By Giancarlo Caimmi, Ph.D., commercial dir., Nordmeccanica USA Group Historical background My early days in an engineering department were spent in a flexographic printing-press factory. At the time, that company was one of the two largest in the world, and its products were distributed worldwide with our primary markets being North America, South America and Europe. That … [Read more...] about Converting-machinery operation: Addressing operator safety and achieving the “zero-touch” target
2024 Quarter 1
Web-slitting process-control tips
By Dave Rumson, slitting educator and consultant Introduction Throughout my converting-industry years, traveling to customer facilities to review their winding and slitting machinery, speaking at tradeshows and technical conferences and conducting my Assn. for Roll-to-Roll Converters-sponsored (formally AIMCAL) “Web Slitting Technology” courses, I’ve met many process … [Read more...] about Web-slitting process-control tips
Maintaining and improving your dryer performance and efficiency
By Angela Krueger, president-ASI, div. of Thermal Technologies, Inc. Drying and curing are crucial steps in producing high-quality, defect-free product. To achieve this, a properly maintained dryer is necessary to prevent unplanned and potentially costly downtime, keep operating costs down, and operate as required for decades. This article will detail the maintenance steps … [Read more...] about Maintaining and improving your dryer performance and efficiency
Advancements in laser patterning of sputtered coatings for high-volume production of flexible microelectronic devices
By Mike Simmons, president & CEO; Matthew Kleyn, Joseph Vlach, and Liz Josephson, Intellivation LLC Laser patterning of conductive, vacuum-deposited thin films for production of low-cost / high-throughput, flexible-electronic devices provides versatility, accelerated development cycles and manufacturing scalability. Optimizing performance by adjusting device architecture … [Read more...] about Advancements in laser patterning of sputtered coatings for high-volume production of flexible microelectronic devices
Determining the vacuum-system parameters for R2R coaters by using a simulation program
By Norbert Palenstijn, product sales development mgr., Leybold USA, Inc. Editor’s Note: This paper is based on the author’s presentation at the ARC R2R USA Conference held in Milwaukee, WI, in October 2023. Introduction The predicate of R2R vacuum coating is evaporating a coating material and subsequently condensing this on a base material, referred to as the … [Read more...] about Determining the vacuum-system parameters for R2R coaters by using a simulation program