Munich, Germany
14th – 16th March 2023
Stand 824
We are pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at ICE Europe again this year. At ICE Europe we will be exhibiting the latest version of our highly automated Universal X8 Slitter.
We will also have one of our popular Universal CCA Automatic Core Cutters on display.
Please contact us if you would like to book an appointment to meet us at the exhibition.
After over 50 years in the converting industry, Mike Wilkinson, known as Wilkie to many, has decided to retire. During his career he has worked for Chambon, Titan/Atlas, Comexi and Kampf until finally ending his career with Universal Converting Equipment.
Commenting on his time in the industry Wilkie said “I have seen the transformation of the packaging industry from paper/cellulose based materials to plastic materials and the rapid growth in packaging to preserve and protect food products. As Managing Director of Titan, I was responsible for the development of a small UK engineering company into one that could compete on a worldwide basis. Finally, at Universal I have seen the same happening. The Universal X8 machine is the best slitting machine I have seen with fantastic automation and it can achieve productivity levels that I am told other manufacturers cannot match. It has been a pleasure to end my career, in the slitting industry, with a company that is technically leading the market.”
Alan Jones, Director, Universal Converting Equipment, added “Mike Wilkinson joined our company at a time when most other people would be retiring. With Universal, he wanted to make a difference. He helped to open the door with Bryce Corporation in the USA, which led to Universal installing an automated slitting operation at their Searcy factory. This $8 million investment was the largest order received by Universal and it has been followed with an order for an additional two X8 slitter rewinders. Personally, I have enjoyed working with MIke and being able to tap into his wealth of knowledge and experience. Mike was taken ill at the recent K2022 exhibition but has thankfully recovered. At Universal, we all wish him the best for the future.”
Over the last four years, Universal Converting Equipment has invested heavily in the development of a range of systems to improve the productivity of slitting machines. The key target has been to reduce downtime or the time the machine is not running. If you analyse the operation of a slitting machine, it can often spend more time not running than running.
The two main areas of downtime are due to a job change and a roll change – either finished rolls or parent roll. However, even within these causes, there are many items that build up to contribute to the total downtime. It is also necessary to ensure that the machines are producing good and consistent quality when they are running. To understand the approach that Universal has taken, it is easiest to move through the slitting process from unwind to rewind.
Fast Loading Unwind
In common with most slitter manufacturers, Universal offers a shaftless unwind with floor pick up on its X6 range of slitting machines. The Universal unwind moves vertically up/down to pick up the roll from the floor. Unlike pivoting pick up unwinds, the roll will always be in the same position on the floor, regardless of diameter, for the arms to engage with the core. The operator is provided with a remote control to operate the unwind arms so they can easily check that the chucks are entering the core correctly. This may only save 30 seconds per set up, but over a year, that adds up to a lot of time.
Automatic shear knife and razor knife set up
Correctly positioning knives, especially shear knives, can result in considerable downtime. Universal have developed an automatic knife setting system that can set 20 male and female shear knives in under two minutes. By the time a new parent roll is loaded into the machine, the knives are already in the correct position. The system can also position the guiding sensor so the material will be lined up with the knives. As well as saving time, the accuracy of the setup is improved and as the knife position is known, the cores can be accurately positioned to line up with the knives. Although shear knives take the longest to set, these benefits still apply to razor slitting. The male knife holders used as part of this system can be hold either razor or shear knives making it quick to change cutting system and allowing a mixture of shear and razor if required.
Closed Loop Tension Control
Most slitting machines are supplied with differential friction shafts to control rewind tension. These shafts rely on the control of friction to give you the correct winding tension. This can change with time. Using load cells to measure and control rewind tension is the only way to ensure your finished rolls are wound at the correct tension. Correct winding tension is essential to ensure good quality rolls are produced. The actual winding tension profiles can be recorded as part of the quality assurance record for the rolls produced. Universal also add an extra tension zone through slitting so you can increase the slitting tension without changing the rewind tension.
