Eagle Film Extruders, Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI) goes to great lengths to produce the "flattest" film possible. An ISO 9001:2000 certified company that supplies blown film for a variety of coating, printing and laminating applications, it only uses prime grade resins and state-of-the-art equipment to create consistent, flat film.

"Our customers want the complete package," says George Collins, Eagle president. "They don't care how it gets done, only that we have met or exceeded their expectations every time. We could make the flattest and most consistently blended film in the world, but if we did not surface treat it to specification, label it correctly, package it securely or deliver it on time, we fell short. The intangibles, more than ever, are also noted as a very important key to our success."

In order to meet customers' expectations, Eagle takes great care in controlling every detail of the film-making and film-treating processes. Not leaving anything to chance, the company even stores its resin silos inside the plant. This way, the plastic resins are not affected by changes in the weather.

Once the resins make it to either the monolayer or the three-layer Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp.'s VAREX blown film extrusion lines (www.whcorp.com), the blending of the resins and the making of the film are completely controlled by computer.

"Although there is still craftsmanship involved, we wanted to move Eagle into the realm of science and away from the traditional art method of producing blown film. Computerizing our process has allowed us to do this successfully," says Len Fouty, Eagle vice president.

The VAREX extruder features an OPTIFIL P-2 automatic die control with a capacitive thickness gauge. "From set-up to finish the computer is minutely controlling every facet of production; blend, width and thickness come into control quickly improving up-time and reducing scrap. Our customers, in turn, benefit from a very high level of consistency, whether it is a 300-lb. trial or a 200-roll order, the film will process in their equipment identically from the sample stage throughout future production runs. Manual systems are not capable of providing film with this type of consistency," Fouty explains.

The extruders, which can produce layflat tubing and sheeting up to 87-in. also come with multiple-component gravimetric control, Module ISP for integrated quality control, an oscillating haul-off and FILMATIC S & K winders with face-to-face roll orientation. Eagle aims for the flattest film not only for its customers' applications but for its own treating process as well. "Flatter film allows us to precisely target in on a specified dyne level and hold it uniformly across the entire web," Fouty says.

Along with cutting-edge extruders, Eagle made sure to install treaters that matched their flexibility without compromising quality. "With very little limitation, we have been able to produce the stiffest and softest films from 0.6 to 18 mils in thickness. We needed a treater that would not limit our ability to produce these films. Enercon was able to provide us a treater solution that could meet this challenge," Fouty says.

Eagle has a two-sided Enercon covered-roll surface treater (www.enerconind.com) with stainless steel electrode segments on each of the W&H systems. The segment sides are milled on a slight angle to help eliminate weak or missing treat lanes and they are also milled to match the curvature of the roll. "This increases the treatment dwell time and allows for more power to be dissipated into the film," Collins says.

The treaters are powered by Enercon's Compak 2000 power supply, which has a turn-down ratio of 30:1. This enables the treater to provide full treatment across the length of the electrode consistently at very low and high speeds, Enercon says. "The turn-down ratio of these units add to the flexibility of our line," Collins adds.

But Eagle goes beyond just making sure its machinery and components are at top-form in order to provide its customers with the best film it can make. In December 2002, Eagle was approved for its ISO 9001:2000 certification, which means that the company meets the requirements for a quality management system.

A commitment to producing the highest quality film and maintaining the ISO quality system have combined to help Eagle build solid relationships with their customers. "There's payback for them, which translates into value, which allows us to build upon our relationships," Fouty says.