SCB1600 vs SCB2600: Matching Capacity to Your Job Mix

Two KINGTAU single-pass machines, two catalogue pages, and a quotation that lists one speed figure and one width. That is usually where capacity planning stops — and where an expensive decision gets made on the wrong number.

Both the SCB1600 and the SCB2600 are documented at 60 m/min or better, so the easy assumption is that the wider machine is “the same speed, more width” and the narrower one is “the cheaper version”. On the floor they produce very different output from the same order book, because sheets per hour depend on how many pieces fit across the print width — not on metres per minute alone.

This is a ten-minute calculation any maintenance or production engineer can run before a purchase order is signed. Below is the arithmetic, the two numbers that actually decide capacity, and the places where published figures stop and you need a written answer from the supplier.

Start With Published Specifications, Not Adjectives

Capacity comparisons fail when they mix brochure language with real geometry. These are the figures published on this site for each model. Treat them as the starting point and ask for the current revision in writing before you commit.

SCB1600: 1600 mm class, 60 m/min floor

The SCB1600 is described with Seiko SPT-RC1536 industrial piezo printheads, 360 × 1080 dpi maximum resolution, a printing speed of ≥60 m/min, a print width of ≤1600 mm, 8-level greyscale, 13–100 pL droplet sizes, KCMY four-colour output, an internal circulation ink path, a board adsorption system for warped stock, and automatic nozzle cleaning. Those details come from our published SCB1600 article, which you can read alongside the SCB1600 machine page.

Note the wording: the speed is a floor (≥60 m/min) and the width is a ceiling (≤1600 mm). A floor and a ceiling are not a capacity figure, and no capacity figure should be quoted from them without the geometry step below.

SCB2600: 2560 mm print width, two speed versions

The SCB2600 page publishes a 2600 mm feeding width that gives a 2560 mm printing width, in two versions: SCB2600 at 60 m/min and SCB2600 Pro at 120 m/min. The same page lists inline slotter and stacker sections, a four-printhead anti-collision system, a paper-surface dust removal system, constant-temperature ink circulation with automatic standby for long holidays, ink wastage under 3% without flash spraying, an order change time not exceeding 25 seconds, an ambient temperature window of 15–32°C, and a printhead life claim of more than 0.5 trillion jettings.

Full text: HIGH SPEED CORRUGATED DIGITALPRINTER SCB2600.

Two things are deliberately absent from that page: the number of printheads per colour bar, and the productivity of the feeder and stacker. Both matter, both are covered later, and neither should be assumed.

The Capacity Formula Buyers Should Run First

Three steps. No software required.

Step 1 — Count lanes, not metres

Lanes are how many sheets sit side by side across the print width:

lanes = floor((print width − edge trim) / sheet width)

Use a planning assumption of 20 mm trim at each edge, and confirm the real edge and gripper requirement with the supplier — on corrugated board the usable edge is often tighter than the paper spec suggests. The result must be rounded down. A 1.9-lane layout is one lane and 900 mm of scrap.

Step 2 — Turn speed into sheets per hour

sheets per hour = (speed in m/min × 60 / sheet length in metres) × lanes

Sheet length means the dimension travelling through the machine, not the dimension across it. This is the single most common error in capacity spreadsheets: engineers feed the sheet width into the speed formula and get a number that is wrong in whichever direction their board happens to be oriented.

Step 3 — Apply an efficiency factor you can defend

Published speed is a machine capability, not an output. Plan at 60–70% of the theoretical figure for a mixed order book with realistic stops: head cleaning cycles, ink top-ups, jam clearance, colour changes, and the operator’s coffee. Choose the factor before you compare models, and apply the identical factor to both. Comparing 70% efficiency on one machine against 90% on another is how a tender document lies to its own author.

A sanity check catches most arithmetic errors: lanes × sheet width × speed × 60 should equal your gross square metres per hour, and that figure should never exceed print width × speed × 60.

Worked Example A: 1,000 × 700 mm Cartons

A plant printing 1,000 mm wide by 700 mm long box blanks, two shifts of eight hours, 22 days a month, 65% efficiency.

Same speed, twice the output — and no additional operator. The difference is entirely geometry: two lanes instead of one. On the SCB2600 Pro at 120 m/min the same layout returns roughly 20,570 gross sheets per hour, which is where downstream equipment usually becomes the binding constraint rather than the printer.

Worked Example B: 750 × 500 mm Cartons

Now the same plant takes a smaller job: 750 mm wide, 500 mm long.

The gap narrows from 2× to about 1.5×, because the smaller sheet wastes proportionally less width on the SCB1600. This is the case that surprises buyers who assumed the wider machine always doubles output. It does not. It doubles output only when the job is wide enough to earn the extra lane.

These figures are arithmetic from published speeds, not measured production. Feeder, stacker, board quality and operator skill decide whether a real line reaches them.

Idle Width Is the Real Cost Driver

A machine is paid for by square metres printed, not by metres travelled. Every millimetre of print width that carries no board is capital standing still.

On the 1,000 mm job, the SCB1600 uses 1,000 mm of its 1,600 mm and leaves 600 mm idle — 37.5% of the machine doing nothing on every pass. The SCB2600 on the same job uses 2,000 mm of 2,560 mm and leaves 560 mm idle — 21.9%. The wider machine is not simply “bigger”; on that job mix it is more completely used, which is a different and better argument than raw width.

Run the same test against your own top ten jobs by volume. If most of them sit between 500 mm and 800 mm wide, a 1600 mm machine already runs two or three lanes and the case for 2560 mm is much weaker than the quotation suggests. If your volume is dominated by 1,000–1,250 mm blanks, the 1600 mm machine runs one lane and the arithmetic is decided before anyone discusses price.

