimensional work as part of their graphics programs, such as cabinetry and store fixtures. If that’s where you’re headed in your plan, you’ll need a heavier-duty cutter with routing capabilities. Perhaps you may even have a digital cutter for thinner stock and a router for more complex three-dimensional pieces.

“Greater creativity equals higher margins. A print service provider can sell a contoured sign for more than they can a rectangle. That means working with the designer to come up with more creative shapes and contours in the design,” says Bill Hartman, vice president of marketing for sign and display solutions for EskoArtwork. “With greater capabilities, you can visit an existing customer where, until now, you’ve received only a small percentage of their printing and finishing business and pitch them for more work.

Roland’s VersaUV LEC-300 UV-LED printer/cutter can be used to create decals and prototype labels of all kinds. The printer also offers clear for creating special effects such as raised lettering. (Image courtesy of Roland)

There will be more creative things they’ve never done that you can do for them now. Talk to the suppliers that are selling cutting systems and take advantage of their knowledge. They can help you identify what you can do with a cutting system that you’re not doing today.”

CHOICES AND MORE CHOICES

And that’s the beautiful thing about the industry today; there are more choices and capabilities than ever before to help you with the simplest task, like cutting out roll goods, to the most complex projects.

“You see a lot of people jumping into other areas to supplement their business, so they get into cabinetry, store fixtures and bigger signs,” says Jason Susnjara of Thermwood Corporation, which manufacturers routers.

Of course, with more complexity comes more cost, and sometimes additional software. In the case of routers, such as those manufactured by Thermwood Corporation and MultiCam, if you start getting into intricate three-dimensional routed pieces, you’ll likely need a software program specific to the task, like EnRoute, Mastercam or ArtCAM.

But for most print shops that are simply cutting out shapes in Sintra, Foamcore and other board material, additional software is not necessary, but it’s one of the questions you’ll ask the manufacturers about as you explain your needs.

Summa’s new F Series of flatbed cutter employs a special onboard camera that compensates for any skew or distortion. (Image courtesy of Summa)

MultiCam, a router manufacturer based in Dallas, has a hybrid machine called the Digital Express that has both cutting and routing capabilities. While it’s not going to create cabinets, it allows users to choose a knife or router assembly based on the material.

“Sometimes you need to cut the material with a router with automated tool-changing capability. Some of the other substrates, like Foamcore, will route but cut much better with knives, so we have tangential knife system inside a cartridge system so that you can have one or two knife assemblies – such as oscillating, drag, tangential and so forth – ready for production,” says John Harris, director of sales and marketing for MultiCam.

The sky really is the limit, but again, as the sky gets higher, so does the price. So, while budget is a concern, you have to look at all factors that affect your costs and, ultimately, your profits.

Options range from an all-in-one printer-cutter, such as those manufactured by Roland and Mimaki, to routers and everything in between. A printer-cutter is a great option for a shop that can’t fit another piece of equipment in their space and they usually cost less than buying both a printer and a cutter.

With Mutoh’s roll-to-roll Kona cutter you can mix and match the Mutoh cutter with just about any inkjet printer and RIP, however, Mutoh also provides a matched system. (Image courtesy of Mutoh America)

“While sign shops are well positioned for production runs up to a few hundred, it is important to note that commercial printing technologies such as flexographic printers are much better suited for extremely large runs of decals, into the tens of thousands,” says Dana Curtis, product manager for Roland DGA Corp. “If a business is already specializing in decals with this type of equipment, an all-in-one printer-cutter allows that business to add micro runs of decals or personalized one-offs/prototypes/mock-ups of a single item to the product line, all at a very low cost basis. The same file used in these printing systems can be used in a printer-cutter as well with the same design software and, in some cases, the same output RIP.”

Curtis adds that Impact Label of Kalamazoo, Mich., produces custom pressure-sensitive, control panel and overlay labels, as well as decals and product identification products, primarily for original equipment manufacturers in a variety of industries including medical products, appliances, electronic manufacturing, marine engines and musical instrument manufacturing.

