Time to move forward

Slitting and rewinding equipment is an integral part of the packaging production proposition. Like many elements of the packing post-press equation, recent technology developments in this space have borne witness to evolution rather than revolution. The integral functions have remained the same, with developments mainly helping to improve speed and productivity for the end-user. If the converter is processing film or paper in production, blades are often used to cut through the substrate or in other instances, "crush" the said substrate against a firm roll. Once complete, the slit substrate is then rewound onto plastics, paperboard or metal cores.
It is these elements that make up the majority of the latest product launches in the slitting and rewinder sector.

Joint innovation
One manufacturer that has recognised the ongoing potential in this field is Rotocontrol, which has recently collaborated with fellow German mechanical engineering company F+V Automation in a partnership that will leverage the technical know-how of both businesses to develop a number of new finishing machines. The first fruit of this tie-up is FastChange, a fully automatic turret rewinder that features four spindles designed for converters operating in self-adhesive production.

Marco Aengenvoort, managing director of Rotocontrol, says the close co-operation between the two companies coupled with the expertise in design enabled both firms to pool these qualities into the automation capabilities of the FastChange system. The partnership and product launch have marked a busy 12 months for Rotocontrol, which has also seen the company appoint Alexander Siegmund as its assistant sales manager.

"We are privileged to have an extensive network of agents around the world offering local support and service to our customers," says Aengenvoort. "As we enter our fifth year of operation, we are well-positioned with the combination of an exceptional team of employees and leading-edge technology for continued growth."

Ongoing success
For another German-based manufacturer, Kampf, some of its ongoing successes in the slitting rewinding sector have come in the form of the Conslit and Starslit machines. The former is a modular system that can handle plastics films, papers and laminates.
Capable of maximum production speeds of 800m/min, the Conslit is able to handle finished roll diameters of 600mm and 800mm.

The Starslit is promoted as a flexible roll slitting and winding system that has been designed for small and medium-sized film converters. The machine features two spindles, for slitting and rewinding of a range of substrates such as refined papers and laminates.

Elsewhere, Czech manufacturer Soma Engineering has enjoyed position traction with its compact Pluto III slitter, a machine featuring an integrated unwind unit that is claimed to offer mid and wide web printers an efficient slitting system.
The Pluto III is available in web widths ranging up to 1,600mm and capable of speeds up to 600m/min. According to the company, the machine's high efficiency is achieved through its shaft-less unwind configuration, coupled with high operating speeds and a "powerful" slit edge removal facility.

US-based Karlville's KSI ProLabel is pitched as an ''easy to use'' system for the inspection of self-adhésive labelstock, whether in plastics or on paper. Accoding to the manufacturer, the ProLabel is an integrated smart counting system that is complemented by an advanced inspection algorithm which ensures that all rolls inspected will contain the exact amount of labels needed. Capable of running at speeds of up to 300m/min, it can handle unwind configurations with rolls of 350 and 450mm.

Strong sales
Atlas Converting Equipment experienced a successful 2013, with strong sales following a hectic tradeshow calendar. The UK-based company continued this momentum into the end of the year with the installation of two slitters at international BOPP and thermal laminating films producer Cosmo Films. In addition to sites in South Korea and the USA, Cosmo also has facilities in India, which is where Atlas installed these latest machines.

The two models were an 8.7m wide Atlas CW984AP primary film slitter, which is located at the end of the film line, and a 2.8m wide Atlas CW800 secondary film slitter. While both are capable of production speeds up 1,000m/min, the latter is used for processing narrower widths of BOPP film. According to Atlas, the high speed film line is expected to produce up to 45,000 tonnes of BOPP film per annum.

"We are very pleased with the quick installation and commissioning of the two new film slitters which was carried out by the Atlas Service team based in India," remarks Sanjay Chincholekar, vice president of sales, marketing and projects for Cosmo Films. "We are also pleased to be working in collaboration with Atlas again for our new film line. We now have 12 Atlas film slitters operating in several locations, some of which have been in service for more than 25 years.''

Italian manufacturer Laem System says the need for higher productivity has accelerated the replacement of centre surface machines by centre driven turret models. But, these are producing rolls too fast for the operators to perform all their tasks: unloading the rolls; placing new cores; labelling, wrapping eand palletising each roll for the final customer.

To counter this inefficiency, Laem System is focusing on designing custom-made turn-key solutions according to the space available, the productivity requirement and the level of integration needed with the customer´s ERP system.

A typical module will include two of Laem System's RB4/TR4 turret machines in a mirror configuration; a Kuka Robot to collect the rolls and place them on the conveying system; an automatic system that labels the inside of the core and the outside of the roll; driven and "intelligent" conveyors and turning tables; automatic bagging of each roll; automatic palletisation of the rolls and pads; management of the new pad stack; shuttles to collect the finished pallets and replenish areas with empty pallets; an area for the stretch wrapping of the pallets; AGV vehicles to bring the pallets automatically to the warehouse; and dedicated software for optimisation of the production.

The TR4 slitter shares the structural and functional DNA of Laem's TR2, but adds improved roll-changing, which cuts down on manual intervention. It can handle web widths of 1,600mm at speeds of 800m/min.

www.atlasconverting.com
www.kampf.de
www.karlville.com
www.laemsystem.com
www.rotocontrol.com
www.soma-eng.com