Stacker Solutions
Bundle Line
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Stack Inverter
Located in Lawrence, Kansas, the Lawrence Paper Company is a full-service box plant providing end-to-end capabilities from packaging design and manufacturing to fulfillment. Approaching its 150th anniversary, the company’s longevity speaks volumes. Reaching such a milestone requires more than tradition; it demands consistency, efficiency, and a willingness to evolve.
“You must do a lot of things right, and you have to do them consistently and efficiently as possible”, says Shane Old, Operations and Plant Manager of Lawrence Paper Company. “Everyone is competing for market share, and it can be tough. We’re always looking for opportunities that create greater value for our customers, that may be by offering new capabilities, improved quality, faster turnaround times, or controlling overall costs. The goal is to create a greater value for our customers by being innovative and doing things better, faster and cost-effectively.”
That philosophy guided Lawrence Paper’s decision in 2023 to invest in a new die cutting line featuring a Geo. M. Martin SBX Scrubber® rotary die cut stacker behind a BOBST Masterline DRO 1632. The integrated line was selected to support the company’s highly varied production profile.
“We run a wide variety of products, shapes and blank sizes,” explains Old. “Order quantities can be as small as 500 pieces or exceed 100,000. Because we process a lot of short runs, efficiency is critical. We need quick changeovers, sustained high-speed operation, and seamless integration between the die cutter and downstream equipment. The combination of the BOBST DRO and the Geo. M. Martin stacker gave us exactly what we needed.”
As part of their continuous improvement efforts, Lawrence Paper recently enhanced the SBX Scrubber stacker with SmartShingle Technology. The system dramatically reduces—and in many cases eliminates—feed interrupts during load changes, increasing die cutter productivity by hundreds to more than a thousand sheets per hour.
“Depending on the job, the production loss during load changes can be substantial”, says Old. “It’s something the industry has traditionally accepted just as a cost of doing business. But once you quantify how much production you’re losing every time the feed stops, it’s an eye opener. SmartShingle allowed us to significantly increase the throughput of our die cutter. We don’t use it on every job, but about 60 percent of our orders run without feed interrupts, and we use SmartShingle in some capacity on roughly 80% of our work.”
SmartShingle delivers measurable gains whether producing stacks or bundles, with the most dramatic improvements seen on smaller loads with shorter build times. “Running bundles is where the savings really add up,” notes Old. “If you’re producing three or four bundles a minute, and feed is interrupted by six or seven sheets each time a bundle drops, the lost production accumulates quickly. This upgrade has allowed us to recover most of this lost output,”
Installation of the SmartShingle system was completed over the weekend. Final testing, tuning and training were completed on a Monday and the system was running in full production by Tuesday.
“The installation went smoothly and as planned,” says Old. “Operators picked it up quickly, and the benefits were immediate. Beyond eliminating feed interruptions, we’ve seen higher average machine speeds and increased available machine hours. We added SmartShingle as an upgrade to our existing stacker, but going forward, I would consider it a must-have feature on any new purchase.”
SmartShingle Technology is available as an option on all new Geo. M. Martin stackers and can be installed as a field upgrade on most existing models, including the LBX and SBX Scrubber series, and classic Select and Valu-Stak series.
