De Luca Industria Grafica e Cartaria SpA is installing a new high-output Triumph 5 QT SM bagging machine from Garant (W&H). The Salerno-based company is thus relaunching an almost century-old leadership position in food packaging and responding with technology and heartfulness to consumers’ renewed love of paper packaging.
Andrea and Raffaele De Luca talk about the love they have never betrayed for paper in the 100 years of work and self-sacrifice that have transformed their grandfather Andrea’s small printing house into today’s hi-tech company that sells all over the world. And the memory goes back to the smile with which Uncle Carlo evoked the post-war period of hardship, when he ran up and down the Amalfi Coast selling food wrapping paper. Today De Luca Industria Grafica e Cartaria Spa is a forty thousand square meter company, specialized in the production of food packaging, with a solid leadership in bags, shoppers, wrapping paper and polythene paper.
The two third-generation entrepreneurs are reaping the benefits of a steady growth that has continued along the same lines, and are relaunching with new investments. Because the demand for both large format and take-away bags is growing: “The development trend we are registering in these packaging segments – explains Andrea De Luca – is progressive and continuous. The purchase of the new Triumph 5 QT SM bagging machine from Garant (Windmöller & Hölscher), in fact, was finalized at the beginning of 2020 – just before the outbreak of the pandemic – on the basis of an investment plan made previously. And it responds to the need to meet the changing mentality of consumers, who today are also asking for sustainability in packaging and are orienting their purchasing choices accordingly”.
The consumer loves this material because it is natural, and also because it is beautiful and communicates value,” emphasizes Raffaele De Luca, “while no one would present a gift or a valuable object – even if it is a consumer item – in a plastic bag. And the return on increased business, adds the entrepreneur, “repays us for having continued to believe and invest in the innovation of this material with a thousand resources, because nothing can be improvised and success is built with intelligence and perseverance”.
The new machine: flexible and customized
The Triumph 5 QT SM installed at De Luca is a top model in Garant’s range of square-bottom bagging machines. It is the result of Garant’s constant development of technology combined with a servo drive, which together have achieved exceptional performance, including up to a 50% reduction in changeover time compared to other square-bottom servo bagging machines.
In addition to its well-known robustness, the Triumph 5 QT SM is appreciated by users for its high production speed and simplified operation, making it ideal for the production of both large square bottom bags and paper shopping bags. Designed with flexibility in mind, the Triumph 5 QT SM can be equipped with a variety of additional devices and in-line Linaflex flexographic printing units, each time assuming the best configuration for the specific needs of each user. The machine is capable of making square-bottom bags from 180 to 460 mm wide with a height of up to 600 mm and a gusset of up to 230 mm for supermarket bags.
Working together for quality
The new Garant, which joins the wide range of W&H machines already operating in the Campania-based converter’s plants, has been welcomed at De Luca with a satisfaction that also involves other aspects of the supply. With Windmöller & Hölscher – says Andrea De Luca – we have cultivated a long-lasting relationship based on trust and mutual satisfaction: the German manufacturer has remained, over time, the reference supplier for machines for the converting and printing of sacks, big bags and flat and square bottom bags. And today once again for the new Garant Triumph 5 QT SM we thank “the Lengerich based family”, in particular Martin Ploogman and the Italian staff with Daniele Cerizzi and Emilio Alliegro”.
The familiarity that unites Germany to Campania via Lombardy is significant of the importance that the service has for both partners. The Triumph 5QT SM represents the state of the art of high-productivity bagging machines, and the supplier’s pre- and post-sales consultancy is the value-added complement: in the investment design phase, during installation and afterwards. The idea of offering “labor-saving” product-service packages, guaranteeing constant operation within optimized workflows, in practice means assisting the customer step by step, from the first consultation to the installation, going by way of the training of the employees and a smooth-running technical service.
Partners
De Luca Industria Grafica e Cartaria Spa was founded in 1924 by Andrea De Luca, and today it is a company of 40 thousand square meters, leader in the production and processing of paper, food bags, polythene paper, PP transparent bags, tablecloths and special papers for industries. The founder pivoted his development on the values still proudly carried on today by his nephews Andrea and Raffaele: “A company in the noble sense of the word must deal with its territory: it must produce wealth first for its neighbors and then for its owners” was and remains De Luca’s motto. Consistent the policy of Quality developed in recent years. Respect for the environment and for people are the bulwarks and ISO 14001 and FSC 2018 certifications are the milestones; the next step is the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety.
Garant Maschinenhandel GmbH was founded in 1973 by Windmöller & Hölscher, a market leader in printing, converting and extrusion machines for the packaging industry. Garant sells a wide range of new and second-hand machines for the production of paper and plastic bags and shoppers, and machines for printing and finishing paper and film, worldwide. The activity of reconditioning to customers’ demands and trading of used machines is an important complement to the company’s business.
