While many businesses plunge into the economy's porcelain god, U.S. Converting Wisconsin stays buoyant. Since its creation 5 years ago, the Jefferson, Wis.-based printer and laminator of non-supported films keeps growing.

To meet capacity demands and streamline production, the plant bought its first coater/laminator in January. A 1991, 52-in., Dri-Tec, the machine was recently upgraded, but still cost less than half a new one. U.S. Converting's president Mark Blackman couldn't justify buying a new machine, which has only more bells and whistles, he says.

Before the coater/laminator purchase, U.S. Converting printed packaging for the peanut, dog treat, coffee, snack food and candy industries, then shipped the material for lamination to sister company, U.S. Converting, Inc., Schaumburg, Ill.—a step that added time and money to projects.

Now, with the Dri-Tec machine, all operations are performed at one location. Blackman prints with water-based and solvent inks from Sun Chemical, on a rebuilt PCMC, 6-color central-impression flexo press that he calls, "A beautiful chunk of steel." He then laminates polyester to polyethylene, polypropylene to polypropylene, or a three-ply polyester, metallized polyester and polyester. Substrate suppliers include Charter Films, AET Films, Vifan, Filmquest, Navis Industries, and Rohm and Haas.

Without the coater/laminator upgrade, U.S. Converting ran at 450 fpm. With the upgrade, speed is an impressive 700 fpm. To achieve these speeds, Dri-Tec refit the drives, as well as synchronized them to achieve automatic cutovers on-the-fly. Dri-Tec also speed-matched the overhead oven rollers, nip roll, rewind and brakes.

Before upgrading, U.S. Converting shut down during every roll change for unwinds. They shut down, spliced manually, then started back up. "If you're running polyester to polyethylene, you have at least two shutdowns per hour to make roll splices. You lose almost 20 min. in an hour," says Blackman. Thanks to the upgrade, footage is up, and Blackman can throw splices in the unwinds and splice automatically on the front end. There is no more shutting down during long runs. Also, Blackman runs water-based ink while maintaining a 700 fpm line speed.

All substrates, including paper, run on the coater/laminator. When challenges arise, U.S. Converting often relies on vendors for information. "I don't do business with vendors who aren't technically literate. I can buy myself lunch and golf," Blackman says humorously. Dri-Tec has helped him with anilox rolls, doctor blade systems, web and overhead tensions, film temperatures and substrates.

When asked about his business' success during hard economic times, Blackman says he has no trade secrets. "This is not rocket science. We don't have any high-tech equipment. We have no special tricks," he says. "After you've been in the business for so many years, it just becomes second nature."