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ICE Europe 2019 – Universal Converting Equipment stand

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The ICE Europe exhibition is a great opportunity to spend time with many of our customers. Exhibiting at ICE Europe also gives us a good platform for showcasing our slitting expertise. At the previous ICE Europe show (in 2017) our X6 Slitter Rewinder drew a lot of interest, so this year we will be exhibiting the very latest iteration of the X6 slitter.

The latest version of the Universal X6 shares the same heritage as every X6 we have built, and has some key developments that we are looking forward to discussing with delegates at ICE Europe.

The Universal X6 Slitter has been designed as a fast changeover machine with a range of options designed to reduce setup time, maximise running time and running speed and guarantee consistent quality. The automation systems ensure that the required setup is achieved from the first set of rolls as you know the tensions, slit positions and core positions are all correct. These machines are sold worldwide with a comprehensive diagnostic and support system. The machine at ICE 2019 incorporates features such as:

  • Fast loading unwind, including floor pick-up, with remote control
  • Constant geometry lay on rollers for precise control with tail clamps
  • Closed loop rewind tension control ensuring rolls are always wound at the correct tension
  • Easy operation with 22” operator interface and two additional touchscreens for fast operation
  • Automatic positioning of shear (knives and anvils) and razor blades
  • Automatic positioning of rewind cores
  • Automatic positioning of guider sensor
  • Additional slit tension zone
  • Extensive diagnostics
  • FREE internet and phone based support for the life of the machine

At ICE 2019, Universal will also be unveiling a range of additional automation systems to further reduce operator input required in setting and running the Universal X6 slitting machine. In addition to the X6, Universal will also be displaying its CCA automatic core cutter and will have information on its range of rewinding equipment, laser perforation and scribing systems, hot melt coating and laminating machines and roll handling trolleys.

Universal X6 Slitting machine
The Universal X6 Slitter Rewinder

Skymark re-enforce reputation as a flexible packaging innovator with the purchase of a Universal X6 Laser Perforator

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Since forming in 1987 Skymark Packaging Ltd have strived to put themselves at the forefront of innovation. In the competitive world of flexible packaging Skymark are one of a select group of companies who are prepared to prove their commitment to constant innovation. One of the most tangible ways that Skymark has made their position clear is by publicly announcing details of investment programs. The company recently announced that they have invested in a Universal X6 Laser perforation Slitter Rewinder.

The Universal X6 Laser perforation Slitter Rewinder gives Skymark the capacity to process a wide range of flexible packaging films. During the slitting process films can be either perforated to modify the atmosphere within the package or scored to make packing easier to open for the consumer.

The laser scoring technology on the universal X6 enables packaging films to be perforated to a high level of accuracy at speeds of 350m/min. This gives Skymark the ability to selectively score one or more layers of laminated film. This enables the production of ‘easy peel’ packaging that won’t compromise the barrier properties of the complete packaging. Commenting on the investment, Skymark Director, Paul Neath said, “The investment in laser perforation and scoring capacity is part of a larger expansion programme. We chose Universal as they are able to offer local support for both the slitting machine and the Rofin laser system. Universal also have over 20 years experience with similar laser systems”

In addition to laser perforation and scoring technology, the universal X6 is fitted with the same hyper-productivity technologies as the popular X6 Slitter Rewinder. Including automatic knife and core positioning. Other common features, including on-screen diagnostics and remote support ensure that the X6 is consistently productive. As with all Universal Slitters the new Universal X6 at Skymark comes with free lifetime support.

2017 has been a year of great progress for Skymark Packaging Ltd. News of the purchase of an X6 closely followed news of an important award for sustainability. The new machinery will be installed at the Skymark facility at Scunthorpe in the UK. Alan Jones, Managing Director of Universal Converting Equipment commented “The growth of Skymark is mirrored by the growth of Universal. Having acquired additional buildings, Universal is set to double its output of X6 slitter rewinders in 2018. Although most of the machines are exported it is always good to supply companies that are closer to home.”

Find out more about the Universal X6lp…

X6lp Laser slitter rewinder

Universal Continue to Grow

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2017 has been a record year for Universal Converting Equipment with sales 60% higher than in 2016, which was also a record year. This development has been driven by the rapid growth in sales of the Universal X6 slitting machine. To accommodate this growth, Universal have recently purchased an additional manufacturing unit on the same industrial estate and are actively looking for a further unit. Although the new unit is only 8,000 square feet, it has allowed the manufacture of subassemblies and automatic CCA core cutters to be moved out of the main production area.

Commenting on the expansion, Alan Jones, Managing Director, said “Sales of the Universal X6 slitting machine have been tremendous over the last two years and we are set for another year of growth next year. The additional building together with some re-organisation of our existing buildings will allow the manufacturing area to be increased by 50%. We are currently negotiating for another similar building as we can see ourselves outgrowing the space again. The Universal X6 slitter rewinder is available with a complete package of automation systems to maximise both quality and productivity whilst being simple for the operator to use. We have exciting plans to continue this development of automation systems to ensure our machines offer the highest productivity available. These systems have been cost engineered so they become the standard systems for most of the machines we produce. Offering FREE lifetime on-line and telephone support has given our customers the assurance that if they have any problems in the future they can call on us for help without any upfront costs or contracts. The result of this friendly approach and the high quality machinery has been multiple orders from several of the major global flexible packaging companies.”

Slitter rewinder X6t

Parkside Flexibles invest in two Universal X6 slitting machines for Malaysia and the UK

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Universal X6 Slitting Machine

Parkside Flexibles are a leading edge flexographic printer with manufacturing in the UK and Malaysia. As a supplier to global brands, Parkside uses advanced processing systems to create value added packaging. This requires the highest quality slit rolls to send to its customers. In many cases, the complex structures are difficult to process and required a long setup to achieve satisfactory results.

