At Lokeren-based 3Motion, growth is so fast that the printing company has already invested in a second Zünd cutting and milling machine in less than a year. The new Zünd G3 3XL-3200 has an effective cutting size of 3200mm by 3200mm, making it ideally suited to handling complex jobs with a multitude of cutting, milling and creasing operations.


3Motion is increasingly establishing itself as a creative print partner for companies. A specialisation that sets the company apart from other providers and thus also provides additional added value to its customers. To best support this creative ambition, 3Motion has created a new cell within the company called ""3Motion Lab"". This cell is like a think tank for devising and developing concepts where a combination of the right form, print and material choices provide clear commercial added value for the customer.


Striking application

One material that lends itself perfectly to such projects is honeycomb cardboard. Managing director Wouter Mouton explains: ""Thanks to its light yet sturdy structure, this material offers the possibility of many unique and striking applications. For example, we recently created a ping-pong table with accompanying palettes in honeycomb cardboard for use at a trade fair. It was an incredible crowd-pleaser which, by the way, was also perfectly playable. The lightweight structure makes it easily transportable, and with smart connections we ensure that the whole thing is easy to assemble and disassemble, so it can also be used more than once.""


More cutting movements in creative work

However, such constructions require a lot more cutting movements, which in turn made the existing machine less available for other jobs. On this, co-manager Gerd Mouton says the following: ""Pancartes, banners and other such materials are easy and quick to cut because the number of cutting movements is limited. In other constructions, such as the ping-pong table, you see that the cutting simply takes much longer. We did have another machine, but since we could only mill with it, it too was increasingly idle.""


Systems are compatible

Replacing the milling machine with a new Zünd machine, which could both mill and cut, therefore, seemed the best solution. Wouter Mouton: ""By doing that, we were able to optimise our workflow even better, because previously there was no compatibility between the two systems. You had to decide in advance which machine would process a particular job, but, in practice, this did not always prove easy and obvious. Now the files are automatically processed in our workflow and we can decide at any time which system a job will be finished on. Such flexibility not only saves a huge amount of time, but also creates a lot less stress in the workplace.""

The previously installed machine, with automatic infeed and outfeed, is now mainly used for large runs, while the new G3 3XL-3200 is mainly used for cutting and milling complex orders with multiple cutting movements. A vast improvement, concludes co-founder Femke Helon. ""With the new investment, we can now play even closer to the ball. In particular, this flexibility combined with our creative approach is greatly appreciated by the companies we work for. See, and that's what we do it for, lol."