With attendance numbers and participant response well beyond expectations, Zund America’s June 13 Open House was a resounding success! After 10 years of operation in Franklin, Wisconsin, Zund America was able to show off its recently expanded service and demonstration facilities while taking the opportunity to demonstrate the latest innovations in Zünd tooling and complete digital cutting/finishing automation.

Zund America’s first-ever Open House was part of a series of events the company is hosting this year to celebrate its first decade in business and honor all the customers and partners/vendors who contributed to its success. Since it was established in 2004, Zünd’s U.S. operation has grown from 5 employees and 10,000 sq. ft to nearly 50, occupying a total of 24,000 sq. ft. of office and warehouse space. Zund America now supports thousands of customers all over the U.S. and Canada from its centrally located facilities just minutes from the Milwaukee airport.

Attendees, participating vendors, and Zund America employees had a chance to "meet & greet" at the kick-off dinner reception held at the Harley Davidson Museum, one of Milwaukee's prime attractions. The schedule for the Open House the following day included continuous demonstrations of the fully automated Zünd Board Handling System set up for non-stop production, a 10ft-wide G3 with automatic center winder/spreader cutting textile, the eurolaser configuration processing polyester and acrylic, and an M-2500 configuration routing 2D and 3D. Not surprisingly, the undisputed star of the event was the S3 M-800 equipped with automatic sheet feeder and robotic off-load arm. In a completely automated workflow based on QR-codes, the S3 system was continuously picking up, advancing, and cutting two stacks of printed sheets--each one containing different print jobs in random order--while a beta version of the Zund off-load robot was busy removing and stacking the finished parts.

For an opportunity to present their latest products and answer any integration and application-related questions, Zünd America invited several partners/vendors to participate, including Accent Signage/Raster? Braille system, Caldera, Canon, Coroplast, Onyx, and SAi/Enroute.  Based on the enthusiastic response from all involved, Zund America will no doubt be hosting more such Open House events in the future.