At Plastindia 2023, SP Ultraflex displayed its flagship product ROBOSLIT dual turret slitter-rewinder with speeds up to 800 meters per minute. Launched at Plastindia 2012, ROBOSLIT has now become a name synonymous with dual turret technology in the subcontinent.
“In 2012, the speed of the machine was 500 meters per minute and the USP of the machine was its dual turret rewind section which allowed finished reel changeovers within half a minute. Since its 2012 launch, we have demonstrated the machine live in subsequent editions of Plastindia at progressively higher speeds – 800 meters per minute in 2015 and 1000 meters per minute in 2018 which is an as-yet unbroken record for the highest speed at which a slitter-rewinder has been run in any international event. This truly reflects the level of confidence we have in our technology,” said Biku Kohli, managing director, SP Ultraflex.
Kohli continued, “However, in recent years, some of our customers questioned the wisdom of investing in such a high-speed machine when it would remain idle for nearly 20% of the time. And they were right. It took 30-40 minutes to set up the machine for a new job and for a converter who needed to slit and rewind 7-8 jobs in a day (which is quite common today, considering the increased number of SKUs per brand) this indeed added up to 20% of the time. Simply put, the ROBOSLIT displayed at Plastindia 2023 is an answer to this question.
“The machine features a fully automatic job changeover cycle which includes servo driven ‘pick and place’ mechanisms for the unwind, cutting and rewind sections, reducing the set-up time per job from 30-40 minutes to 5-8 minutes, and releasing the machine to run for an additional 2-3 hours per day. Other benefits include reduced setup wastage, reduced operator-skill dependency and improved operator safety.
“In keeping with our title of ‘serial innovators’, we have continued to add value to our ROBOSLIT dual turret slitter-rewinder. Having launched the basic version in 2012, we worked over the years on increasing the speeds from an initial 500 meters per minute to 1000 meters per minute today and with the latest version, we have addressed the one remaining major concern of the industry – job setup time. I am also happy to share that inputs received from visitors at this show have already given us direction for further innovations.”
Speaking about SP Ultraflex’s success, Kohli said, “Compared to imported brands, we have always had an upper hand because of our proximity to our customers and our ability to support them better. Another big strength of ours is the faster time to market, made possible because of our focus – be it products or markets. Last but certainly not least, a dedicated ‘Beyond Basics’ team is entrusted with the task of converting qualified inputs about industry requirements from the sales force into prototypes in the least possible time.”
About market challenges, Kohli said that the worldwide supply shortage of key components necessary for machine manufacturing is affecting all machine manufacturers. He said, “Now despite Covid being over, we feel the times are as challenging or even more so because although we have increased demand from the market, we are facing challenges in getting the machines ready in a reasonable period as some key components are taking longer to become available to us.”