Every time a printed page or box has to be cut and folded, a die-cutting and creasing machine is used. Imagine if you had to cut and mail letters by hand. You would have to cut the paper out, crease it then insert it into an envelope. If you worked very fast, perhaps 10 per hour would be your limit. A machine accomplishes this task in the thousands per hour range. One corrugated cardboard box machine, the SL-1620MD manufactured by the Beijing Slwy Printing Machinery Company, is said to churn out 3,500 pieces per hour.
All die-cutting and creasing machines are not created equal. Engineers and machine designers create machines based upon need. A machine used to cut and crease letters is far different from a machine used to cut and crease cardboard boxes. Engineers study the need, such as the need to cut and crease magazines, and develop a machine accordingly. The first machine, called a prototype, undergoes extensive testing. During the testing phase, any deficiencies, or bugs, are detected and eliminated. After debugging, the machine is delivered to the customer.
Die-cutting and creasing machines are huge pieces of equipment. To give you an idea of the size, the SL-1620MD box-cutting and creasing machine is 15.75 feet long, 15.42 feet wide and 8 feet high. It weighs 22 tons, or 44,000 lb. The manufacturing or printing facility has concrete slab floors to support the weight of these machines. Smaller machines weigh from 5,600 lb. to 24,000 lb.
Die-cutting and creasing machines were developed during the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s, according to Robert Larson, president of the die-cutting company Larson Associates. In 1960, the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, Wisconsin, wrote an extensive report on paper bag machines of the time. Even in 1960, automation was well-studied. Now, many die-cutting and creasing machines are computer-controlled and highly automated.