Craftsmen's Lecture | How to Maximize the Effectiveness of Fully Clean Die-Cutting? See His Application Insights

Ma Guangsheng has spent 26 years in the cigarette printing industry, starting as an operator in offset, gravure, screen, and die-cutting and hot-stamping processes, progressing to R&D, production scheduling, and quality management. Proactive and innovative, he led the development of a product cost accounting method centered on the printing process, helping the company secure over 70 million yuan in orders. He also spearheaded the establishment of multiple QC quality management and lean improvement teams within printing workshops, implementing 12 QC activities and proposing over a hundred rationalization suggestions. Through continuous innovation, he facilitated dozens of technical reform projects, earning one invention patent and four utility model patents. Skilled in summarization and knowledge sharing, he published over 60 articles in his spare time, compiled training materials, and conducted internal technical training sessions, actively mentoring colleagues and fostering skill transfer.
As is well known, the cigarette packaging printing industry is renowned for its intense competition, high quality standards, and significant delivery pressure, making it one of the most challenging sectors in the printing industry. In recent years, cigarette packaging printing enterprises have faced various difficulties, including rising costs of raw and auxiliary materials, increasing labor expenses and recruitment challenges, as well as growing environmental protection costs and safety investments. Amid these numerous adverse factors, to reduce production costs, ensure reasonable profit margins, and maintain healthy and orderly development, cigarette packaging printing companies have actively pursued technological upgrades, increased equipment investment, and phased out outdated, low-efficiency, high-energy-consuming machinery in favor of more efficient, energy-saving alternatives. Under these circumstances, theFully Automatic Scrap Molding Machine (fully automated waste die-cutting machine) has naturally become the "darling" of major cigarette packaging printing enterprises.
Currently, our company has two fully automatic waste-free die-cutting machines: one purchased in 2010, which is the first-generation product MK1060ER of Changrong Company's fully automatic waste-free die-cutting machine series; and another purchased in 2015, which is the second-generation product MK1060ERSL of Changrong Company's fully automatic waste-free die-cutting machine series.
The full Qing waste die-cutting machine has issues
1. The box and sheet collection is not neatly stacked
The phenomenon of irregular stacking in box and die-cutting collection primarily occurs on the first fully automated waste-free die-cutting machine, the MK1060ER. During the operation of this first-generation machine from Changrong Company, the lack of operational experience and the novelty of the first unit led to uneven box stacking becoming a key issue for this equipment.
At that time, to ensure the smooth commissioning of the equipment, it was equipped with Mabach die-cutting plates, waste-clearing plates, and a cartoning system. However, after a period of debugging, the issue of misaligned cartons was not fundamentally resolved.
To resolve the issue as quickly as possible, the company's technical personnel and engineers from the equipment manufacturer collaborated on troubleshooting. Yuehexing was instructed to redesign the cutting template and the entire waste-clearing system, but repeated machine trials still failed to effectively address the problem.
Later, through repeated observations of the box collecting process, it was found that the misalignment of boxes primarily occurred when the auxiliary paper collecting device first extended its forks. As the stack of box blanks continued to grow taller, the misalignment issue gradually diminished or became less frequent. Therefore, it was concluded that the excessive distance between the auxiliary paper collecting platform (forks) and the box separator was the main cause of the misalignment problem.

But if we want to adjust the distance between the secondary paper delivery platform (fork) and the box separator to fundamentally solve the problem, it is necessary to modify the mechanical structure of the equipment, which may result in a series of uncertain factors. A slight degree of uncertainty is unlikely to affect the accuracy of the equipment. Therefore, we are trying to solve the problem from the perspective of how to improve the stability of the box falling process.
Through repeated experiments, we installed a timed blowing system on top of the upper box splitter. As the upper box splitter moves downwards to press down on the box pieces, the timed blowing system starts blowing downwards, changing the process of the box pieces falling along the lower box splitter from free fall to downward pressure blowing. This not only increases the stability of the box pieces falling, but also shortens the falling time, greatly improving the phenomenon of uneven box collection.
The new equipment MK1060ERSL purchased in 2015 has been mechanically adjusted by Evergreen Company, shortening the distance between the box splitter and the secondary paper receiving platform, fundamentally solving the problem of uneven stacking of box pieces.
2. The non-stop sampling function cannot achieve real-time sampling of die-cutting samples, which may lead to quality problems due to missed inspections

