Holliston, MA-based Pagell Corp., a contract converter specializing in slitting and rewinding, always has been on the lookout for components and accessories that would enable it to improve its current capabilities. And when initially faced with difficult materials to work with, Pagell sought out solutions.

"What we've tried to do is continually upgrade our equipment to be able to better service our customers' needs," says Brett Kane, Pagell president.

So when approached with a job that it couldn't handle with its current equipment, Pagell retrofitted its 62-in. Dusenbery Model 835 duplex center-winder (www.dusenbery.com) with an Erhardt + Leimer digital control system that came with a color line sensor (www.erhart-leimer.com).

The job involved a printed clear film that required some intricate slitting. The 835 needed to hold the tolerance of the slit width and the register to width. While being slit, the material is also getting perforated. "Although we had an E+L system on the machine with line reading capabilities, we knew we had to upgrade the system to hold these tolerances with confidence at full production speed," Kane says.

"The old (E+L system), although it has the capability of reading a line of print as well as an edge, just would not pick up the edge of the clear film, which is not unjustified," adds Chuck Afonso, Pagell general manager. "It just wasn't designed for that. We needed a system that would be able to go from line to edge with the flip-of-a-switch, eliminating costly changeover time."

The new E+L digital control system was installed in June, and it consists of the color line sensor, position controller, actuator and operator controls. It ensured that the web is always in the correct position and that the roll at the exit end of the machine is slit and rewound correctly.

Of particular importance to Pagell was the color line sensor. It has a measuring range of +/- 10 mm and determines the position of the edge or line with an accuracy of 0.02 mm. A light point visualizes the chosen guiding reference continuously and if there is no reference to be found, the sensor no longer emits actual position values. It has two integrated lighting systems in the incidental light mode stand for reliable scanning of lines or color contrasts on different material surfaces, E+L says.

"The new system that we have gives us better accuracy and a fabulous tolerance," Kane says. "Being a contract converter, we never know what's coming around the corner as the next job. Oftentimes we need to switch from line to edge on consecutive jobs."

Luckily for Pagell, the new system does both and the changeover from from either function is said to be quick and easy. "Another key for us is that the system is digital. The old system was analog, and it was impossible to hold the type of tolerances that were required," Kane says.

Along with the better accuracy and the easier set-up, Pagell's previous relationship with E+L also played a part in their decision. "We felt that this system gave us the greatest value, but just as important was the support from E+L—both from the sales people, as well as its technical staff," Afonso says. "The system has run flawlessly from the very beginning, and the support that we're getting on the system is critical as well."

"This digital system from E+L just fits all of our needs for what we were trying to accomplish," Kane says. "The nice thing now is that we can bring in more business that has the need for this type of capability and have the confidence that we'll be able to do it accurately."