BBA Nonwoven's $36 million spunlace expansion project in Bethune, SC, will make use of a new mill-roll winder from Parkinson Technologies, Inc., Woonsocket, RI. The Mark IV winder is fully automatic for minimal operator requirements and includes automated shaft, roll and core-handling systems. The equipment also uses in-line slitting across an extremely-wide web width. Inherent roll-support designs in the Mark IV will let BBA produce finished, salable rolls directly from the mill-roll winder, says Parkinson.

Film converter Altopro S.A. de C.V. will expand OPP-film capacity at its Mexico City manufacturing plant via a new five-layer coextrusion orienter from supplier DMT, France. The 7.2-meter line, scheduled to be operational in late 2003, will be housed in a new building, which has already been completed. Altopro serves customers across the Americas, converting a wide range of products for the food packaging, label and industrial markets. Materials include clear, white opaque and metallized OPP films; clear, pigmented and metallized cast-PP film; and synthetic paper.

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.'s Solon, OH facility completes installation of three Western Express 60-C folder/gluer lines supplied by Western Slope Industries, Grand Junction, CO. The equipment includes three 60-in. wide Western Express gluers running carton stock through B-flute corrugated. One gluer will be dedicated to straight-line work, a second gluer will run auto-lock products, and the third line has backfolding capability for four-corner and six-corner production. A WSI Express Packer and WSI Case Positioner are also part of each line.

Green Bay, WI-based Tufco Technologies, Inc., makes capital-equipment investments June 27 for its contract-manufacturing business, focusing on the converting of disposable, nonwoven wipes for the household-care, personal-care, baby care, industrial and medical markets. The major addition is a new Clipper Series wet-wipe production line from Paper Converting Machine Co. (Green Bay). That system converts nonwovens by adding solutions to make a variety of wet-wipe, folded products.

Amsterdam, Netherlands-based The Vibac Group says June 27 that it will add a new BOPP-film extrusion line to the group's Vifan North American converting operation. A second new production line will also be added within 18 months at a company facility to be announced. The production units will be 8-meter wide, high-speed, high-volume lines equipped with 5-layer co-extrusion capability. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2002 and be completed by December 2003.