A fourth Delta SPC 130 press from Koenig & Bauer Durst for Schumacher Packaging

• Schumacher Packaging Birmingham starts full commercial digital printing with single pass press
• Delta SPC 130 FlexLine Eco+ installation with six colors is a UK first
• Koenig & Bauer Durst partnership driving Schumacher Packaging’s digital production

Radebeul, Germany 04.02.2025

Koenig & Bauer Durst has announced that Schumacher Packaging Birmingham has started full commercial digital production with its Delta SPC 130 single pass high volume digital press for corrugated markets.

The FlexLine Eco+ with six colours is the first installation in the UK and will be a central focal point as Schumacher Packaging expands its presence in UK markets as one of the UK’s leading plain and printed cardboard manufacturers.

Koenig & Bauer Durst’s Delta SPC 130 – part of its portfolio providing the most automated, productive, single pass water-based presses suitable for food packaging – will be a key presentation focus for Schumacher Packaging Birmingham with its presence at Packaging Innovations (Stand K76) at the nearby NEC on February 13-14. Jochen Sproll, Koenig & Bauer Durst’s Strategy & Business Development Manager, will also be on the stand.

Schumacher Packaging Birmingham, together with Koenig & Bauer Durst, will also be hosting an official Open Day at its plant on March 13 from 09.00 to 14.00.

The Koenig & Bauer Durst Delta SPC 130 in Birmingham is the fourth taken on by Schumacher Packaging. Two others are at its headquarters in Ebersdorf, Germany, and the another is at Saica in Wroclav, Poland, formerly Schumacher Packaging. They also have six-color capabilities. The installation is at the heart of a €30 million euro investment that also involves upgrading its Birmingham manufacturing base and two nearby warehouses.

Koenig & Bauer Durst’s FlexLine Eco+ press features an eco-plus drier that reduces drying times to cut energy consumption and associated costs, as well as speeding up productivity for maximised capacity. The Delta SPC 130 can print on uncoated materials with speeds of up to 80 meters per minute.

Darren Melville, Managing Director of Schumacher Packaging Birmingham, said: “As an innovator and pioneer in the industry, we want to show new ways of working towards sustainable production. And moving to sustainable, cost-saving digital production is a centrepiece of our strategy, which is why we are delighted to have launched full-scale commercial digital production with the Delta SPC 130 from Koenig & Bauer Durst. This is a true partnership.

“As consumers become more environmentally conscious, brands are under increasing pressure to adopt eco-friendly packaging solutions. Many are working towards ambitious 2025 extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging targets. This is where the best of corrugated board and digital print can converge to deliver recyclable packaging with zero-waste designs.”

Daniel Velema, Managing Director of Koenig & Bauer Durst, said: “With the increasing emphasis on sustainability, companies such as Schumacher Packaging recognize the huge benefits that digital brings with highly automated systems in corrugated packaging and board markets. They and their customers can see the benefits of changing from offset and flexo, particularly as run lengths are getting smaller and order lead times become ever shorter.

“Digital printing, in essence only printing what you want, when you need it, has always been a technology with strong sustainability credentials and an opportunity to reduce paper consumption. The ability now to add paper weight reductions to further lower cost and consumption is also a very powerful argument for digital transformation.”