News

What's happening across DFC.

Company developments, industry partnerships, and practical resources from across the group.

Cal Plate adds prepress, plate-making, cutting-die, and specialty graphics capabilities to the DFC portfolio.

Explore training, troubleshooting, and tooling-maintenance services available through DFC companies.

Resources from the shop floor.

Practical writing on specifying tooling, keeping it running, and planning the work around it.

Planning

Switching die suppliers goes wrong in predictable ways. What to send, what to check, and how to avoid re-proving every tool at once.

May 19, 20265 min read

Specification

What an engraver needs before cutting a brass emboss or foil die: vector art, depth intent, substrate, and a decision about registration.

May 5, 20265 min read

Process

Trim-in-place tooling cuts formed parts out of the web after forming. What it is, where it is used, and what a trim tool needs to hold.

April 21, 20264 min read

Planning

Lead time is set by rule work, tooling complexity, and queue, not by a fixed turnaround. Here is what moves the date, and what you control.

April 7, 20265 min read

Press setup

A counter is not packing. It is the matched surface that decides whether a crease folds cleanly, and it wears on its own schedule.

March 23, 20264 min read

Process

Rotary cuts faster and flatbed cuts more precisely. The choice comes down to run length, substrate, and how much detail the blank carries.

March 9, 20265 min read

Maintenance

Dies rarely fail because the steel was bad. They fail from rubber, nicking, makeready, and storage. Here is what actually shortens tool life.

February 24, 20265 min read

Specification

The five things a die maker needs from you to quote and cut a steel rule die: substrate, press, rule height, run length, and the existing tool.

February 10, 20266 min read