slitter rewinders

Coveris increase BOPP capacity with Universal X6 Slitter Rewinder

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Flexible packaging manufacturer Coveris have revealed details of a program of investment that has led to a significant increase in production of BOPP (Biaxially-Oriented Polypropylene) labels.

As reported on the Labels and Labelling website Coveris have announced a large increase in productivity in their BOPP label manufacturing capabilities at their facility in Louth (UK). The company, who supply bottle labels to companies including Coca-Cola and Refresco, supported this growth by purchasing a fully automated Universal X6 Slitter Rewinder.

The quality of labels produced at the Louth facility was recently recognised by the European Flexographic Industry Association (EFIA), who gave Coveris a Gold award in the ‘Flexo Print on Film – Reverse Print Narrow’ category in 2019.

The fully automated Universal X6 Slitter has been installed in the dedicated finishing hall at Coveris Louth. The Universal X6 is a part of a program that has seen the site’s capacity to over 3 billion labels per year.

‘Coveris is uniquely positioned as the leading supplier of plain and printed films to the beverage sector in Europe. Supported by investment in state-of-the-art technology, dedicated BOPP manufacturing capabilities and award winning print, we are able to provide our customers with leading quality, service and products, while targeting ambitious growth in the BOPP beverage industry,’ said Mark Summers, Coveris Films Sales Director.

Universal X6 Slitting machine

ACL Films launch new website

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Universal Converting Equipment customers ACL Films Pty Ltd are celebrating the launch of a new website. Based in the state of Victoria, Australia, and operating worldwide, ACL Films are a family owned and managed business. The company offers specialist slitting, die cutting and sheeting services in addition to supplying a wide range of films.

In 2015 ACL Films upgraded their capabilities by investing in a Universal X6vt Slitter Rewinder and a Universal CCA Automatic Core Cutter. The machine is proudly displayed on several pages of the new website.

ACL offer contract slitting to many different industries, giving them a deep level of slitting expertise. The company slits a broad range of quantities and materials, so being able to set up a variety of slitting jobs in a minimal amount of time, and reducing waste meant the Universal X6 was the perfect machine for their expanding customer base.

The new website highlights ACL’s dedication to fast production turnaround, without compromising on quality or customer service. The Universal X6 is one of the fastest slitters on the market today, not just in ‘metres per minute’ speed, but also in terms of incredibly fast job setup. Automatic knife setting, core loading (and positioning) are just some of the automation features that make the X6 such a popular machine.

To find out more about ACL Films Pty Ltd visit https://www.aclfilms.com.au/

ACL website image

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.

Reducing energy consumption and costs with a Slitter Rewinder

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Efficient slittingIndustrial 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!

Further reading on slitter efficiency:

Ideas for efficient converting…

Minimised energy usage – ideas for efficient winding

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Actively reducing energy usage

Universal Converting Equipment are actively reducing energy usage

The need to reduce energy consumption in industrial processes is well established and often discussed and the motivation is strong; being both ecological and financial. Universal Converting Equipment have introduced a package of energy consumption reducing features into their range of Slitting and winding machinery.

Technical Director Dave Ward explains.
“We design our machinery to be a frugal as possible with energy and have identified significant areas where energy savings can be made; in some cases functionality and performance has been increased as a positive side effect. One of the ways we achieve this saving is by using the latest high efficiency (Efficiency 1) AC motors, with the most up to date AC Vector Drives. Commonly we design in regenerative motors rather than more traditional pneumatic brakes so rather than braking energy being lost (as heat) it is turned into electricity and used by other systems within the machine. In some applications the brake energy is enough to reduce power consumption of the machine by 40% or more. Our machines intelligently turn off unused systems (how often do you walk past machines with hydraulic packs (sometimes on guiders) that are running whether the machine is in use or not) and avoids fan systems that run even when not required. Wherever possible we have engineered hydraulic systems out of our equipment. Even our touch screens are set to go into power save mode when not used for a period.“

All considered the complete range of energy saving steps Universal Converting Equipment have taken will translate into lower energy bills for their customers, and a lower impact on the environment.