Capacity Needed

Published: June 01, 2011, By Edited by Claudia Hine, Managing Editor

Logistics played a role in the decision by Mexico-based Plasticos Especializadoes de Monterrey S.A. (Plemsa) to purchase a Titan ER610 compact slitter from Atlas Converting Equipment. Armando Vazquez Castillo, director of the Plemsa Plastics Div., saw the unit on display during a visit to ICE USA in Orlando, FL, in April.

“Our business has expanded rapidly in the last few years, and we needed additional high performance slitting capacity in Monterrey to keep up with increased demand,” he says. “So it made complete sense to buy our second ER610 slitter from the ICE USA show, as it was already in Florida!”

The 65-in. (1,650-mm) ER610 is a twin-shaft cantilever slitter and a more sustainable slitting/rewinding solution. It has reduced power but all electric, oil-free operation without hydraulics and is designed to process lower volumes and shorter runs of flexible packaging materials.

The unit features a CCD edge-guide camera for reducing waste and has a running speed of 1,500 fpm (450 mpm) with an option for slit widths as narrow as 1.37 in. (35 mm).

Flex-Pack Production

Established in 1957, the Plemsa Group produces a range of flexible packaging materials, mainly for food applications, with facilities for blown film extrusion and coextrusion, flexo printing, lamination, slitting, and bag production. There are production facilities in Monterrey and at its group company, Plastinal, located in Mexico City. It also has offices in Guadalajara.

The Plemsa Group supplies flexible packaging throughout Mexico and since 1988 has developed substantial sales of its products to customers in the US, Central, and South America.

The Titan ER610 slitter can process a wide range of flexible materials including plain, printed, coated, or metallized film from 20-200 micron, a wide range of laminates, and paper from 30-200 gsm.

The unit features a 10-in. touchscreen control system and an integral edge-trim extraction system. The pneumatically controlled braking system is said to provide accurate web tension control, and a digital edge-guide system controls lateral movement of the unwind roll to ±2 in. (50 mm).

Optional features on the Plemsa machine include a static electricity control system, laser (line) core positioning, EU safety guarding, laser safety scanners, and shaftless unwind roll pickup from the floor.

“We have been very satisfied with the performance of the first Titan ER610 slitter, which we installed at the beginning of last year,” explains Vazquez Castillo. “We have other older Titan SR Series slitters that have been running well for the last ten to 15 years, so we knew that reliability of the new Titan machine would not be an issue.”

Supplier Info

• Atlas Converting Equipment Ltd. | www.atlasconverting.com

Converter Info

• Plasticos Especializados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V. | Bernardo Reyes 2625, Sin Nombre de Colonia 22, Monterrey, NL, Mexico | +52 8125-4534 | www.plemsa.com