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Universal Converting Equipment moves hot melt coating technology forward with new test facility

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Hot Melt Adhesive Coater

Universal Converting Equipment have supplied a new CL350 hot melt adhesive coater / laminator to sister company, Universal Adhesive Systems. This investment in the latest technology strengthens the position of the two companies as leaders in both converting machinery and adhesive application technologies.

The new CL350 coater is available for customer trials at Universal Adhesive Systems, Daventry facility. The machine has been built with a focus on flexibility. Despite the small footprint of the Universal CL350 is capable of multiple coating types, including slot die proximity coating, CrossCoat curtain coating, high speed intermittent coating, spiral coating, spray coating and Dynafiber coating.

In addition to the different coating types customers can trial on the CL350, the machine has been developed to handle a wide range of substrates including films, paper and non-wovens. The CL350 can operate at production speeds, so by running coating trials at the test facility in Daventry customers can prove hot melt applications will work in live production environment. The CL350 has proved popular with companies who wish to streamline and improve their current hot melt adhesive applications.

The automatic coating station on the CL350 was designed and built in Ipswich by Universal Converting Equipment. Drawing on their expertise in control systems the CL350 is simple to use and incredibly accurate. Adjustments on the coating station are made via a touchscreen and actioned by precision motors. The constant gap winding system ensures the best quality finished rolls are produced.

Commenting on the investment, Alan Jones, Managing Director, Universal Converting Equipment said “Universal Converting Equipment has grown rapidly in the last three years mainly driven by the introduction of our high productivity Universal X6 slitter rewinder. However, hot melt coating and laminating is an important and growing sector for us with machines being supplied on a worldwide basis. We are able to combine the high speed web handling and tension control systems developed for our slitters with the coating expertise of our sister company, Universal Adhesive Systems, to provide a complete package for our customers. The test facility at Daventry gives customers who may have little or no experience of this technology, the chance to test different materials, adhesive and coating techniques, so they can prove their product prior to investing in a machine. The close relationship with ITW Dynatec ensures we have the best hot melt feed systems and worldwide support. With both our slitting machines and our coating machines, we believe that being able to provide ongoing support for our customers is vital to ensure they are satisfied and come back to us with more orders in the future. The use of Internet based remote diagnostic systems, high quality components and our dedicated support team to ensure this support is available. ”

The Universal CL350 is part of a wide range of coating, converting and slitting machines designed and built by Universal Converting Equipment. As with all machines produced by Universal, the emphasis is on productivity, reliability and ease of use. All Universal coating machines have a touch screen operator interface and a drive and control system that can be connected to a secure internet connection for diagnostics. The hot melt coating systems are tailored to the specific requirements of the customer.

Universal Adhesive Systems are the exclusive UK distributor ITW Dynatec. A leading global supplier of technical adhesive supply and coating equipment for the converting and non-woven industries. Universal Adhesive Systems has its own team of engineers and coating experts to provide systems and support for coating, laminating, print finishing, packaging and other applications.

More about the Universal CL350…

More about Universal Adhesive Systems Ltd…

Watershed Packaging Install a High Performance Universal X6 Slitting Machine

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Watershed Packaging are a fast-growing adhesive label and flexible packaging producer with three production sites, including a recently completed custom-built factory in Leeds. Watershed needed a slitting machine with fast set-up times to slit material used within its conversion operation. Watershed chose the Universal X6 for its automatic shear knife set up, ease of operation and closed-loop tension control. The X6 automation systems and fast, easy job set-up enable Watershed to respond quickly to customers’ requirements with minimal downtime and reduced waste.

The Universal X6 slitting machine is designed for processing flexible materials. A typical specification includes digital web guiding, automatic knife setting (ComputaSlit), an additional tension zone through slitting, closed loop rewind tension control, constant geometry contact rollers, automatic core alignment (ComputaCore) and a running speed of 600m/min. The machine is designed to be simple to operate with a 22inch touch screen interface. A typical changeover, including setting 20 shear knives, can take less than two minutes; making the machine ideal for short-run work. The integrated drive and control system offers precision and repeatability with extensive diagnostics, including dynamic circuit diagrams. All this performance in a machine with a small footprint. The X6 is a high-performance slitter with a footprint considerably smaller than competitive machines.

Commenting on the investment, Stephen Walker, Managing Director of Watershed Packaging said “Our business is built on service and quality. Being able to produce high-quality slit rolls with a quick turnaround allows us to respond quickly to the needs of our customers. We had purchased a used machine but the quality and service was poor. The Universal X6 has been excellent since its installation We slit a lot of PET films which require shear slitting to obtain a good edge. The automatic shear knife setting system removes the need for our operators to handle knives and heavy shafts and is both very quick and very accurate. Job changes now take a few minutes. The recipe system ensures the operator always sets the machine correctly and closed loop tension control means all the rolls are wound at the correct tension. This raises the productivity of our converting operation as we always have good rolls.”

