Everyone's doing it. Trying to find a way to increase operating efficiency, and perhaps even crack new markets, without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on new machinery. As a converter, you may be harboring an all-or-nothing attitude about capital spending that is keeping you from making very profitable incremental improvements.

OK, so you can't afford a brand-new press. How about a new drive system for your existing press? How about updated controls, better winding systems, or an autoloader upgrade to your slitter that would help it run better?

Your machine builder, or even a supplier who competes with your original machine builder, is very likely willing and able to retrofit your equipment with a host of new upgrades, many for an investment between $25,000 and $50,000. Suppliers keep their engineers and installers busy, and you wind up with a better system for a fraction of the cost of a new one. It's the converting industry's best-kept secret and represents a true win-win scenario for both you and the supplier. (Check out our exclusive Retrofit/Upgrade Directory that debuts in this issue, p. 44.)

We talked to some of the industry's most prominent converting equipment suppliers to find out how they're helping their best customers upgrade their lines without breaking the bank.

Many of them are discovering that a significant percentage—20 percent or more—of their current business is retrofitting, and that type of activity is helping them not only stay in business, but even grow their overall sales volume during the industry's downturn. And those suppliers with a healthy retrofit business over a wide client base stand to gain ground over their competitors once business turns up.

For slitter/rewinder manufacturer Conweb (Fairfield, NJ), retrofits take many forms. "We can do anything from a relatively simple overhaul to a complete remanufacture," says Colm O'Shea, president. "We can install multi-motor drives, the latest tension controls, PLCs, etc. so that their old machine is as close to state-of-the-art as possible."

O'Shea says that customers come to them for many different reasons. "They're bothered by a lack of productivity, or they feel they're at a competitive disadvantage because of the age of their equipment," he says.

"Or it could simply be that they're running new materials and find their equipment needs new features or capabilities," he adds.

If you approach Conweb about a retrofit, however, be prepared to do your homework. "We really want our potential customers to explore whether a retrofit would offer a better return on investment than a new machine," O'Shea says. "We recommend that they look at the new machines on the market, see what's available, and make themselves a 'wish list' of capabilities."

Conweb asks for that list, along with photos, assembly drawings and literature pertaining to the old equipment.

"Then we break down the options and detail them at a site visit," he says. "We discuss their needs in person, and give them a firm quote for the work. We take on projects only where we feel confident in offering a warranty."

Managed properly, retrofitting can be steady, profitable work for the machinery manufacturer. It allows them to build in a slightly more comfortable profit margin than when quoting on new equipment, where competition is so fierce right now. And if the retrofit goes well, there can be repeat business.

"In one case, a large customer needed a series of machines retrofitted," says O'Shea. "We took one machine out, performed the upgrades, reinstalled it, changed another older one out, retrofitted that, and just kept going. The whole project took three years."

O'Shea estimates that, averaged over the last four years, retrofits represent between 15 and 20 percent of Conweb's overall sales volume. "I actually expect that to increase in the near term, until the economy improves," he speculates. "But even after it does improve, there will be a constant need for newer features on older machines. For instance, control technology is advancing so fast, there will be a continuing need for upgrades in that area."

Converters whose coating lines are 10 to 15 years old can discover that aging coating heads, unwinds and drive systems are slowing down productivity and versatility. Engineers at Geometric (Edison, NJ) quote coating retrofits that range from $30,000 for a simple upgrade to $500,000 for a complete new coating head and drive system. "We recently quoted $1 million for an extensive retrofit," says Bill Myer Sr., president.

What makes coating converters pick up the phone and ask for a quote? "They're starting to realize that with one or two changes, their whole line can be faster and more versatile," he says.

"We see unwinders, which were built in the 1920s, that form a bottleneck for the whole operation," Myer continues. "Or customers need versatility that isn't available with the equipment they have. One retrofit customer we recently worked with needed a larger-diameter rewind for paper customers—until recently he had only done film."

Although some of Geometric's customers install their own retrofit equipment, Geometric's engineering staff provides an onsite shakedown and test of, for instance, drive systems.

Myer makes little distinction, from a business standpoint, between retrofits and sales of new coating lines. "As far as we're concerned, it's all new business," he says.

Over its 53 years in business, converter Plastic Suppliers (Columbus, OH) has bought or built dozens of slitters—some 48 are deployed worldwide. Most of them are Dusenberys, but many of them bear little resemblance to the way they were equipped when they were new. That's because Plastic Suppliers' own engineering staff performs their own retrofits of these older machines, in a carefully planned round-robin schedule whereby a machine is taken out of service, rebuilt with new drives, control systems, etc., then redeployed.

Henry Stephens, a second-generation, 18-year veteran of the company, is Plastic Suppliers' converting maintenance and equipment manager. He and his staff perform the slitter retrofits personally.

"We've done between 20 and 25 retrofits so far," he says. "Each is a custom rebuild, and the equipment depends on the needs of the facility where it will be reinstalled. It may be slitting lightweight film, sheet, narrow-web material, etc. and that will impact the gearing, tension, and size of the rollers."

All the retrofit work is performed in the company's Columbus facility, takes from 3-6 months from start to finish, and includes new electronic controls and drive systems.

