Custom Slitting & Converting
Contract Slitting • Custom Slitting • Toll Slitting • Converting and Rewinding
Specializing in extremely narrow widths with precision tolerances held as close as +/-0.001″.
Range of Narrow Width Slitting To Precision Tolerances
Visualize a human hair which is approximately 0.0025″ in diameter. Now visualize cutters capable of cutting materials to just three times the width of a human hair. Metlon’s unique custom slitting capability allows them to gang slit 278 ends simultaneously to 0.0078″ wide and wind each end on a separate traversed spool. In this example, the material being slit is 0.001″ polyester film.
Plastic films, papers, metal foils, impregnated fabrics, and laminations of these are among the wide range of materials we custom slit today.
Metlon specializes in extremely narrow widths, down to .008″ (.198mm) and non-standard custom slitting and we can work with very close tolerances (±.001″).
Extreme Accuracy
Customer requirements of extreme accuracy are common. As a leader in the converting industry, Metlon is known for custom slitting to extreme tolerances.
Example: One customer asked whether we could slit a new film to any width between 0.050″ and 0.750″ in 0.001″ increments. Also, he asked if we could hold our accuracy to ±0.001″. Metlon has satisfied this customer’s requirements for many years with no reported rejects.
Proven Precision
Metlon is not only able to slit to very accurate tolerances, but is also able to measure its results. Several different methods are used to measure accuracy for customers. Work which demands the greatest accuracy is measured with a Zygo Laser Micrometer. This precision instrument will measure from 0.010″ to 2.000″ wide in increments of five decimal places. In addition, certified copies of actual measurements are available.
Registration
Extremely accurate registration in very narrow width slitting is one of Metlon’s specialties.
Example: One job involved a 16 mm (0.630″) wide film with 0.030″ wide numbers printed down the center. The customer required that the film be slit to a final width of 0.040″ and that the printed numbers be kept in the center of the finished width.
The customer asked a number of converters throughout the country to do this work and he was told it was impossible. Metlon was the first to try and was successful. The customer continues to place orders with Metlon for this product.
Engineering Experience Works For You
When Metlon receives your order, the production department decides how to complete your order to yield the highest quality at the lowest price.
If special tooling will do the job better, reduce waste, improve quality, increase production, etc., then our experienced engineers design the necessary parts. In almost all cases, Metlon’s capable craftsmen, working in our well-equipped machine shop, manufacture the parts necessary to meet your finished product specifications. Our ability to make machine changes immediately, affords us flexibility and control, and insures you, the customer, the best possible product.
Our Diverse Range Of Equipment Works For You
Metlon Corporation has over 14 precision slitting machines in its plant that have all been custom- built in plant for specific applications over the last 25 years. These slitters vary from 4” wide machines that can slit to widths down to .008” wide to slitters that can handle material up to 30” wide. All of these slitters have the ability to hold tolerances of +/-.005” wide and many have the ability to hold tolerances down to +/-.001” wide.
We have the ability to slit onto many different ID cores and reels as well as various types of traverse spools.
As requirements have evolved over the years we have modified and rebuilt our slitters to handle different types of material and sizes apart from those for which they were originally designed.
Custom Slitting For Research & Development
One of Metlon’s first custom slitting jobs was in the days before Cassette sound recording tapes became popular. In those days, .250” wide magnetic tapes winding from reel to reel were the most common ways for people to record music and voice, at home and in recording studios.
Metlon was approached by two of the major manufacturers of .250” sound recording tapes. They had vast inventories of .500” wide magnetic tape that was made for digital storage on mainframe computers. The tapes had minor defects that caused them to fail during formatting for digital storage. It was determined that while the tape was not useable as computer media, it was of a quality that would work well for sound recording.
Metlon had the ability to slit a .008” wide cut out of the center of the .500” wide magnetic tape, winding the resulting .246” wide cuts onto reels for use as sound recording tape. This application gave the tape manufacturers a way to salvage thousands of dollars of defective inventory.
