Featured Stories
-
-
Back to the Beach: Global Pouch Forum 2024
The Global Pouch Forum1, produced by Packaging Strategies2, now in its 27th year, is the longest-running flexible packaging event in the... -
Innovation in Extrusion Barriers Can Reduce Brand Owners’ Dependence on Plastic
According to the most recent statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency1, in 2018 the U.S. produced 35 million tons of plastics, while...
News | New Products
-
New COF Indicator Simplifies Measuring Friction on Packaging Film
Tentoma, the manufacturer of RoRo StretchPack® machines has introduced the COF indicator ST 1.0 tool to estimate if the coefficient of friction (COF) on the packaging film meets your requirements.
-
EMT International Builds Customized Punch and Perfing Finishing Solution for Heeter
EMT International, a leading supplier of finishing equipment to the digital print, label and packaging industries announces a new customer installation
-
Double E Group Releases the Schlumpf Powered Core Plug Handler for the Tissue Industry
Feature-Packed Core Plug Handler Increases Safety and Productivity
-
ProMach’s ID Technology Acquires Etiflex, a Leading Producer of Pressure-Sensitive Labels, Tickets, and RFID Labels in Mexico
ProMach, a worldwide leader in processing and packaging machinery and related solutions, announced today that it has acquired Etiflex
-
Re S.p.A. Celebrates 50 Years of Innovation at Drupa
Re S.p.A., an innovative leader in the printing and packaging industry, is excited to announce its participation in the next edition of Drupa
-
Sandon Global to bring anilox excellence and technical know-how to drupa 2024
Sandon Global, the British anilox manufacturer and drupa 2024 exhibitor, is poised to showcase its extensive technical expertise in flexographic printing
-
TIPA Compostable Packaging Appoints John Wilson as Commercial Director for North America
Packaging and sustainability industry veteran joins TIPA, to drive US adoption of compostable packaging to curb plastic waste
Expert Advice
Workhorse Winders Do More Than Ever Before
- Published: December 01, 2001, By Claudia Hine, Senior Editor
Winding technology has gone way beyond what it was in the '90s, says Bruce Butler, VP of sales at Independent Machine Co., Fairfield, NJ. “The entire system is just way more sophisticated this year than it was even two years ago.”
The most significant changes include new control systems that use servo drives and PLC units as a means of controlling speed and machine sequencing functions, explains Don Rush, national sales manager at Elsner Engineering Works, Hanover, PA. “The ease of making adjustments using the new controls really makes the converter's life easier, as does the ability to store the memory of a particular run for a particular product and recall it at a later date for a repeat performance.”
“Everything is electronic and much more quantifiable,” adds Butler. Data acquisition capabilities allow operators to store speed and tension parameters for a particular job. “It takes the art out of the process. You store the recipes and then you get consistency time after time for that particular product.”
More sophisticated drive systems also mean the tension control is much better, he adds.
The desire for better core starts is increasing because products are getting more expensive, so waste reduction is a big factor, says Rich McCarthy, VP at New Era Converting Machinery, Paterson, NJ. “Today there's a greater variety of transfer technologies and cut types. Now it's common to use shear cutoffs, traversing knife cutoffs, and enveloping cutoff systems. There are various technologies available for no fold-over and no tape transfers. Some of these technologies have been around for some time, but they're being applied more often and at higher speeds. Converters want to handle difficult materials more automatically and at higher speeds.”
When writing specs for new equipment, McCarthy recommends converters consider what materials they might run in the future, because the ability to handle other materials can be built into a machine from the start, or the ability to modify it in the future can be built in. “If you've got a product that doesn't need a lay-on roll, and you build a machine without it or without provisions to add one, you might be cutting off your future,” he warns. “You can buy a machine that does gap winding, but you design it so it can do gap winding and pack winding.”
Butler cautions, however, converters must work with the OEM when writing specs. Otherwise, he says, “When you're trying to build a machine to do everything, you have to make it so generic it's not going to do anything great.”
For winding material that's subject to wrinkling, McCarthy says constant geometry winding really minimizes or eliminates the rewinding challenge of wrinkle formation just prior to the transfer. “Constant geometry means there are two sets of pack or gap rolls, one dedicated to each winding position, and they rotate with the turret,” he explains. “That means that the geometry of the web path leading to the winding roll stays constant through the entire cycle and doesn't get lost during the transfer. It gives you a better roll.”
Down the road, Rush predicts, winder manufacturers will improve their current lines even more, offering equipment with controls that are more operator friendly than they are today and that run at higher speeds than currently available.
That workhorse winder has become a thoroughbred.