When pressure-sensitive label converter The Lauterbach Group (Waukesha, WI) found a rewinder to match its new flexo presses, the company also found a way to cut prices for its customers.

Lauterbach sought a rewinder to team with its two new 13-in., two- and 10-color Mark Andy flexo presses (www.markandy.com), explained Dave Warczytowa, vice president of product development. The system had to be at least 13-in. wide but also needed to handle a 16-in. diameter. "That (parameter) knocked out a lot of people," Warczytowa said.

Making the cut was Keene Technology, Inc. (www.keenetech), which eventually supplied Lauterbach with the JR turret rewinder in early 2005. "They were willing to adapt so that we could do a 16-in. finished diameter," Warczytowa said. In addition, he was impressed by the dancer that allows more accurate adjustments to roll tension. "With that dancer, the diameter, the familiarity with the tooling and everything else, this was a natural fit for us," he added.

The JR rewinder employs a matched-speed splicing technique for non-stop production at speeds up to 500 fpm and includes quick-change pneumatic spindles. The portable rewinder is easily moved between the two- or 10-color presses as needed. "That's part of the beauty of it; it goes from press to press. It allowed us to be more efficient on that particular product line (stock, prime labels and direct mail)," Warczytowa said. Along with the rewinder, Lauterbach also bought a butt splicer and matrix winder from KTI for total automation.

The automation and increased production efficiency enables Lauterbach to "to lower costs a little bit so we can be more aggressive on pricing," Warczytowa adds. "It's worked extremely well."