Film Buffs

Rotoflex slitter/rewinders ease tension for CCL Label.

by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor

With recent design and print triumphs such as Dannon's drinkable yogurt shrink sleeve and the award-winning Spinformation® pharmaceutical label construction, CCL Label has continued to command the attention (and business) of leading consumer products companies. CCL's penchant for high-end, high-impact labels recently led management at its Shelton, CT-based facility to a search for new, specialized slitting/rewinding equipment to better handle the latest in label manufacture.

Early this year, Shelton determined its production load—90 percent film-based labels—demanded more efficient, up-to-date slitting/rewinding capabilities. After examining the options, CCL decided to procure equipment common to CCL plants across the United States and Canada; in early 2001, the company purchased three customized 13˝ Rotoflex VLI 330s. Soon, Operations Manager John Hovanec states, the Shelton plant floor will be configured to run the Rotoflex slitting/rewinding operations in-line with existing Gallus presses.

As a whole, CCL Label provides prime and promotional packaging in pressure-sensitive, shrink-sleeve, in-mold, expanded content, rotating, and promotional applications in a variety of industries. Primarily serving the personal care/beauty market, CCL Shelton uses 75 employees to output approximately $18-20 million in production per annum.

In deciding where to turn for a slitting/rewinding solution, Hovanec reports there was one basic principle: "Because production is so film-heavy, [CCL was] looking for equipment designed to effectively handle filmic substrates." The ability to control rewind tension obviously becomes both more difficult and more critical while printing on films, as Shelton employees experienced firsthand.

In converting a label for a Lysol household cleaning product, CCL found the multi-layer film construction promoted poor tension control on the older slitting/rewinding equipment, which in turn resulted in considerable wrinkling. The Rotoflex VLI equipment, available in standard web widths of 10˝, 13˝, 16˝, 20˝, and 24˝, features increased horsepower and automatic tension control, making clean converting of the Lysol labels possible in one pass.

Hovanec cites the enhanced performance aspects of the VLI 330. "Throughput is almost double," he testifies, "and ease of operation is incredible." Chris Russo, shipping/slitting supervisor at the Shelton plant, agrees with the operator-friendly assessment, noting, "You just push a button to rewind in or out." Other boons to the operator, he says, include a maneuverable splicing table as well as safety buttons holding the web down.

Finally, Russo asserts, the decision to invest in new slitter/rewinders came down to a lack of horsepower in the existing equipment. CCL's old machines, in operation at the Shelton plant for more than 20 years, simply weren't powerful enough to handle the web tension demands of so many film substrates.

Another key attribute of the Rotoflex slitting/rewinding system is its inspection functionality, a process known as ALIS (Automatic Label Inspection System). On slitter/rewinders such as the VLI, ALIS utilizes the multiple-fault, high-speed positioning features of the Rotoflex URC controller to assist the operator with efficient correction.

Russo values the strobe light positioning in the back of the machine, as well as the immediate inspection it provides. As he notes, "Inspection begins at the very start of the run; on the old machines, inspection didn't start until the machine got up to speed. Maybe 50 or 60 labels would go by before the speed picked up."

Though CCL Shelton purchased standard-size 13˝ VLI 330s, the units were customized for the plant with several features, including vacuum trim removal, digital set-up devices, and roll lifts. Dez St. Croix, Rotoflex regional account executive and liaison between the company and CCL Shelton, maintains that Rotoflex continues to be focused on applying many years of engineering and technological experience to providing individual solutions to their valued client-partners.