Summa celebrates 50th anniversary and unveils new Experience Centre

Finishing Solutions

The year 2023 is special for Summa in Belgium because it is 50 years since the origins of the company were established.

Summa is celebrating its anniversary in style with the opening of a new Experience Centre located next to its headquarters in Gistel.

The business looked very different 50 years ago. In those days, Summa was assembling recording equipment to produce precision optical lenses. A decade later, the first pen plotter and cutter were introduced, leading the company into new markets.

Summa has since grown into a company with a solid international reputation and has become particularly well known for its top class vinyl cutters. The S Class Series vinyl cutters belong to the highest segment of the market known for their ‘legendary performance’. In flatbed cutters and laser cutters too, Summa remains true to its values of developing high quality cutting solutions that are versatile and productive.

‘We are pleased, proud and grateful for the many successes Summa has achieved in its 50 years of business,’ said CEO Geert Pierloot. ‘On the one hand, we attribute the success to the innovative and durable solutions we developed over the years. On the other hand, it is the hard work, knowledge and commitment of our employees who have made Summa the company it is today. We would also like to thank our international network of skilled partners for their commitment and loyalty, as well as other people we have met along the way. These are many reasons for us to celebrate this special anniversary together during the grand opening of our new Experience Centre.’

The Experience Centre enables Summa to showcase and demonstrate its growing range of cutting solutions. As a result of the developments in recent years, a new workflow automation solution will be on display for the first time.

The set up is built around the well known F1612 flatbed cutter: the new Board Feed Pro 75 is placed on the side of in put and a Cobot system is installed to pick up the cut pieces and collect them at predetermined locations.

As part of the experience, the new facility will be fully decorated with applications finished on one of Summa's cutters, ranging from window decals, to creative board applications, displays, textile frames and swimwear. The Experience Centre will also serve as a space to host future events.