Spanish converter grows capacity with new Bobst vacuum metalliser

Covinil, a converter based near Madrid in Spain, is the first company to invest in the new Bobst Integrated Solution for the conversion of AlOx high barrier transparent films.

The company already has a mature range of metallised film products, and as it was running out of capacity, Covinil chose Bobst due to its reputation for leading innovations in the field of vacuum metallisation and its process knowledge.

Covinil’s new K5000 2450mm vacuum metalliser has all Bobst process innovations available, including DarkNight for high barrier metallised films, AluBond for high metal adhesion and AlOx for high barrier transparent films. The package includes the Hawkeye pinhole detection system as it is an integral part of both the DarkNight and AlOx processes.

In addition to the processes included on this machine, Covinil were also impressed with the Bobst Integrated AlOx Conversion know-how and the way the entire process could be demonstrated on their own PET film, resulting in high barrier performance and excellent film transparency. In conjunction with the new K5000 2450mm metalliser from Bobst Manchester, Covinil also purchased a AlOx optimised coating platform from Bobst Italia. As part of this package, Covinil will have access to two innovative topcoat formulations which are applied on a new Bobst Italia coating line to provide protection and enhanced barrier functionality to the AlOx coated PET films. Once the offline topcoat has been applied, films can then be converted further without any significant barrier deterioration using standard equipment (ie printing, lamination).

Covinil said: “We are experienced in the area of producing metallised films but when we needed to increase capacity, we also wanted to invest in the latest process innovations in order for us to enter new markets, in particular in the area of AlOx coated PET films. Bobst are well known in the industry for their AlOx process but as a converter, we were also interested in its behaviour during conversion processes. However, it was reassuring to see that the barrier properties of our AlOx coated PET films were maintained after the application of a protective topcoat layer, which convinced us to make a further investment in a new specially adapted Bobst Italia coating line. We are confident that the investment in these two new Bobst machines, together with Bobst’s know-how, will give us a unique competitive advantage in AlOx as the innovators in the industry.”