To support its strong growth, Lokeren-based 3Motion recently invested in a fully automatic Zünd G3 XL-3200 cutting and milling machine. Thanks to its robotised entry and exit, it can be used 24 hours a day. As a result, the company achieves a much higher return without staff costs swinging wildly.


3Motion profiles itself primarily as a large-format printing company and operates in several markets. For example, they work very much for resellers, printers, advertising agencies, stand builders, etc. Just recently, the young company invested in a three-quarter automatic large format flatbed UV inkjet printer Inca Onset S20i. With the purchase of a fully automatic Zünd G3 XL- 3200 cutting and milling machine, the picture is now complete and nothing stands in the way of the growth of this dynamic company.


Process optimisation

In the large format printing industry, you often still see a lot of manual operations. Too much according to Wouter Mouton and often avoidable. ""As a business manager, I am constantly working on process optimisation. By better coordinating the various production processes, we not only achieve higher efficiency but also reduce errors. A key element in optimisation is automation. The time freed up by this can then be used for other purposes, so that at the end of the day, more production comes off the shop floor and that with the same workforce.""


Second machine was just a must

3Motion already had a cutting and milling table, but switching between milling and cutting took a lot of time. Acts that, incidentally, all had to be performed manually. On this, co-manager Gerd Mouton says the following: ""Because of that lack of automation on that machine, we were often in a bottleneck here. On top of that, we realised that in case of an outage, production would be completely flat. So a second machine, the faster the better, was just a must. Despite the extra investment cost, it was obvious that the new cutting table would be a fully automatic machine.""


Automatic reading of QR code

That 3Motion finally chose the Zünd G3 XL-3200 cutting and milling machine has several reasons, according to Wouter. ""Zünd was the only supplier capable of automatically reading a co-printed QR code, which contains all job information. This allows the machine to truly operate completely unmanned. In practice, we simply place a stack of different prints on the insert table, and the Zünd does the rest. Whether cutting, creasing or milling is required makes no difference at all. The machine automatically changes tools, which, by the way, are calibrated each time before each job, so the result is guaranteed to be good. In addition, this machine is the fastest on the market for processing re-board (honeycomb cardboard) panels. The Zünd can make V-cuts at different angles, so the possibilities are virtually unlimited.""


Time saved through automatic entry and explanation

A second reason for choosing 3Motion, was speed. Gerd explains: ""The same milling job goes four times faster on the Zünd than on our other table. And I am talking purely about the time it takes to cut/mill. Add to this the time saved by the automatic entry and explanation, and then it gets crazy. Now we only use the old router table for milling. That it takes a little longer and the plates are put on and off by hand does not matter, because, in the meantime, the Zünd continues to work as usual. During the day, we mainly do flexible jobs on the Zünd, and in the evening we fill the insert with routine jobs. It's just kicking when you come into the workshop in the morning and all the carvings are ready."" ""We used to have our hands full with the finishing,"" concludes fellow shopkeeper Femke Helon. ""Often, work would also just continue over weekends to finish everything on time. With the arrival of the Zünd, this is no longer necessary. This Swiss machine is simply the cream of the crop, the perfect combination between speed, reliability and precision. Highly recommended.""

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