Litocart expands its tailored offering with die-cut prototypes from Valiani Invicta
Tuscan printing and converting company, a benchmark for agencies and premium brands,
increases its range of services with digital cutting and creasing
If its name unequivocally defines its vocation, halfway between graphic design and paper converting, it is only by meeting the partners and collaborators of Litocart that one fully understands its spirit and unique features.
Founded in Colle Val D’Elsa (Siena, Italy) in 2018, the company inherits the assets of the printing company established in the 1970s by Alberto Vanzi, to which his son Bruno and partner Marco Campinoti infuse new energy by equipping it with next-generation technologies and a commercial strategy centered on paper converting, where high-quality printing is the ingredient of more complex recipes. Both already active in the graphic arts, respectively in managerial and commercial roles, Vanzi and Campinoti leverage their experience gained during the commercial printing crisis years, and decide to embark together on a path of repositioning towards the tailor-made production of more personalized, profitable, and environmentally friendly communication materials.
Without vast capital, Litocart reinvested its initial profits in new, automated, high-quality printing and converting machinery, while preserving and enhancing manual techniques useful for creating artisanal and distinctive products. Simultaneously, the company developed and nurtured a young and competent team, which grew by 3 members in 2024, reaching a total of 28 collaborators, with a turnover approaching 4 million euros (2023).
To more effectively produce prototypes and small series of packaging and displays, Litocart installed a Valiani Invicta 150 digital cutting and creasing system in October 2022.
The full-Service, zero kilometers partner
Litocart knows it cannot capture and manage large packaging orders for national and international clients, but is confident in being the preferred partner for the top companies in its area. With this in mind, the company has made itself self-sufficient for all pre-press, offset printing, enhancement, and packaging of boxes and paper materials, choosing to collaborate with partner companies for digital printing and other non-core services.
“We like to call ourselves tailors of printing because we know how to observe the client and their product, understand their budget needs, and tailor a custom-made suit for them,” explains Marco Campinoti, co-founder and commercial director of Litocart. “Our specialty is lightning-fast response times, instant quotes, and quick deliveries, all at the right price.”
Among its clients, Litocart counts wine cellars, furniture producers, fashion brands, manufacturing companies, and food and confectionery businesses oriented towards export. To meet the stringent requirements of the food sector, the Tuscan converter has obtained BRCGS (British Retail Consortium Global Standard) certification and requires its staff to operate according to HACCP protocols.
In the printing room, Litocart uses a Komori Lithrone S40 in 5 colors and a 4 color, both in B1 format, and a Heidelberg Speedmaster in B3 format. In addition to glossy, matte, and drip-off varnishes, the company performs die-cutting, folding, gluing, and hot foil application in-house.
The materials used for processing range from stretched cardboard to coupled micro-flute, including all kinds of marked, laid, and embossed fine papers.
Digital cutting for customized
and increasingly eco-friendly projects
More diversified orders, fragmented commissions, and a growing demand for customization and inventory reduction require Litocart to maintain lightning-fast response times and just-in-time production. On any given day, the company team is tasked with dozens of job changes and machine setups, ranging from boxes to countertop displays, from catalogs to business cards, with runs varying from 500 to tens of thousands of pieces.
“Each job is unique in terms of paper type, size, number of colors, finishes, enhancements, and quality, safety, durability, and longevity requirements,” explains Campinoti. “When a client comes in with a sketch or a product to be packaged, they expect to immediately receive a proposal, handle a realistic prototype of their packaging, approve it, and move quickly to execution.”
After relying on die-cutting suppliers for the production of mockups for years, in 2016, Litocart purchased a multifunctional digital cutting system in a 3×2 meter format, equipped with a multi-tool head with a camera and a router. At the same time, they adopted the parametric design software ArtiosCAD and hired trained resources to create and modify graphic and structural layouts. This proved to be a successful decision, allowing Litocart to increase and speed up the production of prototypes, which the sales team could deliver and discuss with the client in real-time.
However, by limiting processing to papers and cardboards in offset formats, the chosen cutting system soon proved to be oversized and unnecessarily bulky for the limited space of the prepress office. Thus, the partners decided to purchase a more compact machine.
Marco Campinoti
Commercial Manager of Litocart
“Invicta is a human-scale digital cutting system, and it’s the right choice for small-scale paper converting companies like Litocart.”
A concentration of precision, versatility, and compactness
In 2021, the Litocart team began searching for a new cutting system and was impressed by the mix of robustness and construction precision, compactness, and cost-effectiveness of Valiani technology.
As there was no need to perform milling or handle intensive production cycles, Litocart chose the Invicta 150 model with a suction bed of 1,520×1,020 mm and a single-position cutting head capable of accommodating cutting, kiss-cutting, creasing, and marking tools, as well as an optional camera.
“Having already invested in a prestigious machine, we didn’t have particular budget restrictions,” highlights Campinoti. “However, finding in Invicta a complete, sturdy machine, made in Italy, compatible with Industry 4.0, and competitively priced, was a positive surprise.”
More than just a favorable quality/price ratio, the Litocart team immediately appreciated the ease of use of Invicta, which allows all printing and pre-press operators to autonomously perform setup and cutting operations. Recently, the company began using the Valiani system also for cutting rubber used in reserve varnishing, eliminating the need for external suppliers.
“Invicta is a human-scale digital cutting system, and it’s the right choice for small-scale paper converting companies like Litocart,” emphasizes Campinoti. “Once the sample has been tested, we can immediately create the die, and if necessary, produce up to a few dozen pieces digitally.”
Easy to use and ready to open new business opportunities
After the installation and training, which were conducted on the same day by the Valiani team, the Litocart team began using the cutting system for the production of samples on stretched cardboard, micro-corrugated and micro-triple, and for shaping clear PVC used to simulate window panes.
Every day, the Invicta 150 allows for the creation of hundreds of samples of boxes, wine boxes, displays, briefcases, shopping bags, and any other product designed internally or based on the preloaded libraries in the Valiani V Studio software. Most materials are neutral, but the camera for recognizing registration marks allows for die-cutting digitally or offset printed sheets.
Thanks to Invicta, Litocart has found the right compromise between flexibility, reduced space requirements, and rapid return on investment, and is preparing to invest in other Valiani digital cutting solutions and new printing and enhancement technologies.