The first generation full cleaning die-cutting machine had no shutdown sampling function, and in order to conduct real-time sampling, it must be shut down. The first generation full waste cleaning die-cutting machine is equipped with a sampling button in the middle of the machine body (waste cleaning station). When sampling, after pressing the sampling button, the sample completes the indentation die-cutting action from the die-cutting station and slows down to the waste cleaning position. At this time, the paper gripper releases the sample and the machine stops running. The operator opens the safety protection door and takes out the sample from the waste cleaning plate to complete the sampling work. This shutdown sampling method is achieved at the expense of production efficiency. In order to meet the schedule, operators often artificially reduce the sampling frequency, resulting in untimely sampling and potential quality risks.
The second generation full cleaning waste die-cutting machine retains the original shutdown sampling function and adds an non-stop sampling function, which is achieved through the sampling button at the tail of the machine. The second generation full cleaning waste die-cutting machine is equipped with a sample receiving tray at the waste edge at the tail end, and a sampling button on the operating surface of the rack at the tail end; To complete non-stop sampling, the operator only needs to press the sampling button at the tail of the machine. The sample will complete the indentation and die-cutting action from the die-cutting station without stopping or slowing down, and then pass through the waste cleaning station at full speed. After completing the removal of waste edges in the middle and trailing parts of the sample at the waste cleaning station, it will reach the finished product cleaning station at full speed. At this time, the upper box splitter of the finished product cleaning station stops moving downward and will no longer perform box splitting. The waste edges and finished products will be transported together by the waste edge conveyor belt to the sample receiving tray, completing the non-stop sampling work. The non-stop sampling function facilitates timely inspection of finished products by operators, solving the problem of balancing production efficiency and quality control.
3. Other issues
① The phenomenon of box fragments scattering at the die-cutting station is generally caused by small or improperly arranged connection points, or excessive local die-cutting pressure. Adjustments can be made according to different reasons; This problem also frequently occurs on ordinary die-cutting machines.
② The phenomenon of the waste cleaning needle hitting the sample at the waste cleaning station is generally caused by improper installation position of the waste cleaning needle. Adjust the waste cleaning needle according to the waste edge position of the box; This problem is also frequently encountered on semi clean waste die-cutting machines.
2. It is particularly suitable for producing products that are prone to color explosion of die-cutting blades due to manual waste cleaning
For cigarette packs with special materials such as laser paper and transfer paper as the substrate, especially for products with thick ink layers at the die-cutting edge or special processes such as screen printing, if the die-cutting process is completed using a regular die-cutting machine, there is often a phenomenon of color explosion at the die-cutting edge due to scraping during manual waste removal. If a full waste cleaning die-cutting machine is used to achieve the die-cutting process at this time, the cleaning force for waste and finished products will be horizontal and uniform, which greatly avoids the problem of color explosion on the die-cutting blade.
3. It is particularly suitable for producing products such as fine cigarette packs, where the folded wings are prone to be difficult to cut and the boxes are difficult to break by hand
In recent years, fine cigarettes have become the new favorite of the cigarette market and sales have been increasing year after year. Various tobacco companies have followed the trend and continuously launched fine cigarettes. However, the inability to cut through the folded wings of cigarette packs (especially small boxes) is the most important factor affecting the applicability of the machine, especially for thin cigarette packs. To ensure the machine suitability of the cigarette pack small box, various cigarette pack printing companies usually use manual box breaking to break all four folding wings of the cigarette pack small box once, but there is still a phenomenon of not being able to open, especially for thin cigarette packs. Due to the small folding wings, fingers cannot grasp them. Once there is a problem of not being able to cut through by hand, it is difficult to open it, and it is easy to cause packaging traffic jams and other machine suitability problems due to the inability to cut through the folding wings.
To fundamentally solve the problem of incomplete cutting at the folding wing of the small box of fine cigarette packs, we have cooperated with a die-cutting plate manufacturer. After long-term exploration and testing, we have installed an automatic box breaker on the waste cleaning system of the full cleaning die-cutting machine. The automatic box breaker is installed on the fixed plate of the upper waste needle at the corresponding position of the folding wing of the small box of the cigarette pack. At the same time, the corresponding position of the folding wing of the small box of the cigarette pack on the medium cleaning waste plate is removed (hollowed out). While the upper waste needle is pressed down, the presser foot of the automatic box breaker is also pressed down. When the folding wing cannot be cut through, the presser foot of the automatic box breaker will press open the area that cannot be cut through, improving the quality of the product. Improved the adaptability of cigarette packs and eliminated the need for manual box breaking, reducing labor intensity and saving labor costs.

