50 email: editor@signlink.co.uk Issue 267 - October | November says: “Quick tool change with automatic tool identification, tooling presets, and flawless imports of most file formats ensures a very short set up time between jobs and ultimately increases productivity. “In addition, our digital cutting portfolio is designed to have similar competence. This means that users are able to change the toolhead quickly and completely transform the use of their machine. In turn, this enables them to diversify their application range without any further major financial investment. This advantage is unmatched in the industry and reinforces our commitment to designing machines without compromise, and with customers front of mind.” The streamlining capabilities of Kongsberg solutions extend beyond the tooling and the software, with its cutters providing a range of automation features such as robotic material feeders and advanced camera systems. Describing these automation solutions, van Garling continues: “Our automated systems ensure production flow remains uninterrupted, while our easy‑access pallet‑to‑pallet automation and accurate job‑estimation software provide stable output and enable companies to plan their workflow efficiently. “For printed materials, our unique Under Side Camera (part of our iPC software) registers design and registration marks without production pausing and our automated production modes keep the table cutting continuously. This saves valuable seconds between sheets and makes production more predictable.” For POS producers, these features can directly solve some of the biggest issues they face when producing complex, multilayered retail displays. With displays often made of thick and heavy materials like rigid corrugated cardboard, fully automated pallet-to-pallet systems can handle the heavy lifting by automatically feeding raw material onto the cutting table and stacking the cut displays onto a pallet. A study from the Journal of Business and Retail Management Research (JBRMR) showed that products placed in POS displays saw a sales lift ranging from 80% to 478% depending on product type Factoid Many POS displays are also printed on both sides or require complex creasing, V-notches, and structural scores on the back of the board so they can fold into 3D stands. Kongsberg’s Under Side Camera can scan the printed artwork from underneath the table while the sheet faces down, with the machine automatically Shapes that were once impossible to produce at scale can now be delivered accurately, efficiently, and without effort registering the design before cutting and creasing from the reverse side without pausing. As van Garling explains, Kongsberg’s VariAngle tool can further help with these V-notched designs. He comments: ▼ Marcel van Garling, product manager at Kongsberg PCS “Previously, intricate structural designs have been limited by the absence of true variable‑angle or V‑notch cutting, as most cutting machines can only cater to fixed angles or rely on manually adjusted and difficult tools, which slow down production. “Our proprietary VariAngle tool, compatible with the C and X-series, overcomes this challenge by enabling any angle from 0 to 60 degrees. This allows designers to say yes to jobs that were previously out of reach. The softwaredriven tool requires no manual setup, allowing cut angles to be embedded directly in the job file and automatically adjusted during production. As a result, shapes that were once impossible to produce at scale can now be delivered accurately, efficiently, and without effort.” Whether the focus is on streamlining production, automating previously manual work, working with a wider substrate set, or opening the door to more complex design philosophies, solutions like Kongsberg’s digital cutting systems aim to provide the best toolkit they can to POS manufacturers, so that they can respond to a market that is asking for more complex, eye-catching, and personalised displays. Navigating the Trends Navigating the future of the POS market ultimately requires print providers to balance two equally demanding variables: the structural and material properties of the display hardware itself, and the raw efficiency of the production and finishing lines that create it. As retail environments continue to demand faster campaign turnarounds and more agile rollouts, the industry’s reliance on highly efficient and reliable production technologies will only increase. While the retail sector itself remains notoriously difficult to predict, the sector’s growing demand for efficient, reliable, and environmentally conscious visual communication ensures that POS will remain a highly competitive driver for the wide-format print industry. POS DISPLAYS | JONATHAN PERT
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