Featured Stories
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Tension: The First Thing We Must Get Right
Web tension is arguably the most important parameter for any web process. Tension is the first thing we must get right. -
Principles of Narrow Web Slitting
For those veterans in the slitting-winding community, this commentary is not necessarily new information, but reviews are always good too. -
Recyclability & Circularity Consumers Support Sustainable Brand Packaging
Sustainability has never been more central for the printing and packaging industries.
News | New Products
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Hong Kong PrintPack Fairs Open in April
Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and CIEC Exhibition Company (HK) Limited, the two PrintPack Fairs will be April 27-30, 2024 at AsiaWorld-Expo
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BioEmitter®- Keeping Corrosion and Rust at Bay in Enclosed Spaces
One of the most important missions of Cortec® Corporation, a global leader in the corrosion protection industry, is environmental responsibility.
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Fedrigoni Names New Commercial Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
Fedrigoni — the world’s leading manufacturer of specialty papers, premium self-adhesive materials, RFID and connected solutions
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SEI integrates Vetaphone on new Labelmaster KyoJet
SEI Laser Converting is based in Buja in the northeast corner of Italy.
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Former Division of the Knox Woolen Mill in Camden Acquired
Edward H. Best Company has been acquired by Windward Ventures LLC, a Maine-based investment group.
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Miraclon and BOBST reinforce strategic partnership
Miraclon and BOBST have reinforced their strategic partnership, with Miraclon named as the plate technology partner in BOBST’s new Competence Center in Atlanta.
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Anderson & Vreeland announces the expanded role of Tyler Thomas as National Sales Manager - U.S.
Anderson & Vreeland, a prominent manufacturer and distributor of flexographic print technologies, equipment, and consumables, is pleased to announce the expanded role of Tyler Thomas as National Sales Manager - U.S.
Expert Advice
When It Comes to Positioning, Do Rulers Really Measure Up?
- Published: April 01, 2001, By Claudia Hine, Senior Editor
The economy has flattened, and you have an overcapacity of product. Is this the time to invest thousands of dollars in a slitter positioning system when you can do the job with a tape measure?
“Yes!” say the equipment manufacturers — and they offer some pretty compelling evidence to suggest they're right.
According to Jim Driscoll, executive VP of sales and marketing with EMT International, Green Bay, WI, “One of the major trends we're seeing is that, due to an overcapacity in production on both the paper side and in film and foil, a lot of companies are taking their general converting equipment and upgrading it to reduce downtime and to reduce the overall cost per run. The industry as a whole has slowed a little bit, so people are investing more in improving the operation of their existing equipment.”
He adds, “If there is a high value in the material itself and there are multiple setups in a day, the cost for the downtime alone can lead a company to make the decision to buy a fully automated system, which is the fastest method of setting up holders.”
Dave Rumson, national sales manager of Dienes Corp., Spencer, MA, explains that the positioning systems available today range from manual to semi-automatic to fully automatic. “The automatic systems are very easy to use,” he says. “They are typically menu-driven. An operator loads in a new menu of slit widths, and every time they want to run that product request, all they have to do is call up the menu number. The computer system recognizes the job and positions everything accordingly.”
At the high end of the equipment range, Rumson says, the top knife holder and bottom knife rings are moved by servomotors, free of operator involvement. Linear bearings are used for position accuracy, speed, and reliability. “There are a lot of different combinations available. It's a question of budget and what the payback is for a particular system,” he says.