Parkside invested in two Universal X6 slitter rewinders to meet these developing needs. The Universal X6 slitting machine has a range of features to ensure product consistency and minimise changeover times. Some of the Parkside laminates, including aluminium foil based structures, were particularly difficult to achieve satisfactory results. Key to the success of the project were the following machine features:

  • Tension control – The Universal X6 has closed loop rewind tension control with load cells providing feedback. This ensures that the winding tension is exactly as required, especially through machine acceleration and deceleration. Once the ideal settings for the material were found on the first machine, they were copied to the recipe system of the second machine which then worked immediately.
  • X-Slit slitting system – This system uses automatic positioning to control the position of knives and anvils to very tight tolerances. It can also automatically position razor blades. A closed loop measuring system is used to set the sideload on the shear knives. A tension zone through the slitting section allows the slitting tension to be optimised. Adjustable height rollers are used to set the amount of wrap around the cutting shaft to suit the material type being processed.
  • Wrinkle free operation – The Universal X6 slitter rewinder has a “Quad” wrap material drive system to isolate tension between the unwind and rewind. Unlike nip roller and vacuum roller based systems you do not have slippage, scratches, noise, energy wastage or crease formation.
  • Constant geometry contact rollers – unlike pivoting lay on rollers, the constant geometry contact rollers move horizontally as the rewind roll increases in size. The rollers are built into a rigid structure so they always stay parallel giving the best quality finished rolls.
  • Print repeat measurement – built into the X6 slitter rewinder is a system to measure the length of each print repeat and then generate a report and graph showing the variability through the roll

Both X6 machines were delivered on time with a Universal engineer commissioning the machines and providing training. Both machines have FREE telephone and internet based support for the life of the machines.

Commenting on the installations, Alan Jones, Managing Director of Universal Converting Equipment said:”Parkside challenged us with some of their requirements. Although the Universal X6 machines supplied to Parkside were our standard model, some of their specifications had tighter tolerances than normal. It was very satisfying when Parkside visited for the machine acceptance trials that the products were all processed without problems. The X-slit slitting system provides a lot of flexibility as well as fast and accurate set up. Rather than dedicating products to machines, Parkside found they could run their range of materials through the X6 without problems. Precise knife setting and closed loop control ensures reproducible results.”

Brian Harper, Global Technical Manager, Parkside Flexibles added “At Parkside, we take on technically difficult projects. Universal rose to the challenge and we have been extremely pleased with the results. From day one, the machines have been producing product of a quality we could not achieve consistently on our other slitting machines. Universal have worked with us to optimise the settings and due to the closed loop control systems we can swap recipes between machines and achieve identical results.”

Pulse Flexible Packaging Install Three More Universal X6 Slitter Rewinders

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Universal X6 Slitter Rewinder

Pulse Flexible Packaging was formed in 2014 following a management buyout of the UK packaging businesses of Printpack. After the buyout, Pulse has invested heavily in new production equipment to update its manufacturing base and expand its capabilities. Pulse already have machines from Universal at both of its factories.

As part of this expansion, Universal Converting Equipment have supplied three Universal X6 slitter rewinders to Pulse. Two were installed at their Bury facility and one at Saffron Walden. All three machines included the following features:

  • Fast loading unwind, including floor pick-up, with remote control
  • Constant geometry lay on rollers for precise control with tail clamps
  • Closed loop rewind tension control ensuring rolls are always wound at the correct tension
  • Differential friction shafts that do not require lubrication
  • Easy operation with 22” operator interface and two additional touchscreens for fast operation
  • Extensive diagnostics
  • FREE internet and phone based support for the life of the machine
  • Automatic positioning of shear (knives and anvils) and razor blades
  • Automatic positioning of rewind cores
  • Additional slit tension zone

The Universal X6 slitting machine is designed as a fast changeover machine. The mix of work processed through the machines at Pulse requires frequent knife set ups. The X6 has automatic positioning of both shear knives and razors. These are positioned faster than a new roll can be loaded into the machine. At the same time, the cores are automatically positioned on the rewinds. The system has to cope with a wide range of products from narrow bottle labels wound on 152mm cores to cold seal product wound on 76mm cores.

Commenting on the installation, Alan Jones, Managing Director of Universal Converting Equipment said,
“We had several discussions with Pulse before the project proceeded. They had undertaken extensive analysis of their existing slitting operation and realised that the running time of their slitters was low due to the downtime when changing from one order to the next. We proposed the Universal X6 slitter rewinder due to its range of features that drastically reduced the time the machine is stopped between jobs. The automation systems also ensure that the required setup is achieved from the first set of rolls as you know the tensions, slit positions and core positions are all correct. Since installation, we have also worked with Pulse to further maximise output from the machines. All three X6 slitting machines have extensive diagnostics and are supplied with our guaranteed FREE lifetime telephone and internet based support.”

Adrian Rowbotham, Engineering Manager at Pulse adds,
“The installation of the Universal X6 slitter rewinders took place at a time of great change in our business. The Universal X6 machines have both expanded our slitting capacity and greatly improved our efficiency with three X6 machine producing the same as seven of our existing machines. We bought our first Universal slitting machine ten years ago and have purchased other machines and systems from them since. We know how well Universal support their installations which made this decision an easy one.”

Find out more about the Universal X6…

The future of Slitting

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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.

Automated Slitter Rewinder - X6
The Universal X6 Slitter

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