GIRONA, Spain—The innovative technology of Comexi, a global supplier of solutions for the flexible packaging printing and converting sector, translates into significant benefits for its customers. Wipak UK, a company specializing in the production of sophisticated, high-barrier films for food products, has purchased a Comexi S1 DT slitter with double-sided laser scoring. The new capabilities resulting from this investment will allow the family-owned company to further develop its sustainable packaging portfolio.
Ramon Jonama, the Comexi area manager for the UK region, explains that this “innovative technology patented” by the company not only allows “for saving costs regarding the addition of labels,” but simultaneously makes “the perforation laser on both sides of the film. This results in cost reduction, plastic savings, and increased productivity.” The S1 DT slitter, which is already in operation at Wipak UK’s site in Welshpool (Powys, Wales), is one of the few machines installed around the world that can perform these sophisticated applications.
Andrew Newbold, Wipak UK’s managing director, commented that the inclusion of this machine in Wipak’s largest project investment in the UK, which was announced in 2020, is key to the production of packaging that has a low carbon footprint, contains recycled content and is curbside recyclable. He further explained that Comexi was chosen as the supplier due to its technical expertise and track record of supplying machines for the wider Wipak Group.
The Comexi S1 DT, with laser inline, is a slitter which provides excellent results in both quality and productivity, even in regard to the most demanding jobs, due to its state-of-the-art control elements and high degree of automation. Cores, knives, laser heads, photocells and almost every adjusting element of the machine is self-calibrating, as a result of an extremely interactive and easy-going user interface. This unique automation of the Comexi S1 DT gives the operator, without the need to intervene, the possibility to load the reel into the machine and deliver finished reels.
The turreted version of the Comexi S1 DT is capable of performing jobs which require a large number of output reels and is also able to work with the thickest materials used in the flexible packaging market, including aluminum, wax and other special or complex materials on the market. Furthermore, this machine includes Comexi’s laser module. This system allows every converter to run any imaginable flexible packaging laser, including easy open, micro-perforations, windows, resealable and a long etcetera list. Comexi’s inline laser patented systems facilitate subsequent applications and processes, increasing productivity, capacity and customer benefits.
The Comexi S1 DT allows for a high degree of customization, as well as many automated options, such as splicing tables, automatic reel unloading, video camera inspection and label robotization of finished reels, thus fully guaranteeing complete system control and an exceptional increase in productivity.
Wipak UK is part of the Wipak Group, a Finnish global supplier of premium quality, sustainable and innovative flexible packaging solutions for food, medical devices and pharmaceutical products. Comexi began its relationship with the company, which has 11 manufacturing plants across Europe, in 2005 with the acquisition of the first Comexi slitter. The purchase of other laminators and slitters has subsequently strengthened the confidence between the two companies.