The Kongsberg XP Auto from EskoArtwork—an extended version of the XP cutting table—incorporates automatic loading and unloading to give the highest digital converting capacity available on the market. (Image courtesy of EskoArtwork)

Impact Label uses the Roland VersaUV LEC-300 UV-LED wide-format inkjet printer-cutter to print and cut on a wide variety of substrates, including vinyl, polyester, polycarbonate and aluminum. Impact Label has used the VersaUV’s CYMK + White inks to produce crisp graphics and enhance contrast in their product identification labels. They often apply the ECO-UV Clear Coat to add gloss and increase scratch resistance. Impact Label appreciates the production value the LEC-300 offers, with cost savings they can pass on to their clients. “Not only does the machine set up quickly, but there is very little scrap or overage,” said owner Matt Berry. “We save on tooling, time and materials for every job we run on the LEC-300.”

From there, separate cutting systems move from cutting only roll goods, like Mutoh’s new Kona cutter, to rigid boards. With various knife and router options on flatbed cutters, you can thru-cut, kiss-cut, oscillate-cut, roto-cut for fabrics and crease and score to cut and fold materials into various shapes.

Programs such as ArtCam, from Delcam Sign Industries, can make your cutting and routing much simpler. If you start getting into intricate three-dimensional routed pieces, you’ll likely need a software program specific to the task.

With Mutoh’s roll-to-roll Kona cutter, for instance, though you can mix and match the Mutoh cutter with just about any printer and RIP, Mutoh also provides a matched system. “We can match a Mutoh printer, the most popular of which is the ValueJet line, with a 30-, 54- or 64-inch multi-purpose cutter. We supply the printer, the cutter and the software, which is FlexiPrint DX, to RIP and print the file with registration marks. Then you can laminate it for outdoor, vehicle, floor and decal applications and put it on the cutter, freeing up the printer to do the next job while you cut,” explains Mutoh’s general manager Brian Phipps.

The next feature to look at is the registration system. These also come in various configurations, from a simple optical system to an onboard camera that compensates for any distortion during the printing system, like Summa’s OPUS-CAM on its new F Series flatbed and S Class T Series roll-fed cutters.

“The OPUS-CAM is a camera-based sensor, so it finds the registration marks and processes the information about 10 times faster,” says Drew Groshong, vice president of sales for Summa. “Summa cutters place registration throughout the job. If there’s any skew or distortion, the Summa will compensate for the difference.”

Roll-fed vinyl cutters, such as Summa’s OPOS-CAM series, is still much better than hand-cutting decals. Every shop should have a vinyl cutter in-house. (Image courtesy of Summa)

The question boils down to how accurate you need to be and how long the typical graphics you produce are. If you’re contour-cutting something that’s 30-feet long on a regular basis, you might need a more sophisticated registration system.

Then, there are material handling options for larger volumes and software systems that complement your RIP and make file preparation a lot easier, such as those provided by EskoArtwork and Zünd.

“It’s important to set up your files properly, lay out your jobs and prep the files so that they can be cut efficiently with a cutter. If you start doing true-shape nesting, your material utilization is going to greatly increase to maybe 60-70 percent better usage in just material,” says Zünd’s Alsten. “Whenever you get more printed image per head pass, you’re not making the printer faster; you’re just increasing your output, making production more efficient. The tighter you can nest things, the more you can get out of your printer and your cutter. Here again is a way to realize tremendous savings in material and labor.”

Most shops start looking at flatbed digital cutters—such as this Zünd G3 L-2500—as a companion for a flatbed UV-curable printer for cutting rigid board materials, however, they soon find that it is also great for cutting roll materials. (Image courtesy of Zünd)

The tired cliché is to “think outside the box,” but before you can do that you need to know how big the box really is—the parameters of your business and workflow—and how much bigger the box will be in a few years. The fact is, regardless of how far you go outside your current box, you’re just building a bigger box.

“If you’re putting ink on substrates and cutting out rectangles, you’re in a commodity business. There’s nothing to distinguish that type of production. What we see leading print service providers doing is inserting themselves earlier in the value-creation chain at the design step and getting into 3-D work, like P.O.P. displays and unique pieces for special events and meetings,” says EskoArtwork’s Hartman.

Click HERE to view the Cutting Equipment Resources Chart.

Sign & Digital Graphics

Routing and Cutting for Everything from Decals to 3D

Leave a Comment

Please sign in to leave a comment