③ There is a problem of scratching the side of the box at the finished product workstation, which has been professionally discussed by many professionals and will not be repeated here.
Products suitable for production using full waste die-cutting machines
The reason why the full cleaning waste die-cutting machine is favored by cigarette packaging printing enterprises is because it has advantages in die-cutting technology that ordinary die-cutting machines cannot match.
1. Especially suitable for producing products for high-speed cigarette packaging machines
At present, the speed of high-speed cigarette packaging machines in tobacco factories is generally between 800 and 1000 packs per minute. Such high packaging speeds have particularly high quality requirements for the box pieces (cigarette pack small boxes), among which the two most important technical indicators that affect the applicability of cigarette pack small boxes on the machine are the flatness of the box pieces and the stiffness of the creases. It is required that the box pieces are very flat without obvious deformation, and the stiffness value of the creases is about 10g lower than that of ordinary products (the stiffness of the box pieces for high-speed cigarette packaging machines is 50-65g, while that for ordinary cigarette packaging machines is<70g), and the fluctuation range is as small as possible.
The high precision requirements of high-speed cigarette packaging machines for small cigarette packs are difficult for ordinary die-cutting machines to achieve. If produced using a regular die-cutting machine, due to the low precision of the die-cutting version used, it is difficult to ensure consistency in the horizontal position of the die-cutting pressure of the equipment itself, and the long manual waste cleaning cycle may cause deformation of the box pieces and other factors. The cigarette pack small boxes produced by it often have packaging congestion problems, making it difficult to meet the standard requirements. The full waste cleaning die-cutting machine uses sandwich steel templates for die-cutting, with uniform pressure. The die-cutting and waste cleaning are completed in one go, producing finished products in one go, reducing the exposure time of the finished products in the external environment. The deformation of the box pieces is small, the flatness is high, and the crease stiffness is uniform, ensuring the applicability of the cigarette pack small box on the high-speed cigarette packaging machine.

With the continuous integration of tobacco brands and the increasing production of single brands, the opportunity for full cleaning and die-cutting is becoming increasingly popular among cigarette packaging printing enterprises; In order to continuously improve production efficiency, reduce labor costs, and reduce product waste edges to save paper, cigarette packaging printing companies and equipment manufacturers are exploring circular die-cutting equipment. With the maturity of circular die-cutting technology and the continuous localization of circular die-cutting equipment, the full cleaning waste die-cutting machine (single sheet paper type) will gradually be replaced by circular die-cutting machine (roll paper type) (of course, to achieve circular die-cutting, the corresponding printing machine needs to be modified, first to achieve roll to roll printing).
The perfect application of the full cleaning waste die-cutting machine has made us deeply aware of the principle that "in order to do a good job, we must first sharpen our tools". In order to improve production efficiency and product quality, manufacture exquisite products, and have advanced supporting equipment and technical strength, and flexibly apply them according to actual situations, it is an indispensable prerequisite.