All systems go for K

Laem System is now one of the main European manufacturers of high-tech slitter rewinders and other converting machines for film producers and converters in the flexible packaging industry.

The company was founded in 1972 and today the young management, led by Davide Malki, offers customers experience and innovation, which can be witnessed in each machine delivered and installed with great care and passion.

The return to Germany this year is not only an exhibition rendezvous. It is a return to Germany also as a supplier, since the Italian company has recently closed a contract with a very important German converter. The contract sees Laem System entering a real partnership, where the deliveries to Germany are expected to be many.

Laem System has delivered slitters to Germany in the past, but now, with new design and technology, the advance into the German market is more significant than before.

The Research and Development activities of the company have focused on a very versatile slitter rewinder, with an excellent price-quality ratio, that completely satisfied the German customer.

The model sold to the German company is a special version of the RB4, which will also be exhibited in its standard version at the coming K Show.

The new generation of the RB Series has undergone a major upgrade which has almost filled the gap with the very popular and highly productive TR 415. Now the RB4 features an over-head web path and a flexible tangent or semi-wound slitting section which allows the customer to choose any type of slitting method or any level of automation for the job changes. Once the machine has completed the turret rotation in around 30 seconds, the finished reels can be unloaded either manually or with the help of the automatic extractor, which is also a new feature on the RB Series.

The reliability of the RB Series is also secured by the fact that Laem always uses the best quality products, starting from the mechanical components through to the Siemens electronic controls where the partnership keeps strengthening every year. Finally, Laem’s Customers are really enjoying the efficiency of the latest tele-service by Internet, whereby Laem’s commissioning managers can connect to the machine in depth and upload new software releases or help the operators tackle a particularly challenging production operation.

After the K show, the exhibited slitter will be delivered to the French site of the Gallazzi Group, one of the biggest rigid PVC producers in Europe. Laem System has been able to satisfy the requests of this company by supplying a machine able to slit both PE and PVC up to 400 microns at a speed of 500m/min. The RB4 is not only popular in Europe: it has recently been sold to major converters in South America, Israel and Indonesia.

Laem is also launching at the K show a new release of the TR 425, which will become the new top of the range turret model. It can also be customised for each customer.

This machine will also focus on the growing trend for narrow slits (down to 20mm) which are becoming popular in overwrap labels for bottles or cans.

This new release, which will be visible on a dedicated PC with 3-D imaging of the project, features a completely new unwinder and a more compact design. The web path has been designed to minimise the distance between the slitting and the rewinding point, and the movable trolley, which is a trademark of this model, guarantees a perfect winding quality since the distance between the slitting and rewinding point never changes.

The increasingly high output of these turret machines is pushing the bottleneck forward to the final phase of the conversion process; handling the finished rolls from the slitter to the pallet after having placed the required production labels and sometimes wrapping each roll in a PE bag or sheet. This meticulous process is what is hampering the productivity of the slitting machines, aside from damaging in the long term the backs of the operators.

Laem System can now offer complete turnkey solutions thanks to its partnership with a company that specialises in engineering tailor-made solutions according to the budget of the customer and the available space in the plant. Visitors at the K show will be able to see these solutions at the Laem System booth.

Aside from the constant product development which Laem System is known for, the company from Casale Monferrato is always prepared to undertake extremely challenging projects that require a lot of engineering and care in implementation. This flexibility and the innovative technical solutions, allowed Laem to secure a contract of a 2.8m wide machine, handling rolls of 1.5m OD both in the unwind and the rewind. This machine will also be installed in the German market in early 2011.

Overall, despite the growing competition, Davide Malki believes that Laem can keep growing together with its customers by supplying them with quality high productivity machines as well as a professional service given by the whole staff.