It's rare to find a traverse rewinder with shear-, score- and razor-slitting capability combined in one unit, but that's what converter Pak-Lite Inc. (www.pliusa.com) was looking for. And that's just what they found in a unit they purchased from Chase Machine & Engineering (www.chasemachine.com) in July 2004.

Pak-Lite manufactures a wide range of specialty composite gasketing, tape and filter products for the automotive, marine, flooring and packaging industries. The company works with HDPE, LDPE, PVC, urethane, rubber, neoprene and nonwoven materials, and prides itself on the ability to slit foams and tapes to exacting specifications. "We needed an upgraded slitter, with better capabilities," said director of operations Paul Dooley. Managers happened to see a similar unit on a plant visit and were familiar with Chase's good reputation for material-handling equipment.

Installed by Thanksgiving of last year, the unit impressed Dooley with its wide range of slitting capabilities and versatility. The unit shear-slits down to .25 in., score-slits down to .50 in., and razor-slits down to .25 in. Traverse width range is .25 to 1.50 in., and is adjustable for a variety of products.

Ease of implementation was also impressive, according to Dooley. "We've never had an installation go so smoothly," he said. "We received effective training from Chase, and were up and running in no time." Dooley added that he expects the unit to service Pak-Lite's current and future capacity in these three important slitting areas for the foreseeable future.