Reducing Waste Material and Increasing Productivity by Butt Splicing

Presented by R. Joseph Gotshall, MTorres

Zero-tail, butt-splicing can be utilized to speed up converting lines while greatly reducing or eliminating the waste of valuable raw materials. This technology has been applied to materials ranging from paper & paper board to tissue, towel, film, nonwovens & flexible packaging substrates.

Perfect butt-splicing can be achieved at high speeds by utilizing a festoon system, precisely controlling tension and having exact coordination with the unwind stands through automation. This technological advancement was made possible through control systems and the integration of a high-capacity festoon system allowing a perfect butt-splice to be performed at 0-speed while the production line continues to function at maximum velocity. In other words the joining of the two webs, the terminating web and the leading edge of the new roll, are actually sealed together using an adhesive tape while the webs are being held perfectly still. Yet the production line continues along at high speed utilizing the paper stored in the festoon to supply the line with material.