The top independent board game and puzzle manufacturer in Europe is Ludo Fact GmbH. Over 70,000 board games and puzzles are produced daily by the family-run company in Jettingen-Scheppach, southern Germany, for about 200 game publishers worldwide. With an average production run of about 6,000 units per batch, this amounts to about 16.5 million product units annually. The business not only creates game pieces, but it will also put together and package entire games before shipping the finished goods.
The Challenge
In the spring of 2020, Ludo Fact made the decision to make sizable investments to upgrade the machine park of its lamination production area in response to ongoing order growth and rising standards for product quality. The decision was motivated by the realization that the 16-year-old equipment was no longer suitable in terms of performance, quality, efficiency, and availability, as well as in terms of service and maintenance. Ludo Fact consulted KOLBUS, a business with solid experience in producing premium products using lined and laminated board, realizing that the production of game boards and push-out figure sheets has obvious similarities with the production of book covers and premium packaging. The ability of KOLBUS machines to turn up and glue lining edges was crucial.
The Solution
By connecting two of KOLBUS's reliable DA 290 casemakers, engineers created a brand-new production line in close collaboration with Ludo Fact experts. Large-format sheets up to 1050 x 735 mm can be processed by the DA 290 at a rate of 40 cycles per minute. Additionally, it provides a very high level of automation, starting with the pallet feeder and continuing through the output stacker. Outstanding handling and ergonomics, precise material guidance, and excellent operational flexibility are additional features. For instance, the DA 290 can work with hotmelt gelatine in addition to dispersion glues (hot protein glue). While the system is running at full capacity, operator inputs are still possible, and the system still provides the highest level of process reliability.
The Benefit
Ludo Fact has been able to increase product quality thanks to the KOLBUS system, as well as increase productivity by about a third and significantly lower their susceptibility to outages. These advantages, along with the fruitful collaboration throughout the development process, have supported Ludo Fact's decision to partner with KOLBUS as an engineer. Additionally, KOLBUS experts assisted the business during the new system's integration into the production processes in such a successful manner that there was no output lag. The collaboration has continued through ongoing development that is aimed at further optimizing programming, speed, and setup times. The real-time connection to the KOLBUS Service team is a key component of the collaboration.
Source: https://www.kolbus.com/news/kolbus-news/article/gelungene-kombination-zweimal-da-290-fuer-spiel-hersteller