Changeover: The Second Shift You Did Not Budget

The SCB2600 page publishes an order change time not exceeding 25 seconds. Take that seriously and then check what it includes. Twenty-five seconds is a mechanical figure — a quick-change order system moving between stored jobs. A real colour change on a water-based ink system also involves flushing, refilling and head conditioning, and that time is not the same thing.

The arithmetic still matters. At 40 jobs per shift, 25 seconds each is 1,000 seconds, roughly 17 minutes or 3.5% of an eight-hour shift. At 25 seconds the changeover is nearly free; at four minutes per job the same 40 jobs consume 2 hours 40 minutes, a third of the shift, and your 65% efficiency factor was optimistic.

The SCB1600 order change time is not published. Ask for it in writing, and ask the same question in the same units for both machines, or the comparison is meaningless.

Where the Numbers Break Down on the Floor

Board warp and dust

Warped board is the normal condition in a corrugated plant, not an exception. Both machines are documented with measures against it — the SCB1600 with a board adsorption system, the SCB2600 with a paper-surface dust removal system and a four-printhead anti-collision arrangement. What is not published is how these behave on the specific board grades you buy. Send sample sheets. A capacity calculation built on flat, clean board will overstate output on recycled stock with high moisture variation.

Ink, drying and stacking

Water-based pigment ink on corrugated does not need lamination or varnish to resist water, sunlight and abrasion, according to the published SCB2600 description. That is a finishing-cost argument, not a speed argument. But wet ink still has to be handled: if the stacker cannot take sheets at the rate the printer produces them, the printer slows to the stacker. Ask for the stacker’s rated sheets per hour in writing before you accept any throughput claim, and ask the same for the slotter if you are running inline.

Nights and weekends

The SCB2600 page claims 7×24 continuous production, automatic standby for long holidays, and a 15–32°C ambient window. Those claims are about stability, and stability is capacity: a machine that holds colour across a night shift without an operator babysitting the heads is worth more than a faster machine that needs a technician at 3 a.m. Ask what the automatic standby actually does to the ink path, and how the machine is brought back after a two-week shutdown.

What This Means for Spare Parts Stock

Capacity choice decides your parts exposure, not just your output. A two-lane machine running 16 hours a day consumes filters, pump diaphragms and head life roughly twice as fast as a single-lane machine on the same job.

The head model matters most. The SCB1600 is documented with Seiko SPT-RC1536 heads, so consumable and spare sourcing is a known quantity. The SCB2600 head model is not stated on its page — confirm it before you order anything, because head price and availability drive the whole maintenance budget.

For the parts that fail on a schedule rather than at random, see our five spare parts to stock for a single-pass corrugated printer, which covers the filter, pump, board and head items that stop a line. On the filtration side specifically, our comparison of 5 vs 10 micron filters for corrugated water-based ink explains why the micron grade that works on ceramic solvent ink is not automatically right on a water-based corrugated line. Whatever the model, the stocking rule is the same: hold one of each item whose lead time exceeds your acceptable downtime, and hold nothing whose lead time is shorter than your supplier’s response.

Decision Rules

Choose the SCB1600 when

Your top jobs sit between 500 mm and 800 mm wide, so the 1600 mm width already yields two lanes; you print short runs with frequent changes and want the smaller machine’s lower idle width; or your downstream equipment cannot absorb more than a few thousand sheets an hour anyway. Confirm the order change time and the real maximum board thickness first.

Choose the SCB2600 when

Most of your volume is 1,000 mm wide or more, where 2560 mm gives two lanes against the narrower machine’s one; you need inline slotter and stacker for whole-line production; or you are buying for a plant that already runs two shifts and expects a third. The 120 m/min Pro version only pays if the feeder and stacker can keep up — verify that in writing.

Do not choose on price per metre of width

The cheaper machine per millimetre is frequently the more expensive machine per square metre, because idle width is invisible on a quotation and obvious on a monthly production report.

Confirm These Before You Sign

FAQ

Is the SCB2600 always twice as fast as the SCB1600?

No. Both are documented at 60 m/min or better. The SCB2600 produces twice the sheets only when the job is wide enough to give it two lanes while the SCB1600 runs one. On a 750 mm wide job the real ratio is closer to 1.5×.

Does the SCB2600 Pro at 120 m/min double capacity again?

In arithmetic, yes — but only if the feeder, stacker and slotter can absorb the sheets. Ask for downstream rated output in writing and plan at 60–70% of theoretical speed.

Can I compare the two machines by square metres per hour instead of sheets?

Yes, and it is often cleaner. Multiply used width by speed by 60. On a 1,000 mm job the SCB1600 returns about 3,600 m²/h gross and the SCB2600 about 7,200 m²/h gross, because one uses 1,000 mm of width and the other uses 2,000 mm.

What efficiency factor should I use for a business case?

60–70% for a mixed order book with regular cleaning and colour changes. Use the same figure for every machine in the comparison, and state it in the document so the assumption can be challenged later.

Which machine needs more spare parts stock?

The one that prints more square metres. Stock is driven by head hours and ink volume, not by model number, so a two-lane machine on two shifts will consume filters and pumps roughly twice as fast as a single-lane machine on the same job.

Talk to Us Before You Commit

If you are weighing these two machines, send us your top ten jobs with sheet dimensions, monthly volume and shift pattern. We will run the lane maths with you and tell you which width actually earns its money on your order book — including the cases where the smaller machine is the right answer.

Contact our team with your job list, and ask for the confirmation items in the table above in writing. Capacity is a calculation, not a brochure claim.