Fast Finished Roll Unloading
When a set of rolls is complete, the machine comes to halt and the operator then unloads the rolls. To reduce this downtime on a duplex slitting machine, Universal now offers a system that reduces the time from when the machine stops to when it starts winding again to under a minute. This is a huge time saving compared to the time an operator normally takes to remove finished rolls, re-core and re-start. The machine will repeatedly run at this speed – the machine doesn’t get tired or need to go for a break. As well as saving time, the system ensures the cores are always lined up accurately with the slitting knives and manual handling of the finished rolls is reduced.
The fast unloading technology can be incorporated into Universal’s X6T turret slitter for the ultimate high productivity machine. However, for most applications where flexibility is required, the system is supplied with the Universal X6 duplex slitter giving the level of performance which could only previously be achieved with a turret slitter.
The Future of Slitting
We believe that this is the future for slitting. It will not suit all applications, but for a large proportion of slitting requirement it offers the chance to greatly increase the output from a single slitting machine and also reduce the labour required to run the machine. The technology has been cost engineered to make the system affordable.
How much is this technology worth? As an example, if you saved 30 minutes per set up and you have four set ups a day, you now have two additional hours of production per day. If that time is worth £100/hr you have saved £200/day. If you assume that the machine operates for 250 days a year that is a saving of £50,000 per year. Over a ten year period the technology has saved £500,000.
This is why we think this is The Future of Slitting
Universal Converting Equipment manufacture class leading slitting machines and other converting equipment that is sold worldwide. The Universal X6 slitter offers a range of technically advanced features to ensure production of high quality product while minimising the amount of time the machine is stopped.
However, to achieve repeat sales, Universal decided they must also offer excellent reliability and customer support. To achieve this, Universal has focussed on four areas within its business:
Designing reliability into the machine.
Our approach is to focus on future reliability as part of our initial design process. We do not make our own drives or circuit boards – we buy our drives from a global supplier with worldwide support.
Our bearings and standard mechanical components are purchased direct from the manufacturer to avoid the risk of supply of counterfeit components. We provide easy access to lubrication points so it is easy to keep components correctly lubricate to prevent premature failure.
Internal manufacture of mechanical components.
Over the last three years, we have invested heavily in CNC machining centres to allow us to make our mechanical components ourselves. This has both improved product quality and reduced our manufacturing lead-time.
As the component drawings now go directly from our 3D CAD/CAM system to the CNC controller there is no risk of data entry error and it ensures repeatability. As part of this process, we have also standardised our components.
Should there be a need for a mechanical component, we will nearly always have it in stock and if not we can make it quickly. We also have extensive stocks of pneumatic and electrical components allowing us to respond to any need for spares quickly.
Comprehensive on-machine diagnostics.
The X6 slitter rewinder can be supplied with a range of automation systems to position the unwind, position the guider sensor, position shear knives and anvils and position the cores.
As the automation grows, so does the complexity of the control system. To make it easy for local engineers to support, we have developed the diagnostic system to give clear reasons if the machine will not operate.
We use a 22 inch colour touch screen as the main operator interface so all the information required can be clearly displayed. If the operator presses the start button and the machine will not start because, for example, a guard is open, a pop up will explain in simple terms what needs to be corrected.
We also provide dynamic electrical circuit drawings which are viewed on the display. They show the status of components such as inputs, outputs, voltages and current meaning that diagnostics which an electrician would do with a meter can be undertaken without even opening the control panel.
Remote diagnostic systems that work.
If we have completed the first three steps correctly then the need for remote support is greatly reduced. Universal is so confident in the reliability of its X6 slitting machine that it offers free telephone and internet based support for the life of the machine.
Sometimes a local engineer can struggle to resolve an issue. All our Universal X6 slitter rewinders have remote access capability via either VPN or port forwarding. The control system has been integrated to a level where when we connect to the machine remotely it is almost the same as being next to the machine. We can see the status of all the control components on the machine and look at the settings on the three touch screens. we can even watch as the operator changes settings on the touch screen.
Instead of the local engineer having to have a laptop with software and interfaces to connect to the machine, we offer this service free to our customers for the life of the machine.