Before beginning a retrofit project, Stephens polls operators at the facility involved in the rebuild to see what types of control panels, etc. they prefer. "Some operators want the latest controls, others prefer the same kind of knobs and buttons they're used to," he says.

Stephens purchases the electronic components directly from the manufacturer (for instance, for PLCs he chooses Allen-Bradley, Milwaukee). Since the company has overseas operations, retrofits destined for Europe must meet CE guidelines.

"For instance, a recent retrofit headed for our facility in Ghent, Belgium, was a machine originally built in the late 50s or early 60s, that needed quite a bit of work to conform to CE standards, modern safety codes, etc.," he says. "As we've gotten more familiar with European machine standards, we may be incorporating them into our standards here in the U.S. as well." Stephens is often on the road at Plastic Suppliers' various locations, performing scheduled maintenance, checking on retrofitted equipment and scouting for his next retrofit project. As the company slits a wide variety of widths and materials, opportunities to give an old slitter new capabilities are always available.

For converters who are not fortunate enough to have a talented in-house mechanic like Henry Stephens on staff, the homework and preparation for a retrofit quote can be daunting. What, after all, should a converter expect of his equipment? Where can a limited budget best be used to bring an acceptable return on investment?

According to Chris Duval, sales manager of control-systems vendor Candy Controls (Niles, IL), upgrade considerations for a web-process machine should begin with an examination of four systems: register controls, infeed and outfeed tension controls, inking systems, and drying systems.

Register controls: According to Duval, adding automatic register controls adds a capability that reaches beyond just accuracy. "Yes, automatic controls make the registration more accurate than manual systems, but it also allows the operator to pay attention to other things, because the burden of register is now automatic," he says.

Infeed/outfeed tension controls: In the modern converting operation, these are a must for accuracy, and a relatively uncomplicated retrofit for older machines.

Inking systems: "If your goal is to improve performance and quality, you can't ignore the inking system," says Duval. "If you're trying to improve your operation to bid on process-color work, the inking system must be able to keep up."

Drying systems: Drying, according to Duval, can quickly become the weakest link after an upgrade, if it's not part of the initial planning. "Increasing speed means the dryer has to go faster too," he warns. "Either increase the capacity of the conventional drying system, or switch to UV inks and a UV drying system."

"Each converter has to look at his own set of circumstances and set goals for the upgrade," Duval says. "Some situations call for a full upgrade of everything to compete in this market.

"Other situations call for only one or two areas of the machine to be upgraded, for it to be competitive. This could be because the machine is not very old, or it could be the converter bought the best, with all the bells and whistles, and now it only needs a little help to be competitive again."

Bear Huber, manager of customer service/sales for pressmaker Paper Converting Machine Co. (Green Bay, WI), spends a great deal of his time helping customers with small capital expenditure budgets make the press upgrades they need to stay competitive. PCMC's massive dryer upgrades for CI-flexo presses allow the converter to make the transition to water-based inks. These retrofits run $200,000 for a $3-4 million press, and take several days to install.

However, a similar retrofit is available for the Webtron narrow-web presses that PCMC now sells and services. "That retrofit dryer unit costs about $8,500, is the size of a briefcase, and installs in two hours," he says. "It allows a 25 percent increase in speed."

Still, each retrofit means careful consideration on the part of the converter, according to Huber. He compares it to owning an older car. "You have to ask yourself, should I buy a new car or fix the transmission on the old car?"

For slitter/rewinder manufacturer John Dusenbery Co., Inc. (Randolph, NJ), retrofit services are just part of the overall service package they offer their worldwide customers. While other slitter vendors have become adept at retrofitting Dusenbery machines, there's something to be said for letting the original builder perform the retrofit, according to the company.

"In addition to 54 years of experience with the equipment, we of course have the advantage of access to the original prints, machine records, and documentation," says Ron Goltsch, corporate rebuilt/service manager for Dusenbery.

While each machine is customized from an "a la carte" list of available features, Goltsch says a typical Dusenbery slitter retrofit can range from $2,000 to $100,000. Retrofits represent about 15 percent of the supplier's sales volume, on average, over the last five years.

Because the company offers the same service and support for a rebuild as for a new installation, Dusenbery's retrofit business helps keep Goltsch and his staff of eight engineers and technicians traveling the world at a moment's notice.

Goltsch says, in fact, that new customer installations often lead to a retrofit as a follow-up job. "Customers who have bought a new machine from us often take a look at their older equipment and decide they want it to be upgraded to match the performance of the new machine," says Goltsch. "That can mean touchscreen controls, DC or AC-vector drives, etc."

Reaching the conclusion that you need to upgrade your equipment can happen in many ways: viewing new equipment at a trade show, complaints from your operators ("If only this machine could..."), or when prospective customers ask for capabilities that your current equipment can't provide. These reality checks may be surprising and a little disconcerting. While you may have thought you had the perfect mix of equipment, your customers' needs can change seemingly overnight.

But once you've reached that conclusion, you'll find a host of suppliers willing to work with you to see what you need, what the retrofit options are, and what it will cost. Then you're on your way to increased efficiency and higher quality, perhaps for a lot less money than you thought.