Winding Series #1
Thanks to our in-house winding expert, Duane Smith, we’ll be doing a series of blogs on the intricacies and economics of winding technology. In this first blog, Duane offers insight on how you can increase productivity, lower production costs, decrease scrap rates and shorten production cycles by incorporating slitting and winding processes into a production line.
When looking for ways to meet or exceed productivity and profitability goals, every non-value added activity must be eliminated. When winding rolls consider the fact that each time a roll of material is handled, the chance of roll damage is increased. In a typical scenario, a roll is loaded into the unwind of a slitting and rewinding operation and multiple layers of the outside diameter are removed. The sheet is then threaded through another machine and jogged until the sheet runs true. After that, the slitters are engaged, and the slit webs are brought to the new cores. All of this generates waste and lost product. Next, the webs are unwound, tensioned or stretched, and rewound at varying tensions (typically +/- 10 percent of the tension setpoint) during acceleration and deacceleration times. This is not efficient or cost-effective.
One of the best ways to simplify this process and boost profitability is to slit and wind shippable quality rolls as part of the production line. Moving to an in-line arrangement could save you between $0.05 and $0.10 per pound of production cost. Just as important, by slitting and winding high-quality rolls with proper density control on your process, quality deviations such as moisture or caliper more easily identified and corrected.
The good news? There is technology available to help you achieve your goals. When looking to purchase or upgrade equipment, consider the following:
In the coming blogs, we’ll discuss productivity requirements for continuous unwinding and splicing, the art of winding good rolls, challenges in winding flexible packaging film and guidelines for rolls used in web handling.
Have questions? Comment below or e-mail marketing at marketing@davis-standard.com.