Alan Jones, Managing Director of Universal Converting Equipment adds
“I am always amazed when talking to customers, the number of times I am told that they have purchased equipment that performs well but the ongoing support is poor. Since the launch of our X6 slitting machine, we have seen sales increase rapidly with orders from around the world. Although we will not stop developing the features of the X6 slitter rewinder, our biggest challenge is ensuring that we maintain our reputation for excellent support. Not only are we seeing repeat orders but some customers are ordering two or three machines at a time so the formula appears to be working. We have recently announced a showroom and support centre in the USA which will help consolidate are growing position the the Americas. We always have several X6 slitting machines in build so customers can visit and test their material on a machine. We will also have an X6 slitter rewinder at our showroom in the USA.”
The next generation of ITW Dynatec Dynamelt™ S Series Adhesive Supply Units have been designed to reduce the amount of energy required to operate efficiently, thereby also reducing their TCO (total cost of ownership).
Reducing energy consumption.
The new Dynamelt™ S unit consumes 20% less energy and significantly less air than similar adhesive supply units while advanced diagnostics, quick-change components and a larger filtration surface significantly reduce maintenance cycles and required labour. Modular parts – including pumps, filters and electronics – combined with simplified maintenance procedures reduce the amount of time operators and engineers need to spend keeping this already efficient adhesive supply unit running at maximum capacity.
Longer lasting parts.
Nanotechnology has been used with a new nano ceramic hopper coating which is 5 times more durable than competitive PTFE coatings to withstand wear.
All system parameters at a glance.
The display on the new ITW Dynatec Dynamelt™ S Series Adhesive Supply Units is intuitive and easy to read, which combined with the significant energy saving features makes the Dynamelt™ S Series a smart choice for the cost and energy conscious coater.
Efficient coating and laminating.
Universal Converting Equipment recommend the Dynamelt™ range of hot melt adhesive supply units for use with Universal range of coating and laminating equipment. ITW Dynatec equipment and parts are supplied in the United Kingdom by Universal Adhesive Systems Limited.
Industrial machinery has a reputation for being noisy and it’s taken for granted that ear protection needs to be worn when working with very large machines, but how often have you walked past a noisy machine only to realise it doesn’t appear to be actually doing anything? The energy consumption of large processing, printing, packaging and converting facilities can be so large that it puts a dent in a company’s bottom line, and by reducing energy consumption companies are not only helping protect the environment they are also protecting their profitability.
Most companies would love to be able to claim they are actively reducing their energy usage, but making these claims a reality can be a big challenge, especially in a large company with an established culture of process routine (which in themselves are by no means a negative effort). There are very easy ways in which companies can instantly reduce their energy usage, by powering down inactive machines between jobs (for example), but such simplistic moves can be very low impact and the resulting dent in productivity can be damaging to profitability.
If companies can’t make big savings by changing the way they work maybe they can actively reduce their energy usage by carefully choosing the tools they work with. Energy efficient slitter rewinders can reduce energy usage by powering down components not being used for some jobs, but there are more ways that the machinery manufacturers can fundamentally reduce energy usage, and most start on the drawing board.
Here are Universal Converting Equipment we design the majority of our slitters and winders to use the brake energy from the unwind shaft to power the rewind shaft, thereby drastically reducing the overall energy consumption of our machinery. This is just one example of the innovative ways Slitter Rewinders are designed and built at a controls level and how these ideas can reduce your energy costs, there are also many mechanical ways that waste can be reduced.
It may seem unusual to discuss slitter rewinders without talking about the materials they process, and by carefully handling and processing the material web as it is processed further savings can be made. Material waste can be reduced by using a machine designed to have a very short web path, this reduces the amount of material wasted when setting the machine up for each job. Ensuring that knives and cores are accurately set up (perhaps with automated systems) greatly reduces the amount of material that is spoilt, and therefore wasted. Reducing energy consumption with your Slitter Rewinder requires a holistic approach.
Slitter Rewinders designed with closed tension control, knife alignment, laser core alignment and web-guiding don’t only ensure an exceptionally high quality of wound rolls, they also reduce energy usage and material waste.
So when purchasing a new Slitter Rewinder ask your supplier what they are doing to reduce the energy consumption of their machines, it could make a big difference to your profitability. But these savings aren’t only available to companies investing in new machinery; here at Universal Converting Equipment we help our customers reduce energy consumption while improving reliability and profitability by building new control systems for old and third party slitter rewinders, after all one of the best ways to reduce overall energy consumption is to actively recycle!
