BOBST gives a helping hand to a chocolate shoe

BOBST and ACL Packaging Solutions have helped chocolatier and cake maker Maureen Veney source packaging for a chocolate shoe aimed at the special occasions market in the North West of the UK.

BOBST and ACL Packaging Solutions have helped chocolatier and cake maker Maureen Veney source packaging for a chocolate shoe aimed at the special occasions market in the North West of the UK. ACL designed and then manufactured a see through pack for the chocolate "Cinderella's Shoe" and then asked BOBST to use the packs as a multi-skilling training exercise for operatives new to the company's BOBST AMBITION folder-gluer.

Mike Rice, Regional Services Manager for BOBST in the UK, said, "At first it was just a question of putting Maureen in touch with a packaging manufacturer who we thought would be able to help her, something we do often enough. But it ended up with us getting involved in the whole of the process using the box as a training aid for ACL's multi-skilling programme."

Trading as Serendipity Celebration Cake, Maureen creates individual designs and uses her passion for chocolate to provide unique talking, and eating, points for peoples' special occasions. Maureen said, "The important thing with items like the Cinderella's Shoe is to be able to see the product, so the clear plastic boxes ACL produced were ideal."

Provided with the specifications of the shoe, ACL Packaging Solutions developed a draft design which BOBST process specialists reviewed for any hidden problems that could potentially slow down the manufacturers' die-cutting or folding & gluing lines. As ACL Packaging Solutions is in the midst of a multi-skilling programme, the company decided to use the pack as a training exercise to provide additional staff qualified to operate its BOBST AMBITION folder-gluer.
 

Stuart Simpson, Managing Director of ACL Packaging Solutions, said, "We installed the BOBST AMBITION just under two years ago and the idea behind the extra training was to give us the skills in-house to run additional shifts in periods of high demand and also to have more cover for holidays etc,. We are strong believers in giving people within the business extra skills that open up new possibilities for them and we also wanted to strengthen the depth of our expertise, so we decided to call on BOBST to run a folder-gluer operators course for a group of four people."

The group consisted of Kevin Hervey, who joined ACL in 2002 as a die-cutting apprentice and who now supervises the company's three BOBST die-cutters, Sue Lansdown from the company's box-making and packing operations, and Konrad Tausz and Kris Zyrek who work as assistants on the BOBST AMBITION and Domino gluers.

Following the course, Kevin said, "Along with being able to cover on the AMBITION, one of the big benefits to me has been a greater understanding of how the depth of the crease we get on the die-cutter affects the way the carton folds on the AMBITION. On plastics in particular, a crease that's too firm can be as much of a problem as one that's too light."

Konrad said, "Having a BOBST instructor here has been very useful because he has been able to explain the setting process step by step. So if there is a straightforward adjustment needed on the machine we will be able to do it, rather than always having to call over the supervisor."

Maureen delivered a pair of chocolate shoes to ACL during the training. It's not known whether the trainees tried them on for size or simply ate them. 

Source: BOBST