Cost-saving, Time-saving Capabilities for Clients
Prospective clients may often speak with several contract slitters prior to contacting Metlon. Typically, converters have told the customer that it would be necessary to purchase special tooling for the specifications listed, and that lead time for this tooling would require up to three months.
However, Metlon maintains a vast inventory of tooling that is set up differently than those many other companies use in the film slitting industry. As a result, we are able to set up, for example, projects slit to many widths in various narrow increments while still holding a tight slit tolerance…all with existing tooling. This is a particular strength at Metlon, one which results in Metlon getting the job, especially when jobs are challenging to other converters, and Metlon saves the customer downtime and added costs.
Increasing Your Capabilities; Creating New Business Opportunities for You
Metlon had a client sending in amorphous metals in supply rolls that were 1”to 4” wide and 12” to 14” in diameter for slitting to narrow widths, which we serviced for over 15 years. The supply rolls being sent to Metlon were on 3” ID cores and weighed between 50 and 100 lbs. each.
In 1997 this client had an opportunity for new business requiring much larger, heavier rolls of amorphous metal be slit.. The supply rolls for this opportunity were on 12” ID cores and weighed between 1,200 to 1,800 lbs. each. Finished slit coils had to be on 8” ID cores with weights up to 400 lbs. each. In order to satisfy these new requirements, we re-built both the supply stations and take up stations on one of our slitters. Eventually, this job grew to the point that it was necessary to re-build yet another slitter to handle the customer’s demand.
Metlon ran this material for many years, until our customer lost the business to a competitor overseas. At that point, the slitters were once again converted, back to their original use.
Confidential, High Security, Government and Private Industry Projects
Metlon has worked in cooperation with both government and private industry on research and manufacturing projects requiring high security clearances. References to those rigorous specifications remain confidential.
Metlon specializes in custom slitting, enabling us to meet our customer’s often very stringent requirements. Our experience and adaptability continue to prove beneficial to our clients in new ways every day. All prospective and existing customers’ research, requests for information and quotations, as well as work produced remain confidential.
Prototyping and R&D
We are a reliable resource for research and development departments as well as engineers. We frequently alter our equipment to test or set up short runs for new products under development or during prototyping. In addition to the efficiencies customers realize with ongoing and long running jobs, our engineering capabilities and expertise will also save you time and money on new product development.
Customer Service
Information, quotations, delivery, technical advice, answers to questions and an interest in your problems are part of the service you can expect when you contact Metlon. It is immediate and confidential.
For many customers, receiving a prompt reply is most important. We are as responsive to your job status inquiries as we are your delivery deadlines. And, meeting our shipping promise to you is a particular source of pride.
We provide on-the-floor warehousing of your materials, as well as drop shipments to your customer in your name.
For all customers, we try to match exceptional ability with exceptional service. Please call us and see how we perform.
Cooperative Development With Customer’s Engineers
Because we are specialists, customers call upon Metlon to do unique and experimental work to aid in the development of new products. Both large and small companies have frequently test-marketed new products with the help of Metlon, prior to investing in their own slitting machinery.
In addition to mechanical changes to aid customers in operational use, many recommendations have improved customer product recognition with special identification printing.
Suggesting alternatives and solutions is often where our engineering experience counts most.
Quality Backed By Integrity
Each customer’s custom slitting order starts with an individual customer specification checklist which includes cutter set-up, core or spool size, tension range and other controls necessary to meet the customer’s requirements. A supervisor must approve the first work to come through the cutters. Frequent spot checks are made by the operator throughout the run. Quality control makes the final check for accuracy, quality of cut, quality of winding, appearance of the material and other job specifications.
By far, the single most important feature in quality control is the integrity of our employees. All are carefully instructed on how to run the machines, read a customer’s specification checklist, and report all discrepancies to their supervisor. We are very proud of our employees and their continued effort to produce top quality work.