Alan Jones, MD, Universal Converting Equipment added “Watershed Packaging are a forward-thinking company and decided to invest in technology which both reduces cost and improves product quality. Many companies accept the downtime during set-up and the waste produced whilst the correct settings are found. Watershed wanted a better solution and we have proved the X6 slitter rewinder is the ideal machine. Load cell tension feedback, automatic knife positioning and core alignment dramatically reduce downtime and increases the time the machine is making money. By integrating the technology, we are able to offer a high performance machine at a very competitive price”

Slitter at Watershed Packaging

Converter Directory 2015 – 16

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Converter Directory Cover

The new edition of the Converter Magazine Directory (for 2015 – 2016) is out now, and we’re proud to be featured on the cover.  The machine shown on the cover is an X6 Slitter configured for converting flexible packaging films, this is the most popular configuration for this machine.

Other features in evidence on our ‘cover star’ X6 are the automatic roll-pusher and robotic unloader.  With both of these options the operator can unload slit rolls from the rewind shafts onto the robotic unloader, which in turn rotates the rolls and lowers them onto a pallet (or trolley).

Find out more about the Universal X6…

ICE Europe 2015 – our review

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Overwhelming interest in the X6 Slitter at ICE Europe 2015

This year’s International Converting Exhibition (ICE) in Munich appeared to be the best-attended ICE exhibition to date, both in terms of delegates and exhibitors. Here at Universal Converting Equipment, we decided to book a larger stand, and to take more machinery than in previous years. This was a decision that paid off. The two main machines on the stand were both sold with other orders placed at the exhibition.

We were overwhelmed by the level of interest in our Universal X6 Slitter. The machine we took was configured to showcase the most popular options, as chosen by our customers. The X6 was loaded with a BOPP jumbo roll and features like automatic knife setting proved popular with the large crowds who gathered to watch the regular demonstrations. Despite having eight salespeople on the stand, there were times when everyone was busy and we could not speak to all the people coming onto the stand.

Universal Converting Equipment stand at ICE Europe 2015

In addition to the slitter rewinder we also exhibited a hot melt adhesive coating station. There were a number of other hot melt system suppliers at ICE, but several delegates mentioned to us that we appeared to the be the only exhibitor who could provide the coating equipment (heads, hoses and tanks) in addition to designing and building the control systems and complete machines.

The Universal CCA Automatic Core Cutter on our stand generated a lot of enquiries, as did the RT2 roll handling trolley. One customer was so impressed with the Automatic Core Cutter that he bought one on the spot, just a short while after signing on the dotted line for the Universal X6 slitter also on the stand.

ICE Europe is well-established as a great opportunity to network with industry colleagues, and this proved to us yet again how substantially important the Universal X6 is for converters of flexible packaging, as well as for companies slitting papers, label stock and hot stamping foils.

Universal Converting Equipment at ICE Europe 2015

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Deutsch | English | Español | Français

ICE Europe 2015Universal Converting Equipment will be exhibiting at ICE Europe 2015 in
hall A6, stand 523.

The ‘star’ of the stand will be the Universal X6 Slitter Rewinder, a high performance slitter developed primarily for flexible packaging, but proving itself just as efficient and fast when processing a wide range of materials including hot stamping foils and aluminium foils. This popular machine can be easily integrated with laser perforation equipment and high-speed vision inspection systems.

Also on the stand will be an automatic core cutter and examples of hot melt adhesive coating and laminating equipment.

Staff on the stand will include Universal Converting Equipment’s Technical Director and new Sales Executive Mike Wilkinson, who has had many years experience in the converting industry.

 

Slitter - X6
The Universal X6 Slitter

 

Universal Converting Equipment appoint top slitter sales executive

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Mike Wilkinson with a Universal X6 SlitterUniversal Converting Equipment are pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Wilkinson as Sales Executive. Mike has a wealth of experience in the converting industry having worked in senior sales and general management roles for Titan, Atlas, Comexi and Kampf.

Commenting on the appointment, Alan Jones, Managing Director said, “Mike is one of the top salespeople in the industry. His experience and knowledge are second to none. He was responsible for Titan during its rapid growth phase and most recently he has worked for Kampf who are probably the largest worldwide supplier of slitting and rewinding machines. We have ambitious growth plans over the next three years and Mike will help us reach our targets.”

Mike Wilkinson added “When I first visited Universal, I was excited by the potential of their machine range and in particular, their X6 slitter rewinder. I could see the investment that has taken place particularly in the machine and control system design. It was good to see features being incorporated to simplify the operation and maintenance of the machines which others have talked about but Universal Converting Equipment has actually done. Although Universal has always had a reputation for high quality machines its sales effort has been limited. I intend to help Universal grow to be a major worldwide supplier of slitter rewinders.”
Universal Converting Equipment are a fast growing manufacturer of slitter rewinders, rewinding machines, hot melt coating equipment, core cutters and other ancillary systems used in the converting industry. These machines are sold globally. The Universal X6 slitter rewinder is a machine with a compact footprint that has proved particularly successful as a high performance yet cost effective slitting machine for slitting flexible materials. It incorporates automatic knife setting, core alignment, closed loop tension control, additional tension zone through slitting and constant geometry contact rollers to allow high speed operation, minimising changeover time, with consistent high quality output.