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Mike Wilkinson Retires

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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.”

Photograph of Mike Wilkinson

Don & Low expand production with a Universal X6 Slitter

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slitter rewind
Universal X6 Slitter (rewind section)

 

Don & Low are an international supplier of innovative polyolefin based woven and non-woven materials for a range of specialist applications. As their business has grown over the past few years, they found their existing slitting capacity could not keep up, so they took the decision to invest in a Universal X6 slitting machine.

The investment followed extensive research by Don & Low into the machines available. The range of non-woven materials produced by Don & Low have very specific handling requirements. Their prefered slitting method is shear slitting, but they needed to reduce set-up times. It was essential that the chosen slitter had the ability to automate as many processes as possible. The machine needed to produce slit rolls up to 1000mm in diameter with precise control of tension.

The Universal X6 slitting machine was able to meet all of the requirements of Don & Low and more. The key aspects for Don & Low were:

  • Automatic setting of shear knives and anvils.
    A 20 knife set-up can be completed in under two minutes with no operator involvement. The precision of the system ensures the knives are in the correct position, with the required knife depth and the specified side load. Micrometer feedback confirms the position of the knives to the operator.
  • Closed loop tension control.
    The load cells are part of the control algorithm for rewind tension control, ensuring that the exact tensions requested are being achieved. Trend graphs are available to show actual vs set tensions through all the rolls produced. In simple terms, you always achieve the tension profile required per product.
  • Comprehensive diagnostic system.
    The 22 inch operator interface provides easy to read diagnostic information on the machine including Dynamic Circuit Diagrams. Using a secure Internet connection, all aspects of the machine performance can be seen remotely by Universal engineers when required. Universal also offer FREE telephone and Internet support for the life of the machine.
  • Fast loading and unloading.
    Although the machine can handle large diameter rolls, the high speed of the machine dictates that frequent unwind and rewind roll changes are required. The vertical raise/lower unwind (with remote control) is extremely quick to load parent rolls. On the rewind, the machine was supplied with a finished roll pusher and laser core alignment to minimise time the machine is standing still.
  • Small Footprint.
    The compact design and short web path of the Universal X6 was ideal for the preferred factory location.

Commenting on the investment, Keith Galloway, General Manager of Don & Low Nonwovens said “Don & Low is undertaking a major investment in new production equipment to expand capacity and increase the range of products we can manufacture. The Universal X6 slitting machine was one part of this investment. We talked to many companies about our requirements and Universal stood out as a company that could meet our technical requirements while still staying within our budget limits. Although the initial discussions focussed on the specification, what became clear was the commitment of Universal Converting Equipment to the ongoing support of their equipment. We are based in Forfar, Scotland and sometimes we can struggle for a fast response from our machine suppliers. Universal have invested heavily in developing their diagnostic systems so we have the comfort that if a problem occurs, we have the information available to solve it ourselves. The free lifetime support is a statement in the confidence Universal have in their equipment.

It is great to have a machine that can almost set itself, leaving the operator to focus on other tasks. The automatic knife setting system is a massive time and cost saver. Most knife set ups take just over a minute. Likewise, the closed loop tension control and gap winding capability ensures that we always produce high quality slit rolls.”

Alan Jones, MD, Universal Converting Equipment added “Don & Low have high expectations and they pushed us hard to achieve their objectives. Very quickly, they identified the benefits of having a fast changeover machine with automated set-up. However, with automation comes additional complexity so the diagnostic and support package ensures the high performance of the machine can be maintained. As a company, we have tried to look beyond just selling machines. The ongoing support offered to customers combined with the quality of machine supplied, is the best way to secure future orders. Does it work? We think so. Since supplying the Universal X6 to Don & Low, they have ordered two further machines for other operations within their factory to gain the same production benefits.”

More about the X6 Slitter Rewinder…

 

Universal X6 Slitter (unwind section)
Universal X6 Slitter (unwind section)

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

Universal Converting Equipment complete Phase 2 of their expansion strategy

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Slitter partsIn the last two years, Universal Converting Equipment has doubled its turnover. To support this turnover growth, Universal invested in additional manufacturing space, designers and assembly staff (Phase 1). However, Universal found that the business was being held back by the lack of capacity of its sub-contractors to meet their increased demands. In the last 12 months Universal undertook an ambitious plan to install its own machine shop so it could be self-sufficient in machined mechanical parts. This Phase 2 investment plan is now complete following the installation of £1m in CNC controlled machine tools. The investment has included a CNC mill for the manufacture of machine side-frames, a CNC lathe for production of rollers, PC controlled roller balancing equipment and a range of CNC machining centres for the manufacture of other parts. Special foundations were built for some of the equipment. For example, the large mill sits on a solid reinforced concrete base over 1000mm deep. Levelling the machine bed to the tolerances required took a specialist team over a week to achieve.

Commenting on the investment, Alan Jones, Managing Director of Universal Converting Equipment said “We have been using 3D CAD systems to design our machines for the last 10 years. We have now invested in CAM software systems so that the part drawings can be converted into files that can be downloaded directly into the CNC machine tools. This prevents errors caused with manually controlled machines and eliminates data entry mistakes. The CAM system ensures we have consistently high quality components with the minimum of downtime when new designs are entered. Since installing this equipment, we have changed the design of some components so that the machining time can be reduced resulting in cost savings that can be passed onto our customers. We have used our own resources to fund this investment without the need for borrowings, increasing the financial strength and stability of the company. We are now commencing Phase 3 to increase our global sales and support infrastructure.”

Universal Converting Equipment are a 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.

Universal Converting Equipment expand

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Slitter machine running rolls Slitter, winder and hot melt coating equipment manufacturer grows into new premises.

Slitting and coating equipment manufacturer Universal Converting Equipment have announced they have purchased an additional 4000sq feet of manufacturing space adjoining their existing Ipswich-based facility.

“The additional spacewill be used to complement our existing production areas and also to house a 2000sq feet show / demo room that customers will be able to visit for trials.”

says Managing Director Dave Ward.

Slitter web guiding made simpler and greener

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Energy efficient converting machineryUniversal Converting Equipment focus on re-usable energy and ease of use for their web guiding system.

As a part of their commitment to ‘actively reduce energy usage’ Universal Converting Equipment have developed a ‘regenerative’ web guiding system. The ‘Converter Guide 4’ is a simple to use web guiding system designed as an upgrade for slitters and winding machines, or as a replacement for obsolete or inefficient guiders. The guider is operated via a touchscreen interface which is very simple to use.

The Converter Guide 4 web guider is energy efficient partly because it uses electric linear actuators instead of dirty and inefficient hydraulics. A typical guider actuator spends as much time braking as it does motoring, we store the energy produced by braking to be utilised during the motoring phases of operation, thereby reducing the overall energy consumption of the web guider.

The Converter Guide 4 web guider is designed to retrofit onto a wide range of slitting machines such as Atlas, Titan, Kampf, Goebels, Parkland, Cameron, Elite, Dusenbery, Ashe Converting, and many others. It can also be used on other converting machines including coating and laminating machines, sheeters, unwinds, presses and hot melt coating machines. It can be used to replace web guiding system from Fife, Erhard+Leimer, BST or built into new installations.

 

More information – https://universalconvertingequipment.com/web-guiding