According to Holger Baumgartner of German papermaker Fibermark, 2004 should be a banner year. "After the worldwide recession is over in 2004, we should see a recovery of the converting and printing business as people start to spend more money, and companies increase marketing and PR activities," he predicts.

As director of operations for two of Fibermark's Bavarian mills, Baumgartner is in a position to prepare for this increase in business. Fibermark manufactures and converts a dizzying array of specialty papers and other substrates for a number of truly worldwide markets, including automotive filtration products, vacuum cleaner bags, abrasive backings and tapes. Saturation, coating, chemical finishing and other converting capabilities set them apart. "We are a niche producer with strong technical know-how, and highly developed R&D activities," he explains. "Our engineering solutions are mostly developed in-house in close relationship with our suppliers."

Close indeed is Fibermark's relationship with slitter/rewinder supplier Goebel schneid-und Wickelsysteme. Over the past three years the converter has purchased several Goebel winders, not only for its Bavarian plants but for U.S. operations as well. In the U.S. they worked through Matik, Goebel's exclusive distributor here. In all, the Topslit rewinders were installed year by year in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

"Service and startup were very good," Baumgartner comments. "The team of Matik, Goebel and Fibermark worked very effectively without any friction. Online software support was available 24/7, and in general we experienced very fast response times on all management levels at both Matik and Goebel, which helped communications and the startup curve."

The Goebel units handle parent rolls with diameters averaging about 82 in., and about 65 in. wide. Slit widths run in a very wide spectrum, from 1 to 63 in. "We chose Goebel not only for their extreme reliability and quality, and their experience in the specialty slitting business, but because of their customer-oriented staff and engineering flexibility," says Baumgartner.

All in all, the three new slitters in Bavaria and the U.S. have performed with no major problems, and Baumgartner looks forward to a year of increased sales and activity in 2004.

"The service on these winders has been as good as we expected," he says. "German precision (Goebel) combined with flexible customer service (Matik) has lead to the success we've achieved."

Tissue producer and converter Paloma, located in Sladki Vrh, Slovenia, purchases a new Maxim Gold surface-rewinder line from Green Bay, WI-based Paper Converting Machine Co.

Founded in 1873, Paloma currently has four paper machines, producing some 70,000 metric tons/yr of tissue. The expansion is in preparation for Slovenia's entry into the European Union this year. Paloma serves the southeastern European market and secondary buyers from all over Europe.

Paloma chose the 108-in.-wide Maxim Gold rewinder line, which was supplied by PCMC Italia. Fully automated, the system is capable of speeds to 2,100 fpm, and cycle rates up to 45 logs/min. The system consists of three unwinds, a multi-color flexo printer, a multiple-station embosser and combination embosser/laminator, the Gold rewinder head, a Rotoseal™ 45 tail sealer, as well as an accumulator, a high-speed, four-lane Prolog™ log saw, and a high-speed core maker.

Valmet Converting's Atlas slitter/rewinder division recently won its biggest-ever sales contract to a Chinese converter. Jiangsu Shuangliang Packing Material Co., located in Jian Ying about 120 miles northwest of Shanghai, has commissioned one 6.7-meter-wide and three 8.3-meter-wide Atlas primary-film slitters. The order is worth about US$10 million.

Jiangsu Shuangliang, a newcomer to the plastic-film business in China, has developed an extensive "greenfield" production site, which will lead to the startup of no less than four BOPP-film lines, scheduled for September 2004.

The four Atlas film slitters will be running at operating speeds of up to 3,900 fpm, processing up to 120,000 metric tons of BOPP film/yr. Most of the film produced will be destined for the packaging industry for both domestic and export markets.

Atlantic Packaging, a contract converter of paper and paperboard, completes installation of a Webco Engineering (Westboro, MA) slitter/rewinder at its Charlotte, NC, facility. With core sizes from 3 to 12 in., the system converts master rolls into narrow-width rolls of customer-specified sizes. Headquartered in Wilmington, NC, the co. serves the entire southeast US, carrying more than 4,000 tons of C1S and C2S bleached board inventory.

Slitter/rewinder technology provider Dienes Corp., Spencer, MA, continues its exclusive series of nationwide "Slitting Facts" seminars April 13 in Springfield, MA. The nominally priced seminars will link practical applications to shear, crush and razor slitting, dust generation, and adhesive slitting theory. Dates of other seminars include April 15 in Framingham, MA; June 8 in Appleton, WI; and June 10 in St. Paul, MN.

More info: 800/345-4038; fax: 508/885-3452, www.dienesusa.com

Slitter/rewinders manufacturer Stanford Products LLC has appointed TTEM S.A. de C.V. as its agent to cover all machine sales, spare parts and field-service support in Mexico.

Located in Mexico City, TTEM has served the converting and related industries since 1986. Well known as agents for such companies as AccuWeb, Boschert, Magpowr and Nim-Cor, TTEM's president Rogelio Valle Y H stated, "We are excited to add the prestigious Stanford name to the list of agencies we currently hold for the Mexican market. Our ability to service Stanford's equipment, and the fact that we stock spare parts, means that Mexican customers can depend on the highest level of support."

Announcing this latest agency agreement, Stanford's president Séamus Lafferty said, "Stanford has a substantial existing customer-base in Mexico. This local representation will allow us provide faster service to our existing customers while also facilitating the introduction of our product line to new customers."

CEMA Slitting/Rewinding seminars ahead: In 2004, the Converting Equipment Mfrs. Assn., Ft. Mill, SC, will present two educational seminars on slitting and rewinding fundamentals and advanced techniques. The programs will be held May 4-5 in Columbus, OH, and November 16-17 in Atlanta.

More info: 803/802-7820, fax: 803/802-7821, www.aimcal.org

Pinnacle Converting Equipment, Inc. says it has developed a slitter/rewinder for the hot-stamping foil industry. The unit features light controlled tension capability, 1 to 3 in. cores, razor-slitting comb, 600 fpm web speed, and a length counter, with an economical price. The machine is easy-to-use and provides greater flexibility and quality than the typical bologna slitting operation, eliminates fused edges, unused material width, and dependability on rerolling prior to slitting for material and labor savings.

More info: 704/376-3855, fax: 704/376-2207, www.pinnacleconverting.com