Customer Success Story

ProFusion Industries, a maker of flexible PVC sheet and film, was having difficulty slitting one of their products.  They contacted us at Grosel Industrial Sales to solve this issue, as we have been working with this plant for over 40 years.

As many of you know, GIS takes the systems approach to identify the actual problem.  After a few conversations and many photos, using our Principal’s engineering expertise and our practical experience of slitting, we discovered the root of the problem:  Profusion was sharpening their blades incorrectly. 

This is not uncommon for score blades because people think all blades should be sharp.  The problem with sharp score blade is the edge rolls over on the blade and the quality of the cut diminishes.  In fact, Dienes (our principal) uses a special diamond tool to resharpen blades. It hones the angle and the radius all at once to increase the surface finish, precision, and quality.

The misconception that score or crush blades are sharpened to a point was the first and easiest to tackle.  For reference, the other two potential issues in score slitting are Anvil Condition and Knife Holder Force. 

Once we saw the product with hairs or fines, it was easy to determine the next steps.  Profusion ended up purchasing a few blades with a bevel and radius which allowed for much better slitting success.  Fortunately, step one of blade geometry worked for Profusion.  We were happy to help our customer solve the problem with a lasting solution.  We pride ourselves on the high level of knowledge we bring to each and every application.

Over the years, we have provided them a plethora of products including Air Shafts, Brakes, Core Chucks, Idler Rolls, Safety Chucks, Slitting Equipment, Tension Controls, Trim Removal and Web Guiding. 

Thank you, Profusion, for trusting us.  We look forward to continuing our steadfast relationship. At GIS, we truly appreciate our loyal customers who trust our expertise. The opportunity to form relationships with customers who will allow us to practice our passion of providing solutions is why Grosel Industrial Sales was started and continues to grow.

Tags: Score Knife Resharpening, Slitting Expertise, Profusion, Dienes Slitting, Grosel Industrial Sales

Vetaphone’s Kevin McKell on Corona Treating

Below is an article from Vetaphone’s website on Total Cost of Ownership and how it relates to purchasing on value versus price:

At a time when the very word ‘corona’ sends shockwaves around the world, Vetaphone is sensitive to its more customary use in the printlaminating, and extrusion markets, where surface treatment is a vital element in daily production.  Kevin McKell, our Vice President of Technical Sales, explains why Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is so important when choosing surface treatment technology?

Why should companies take the longer view when choosing which surface treatment technology to buy?

Because the purchase price is only a part of the overall investment – and this is a trap that many converters and extruders fall into.  They look only at the bottom line of the quote to see how much it’s going to cost to buy, and completely forget to factor in the on-costs that occur with any machine or item of technology.

What’s the first additional cost to consider?

Installation of course!  It is no good buying the cheapest equipment if you (or someone) need to spend a lot of time assembling and installing it once it arrives.  That is why we ship all of our surface treatment units for a turn-key installation.  All parts are completely pre-assembled and pre-wired so that it’s easy and quick to integrate into the production line with minimal disruption and cost.  All our customers need to do is to mechanically install an air/ozone outlet and ensure there is an electrical connection.

What other factors do they need to take into account?

Bearing in mind how harsh some of the working environments are, customers need to evaluate the life expectancy of the unit given its intended usage in their plant.  All Vetaphone corona equipment is built from the best materials for continuous production in any working environment. Crucially, all parts are ozone resistant.  The design has been continually refined over the years using experience drawn from our many worldwide installations.  These include cold to hot climates as well as regions with low and high humidity.  Our latest technology is proving extremely reliable, making it perfect for 24-hour production and a long working life.

What sort of problems stem from poor build quality?

Poor quality components and poor build quality cause major problems in any production line – it’s not just an issue with surface treatment.  But, you don’t want your corona unit to be the weak link in the chain.  Cheaper units will break down more often, causing a loss of production and they won’t last as long, meaning further investment and disruption as the replacement is installed and commissioned.  One of our OEM’s says that the reason they fit Vetaphone corona units is because they last up to five times as long as cheaper units.

How do Vetaphone units prevent loss of production?

One of the reasons for a fall in production is non-uniform surface treatment across the width and along the full length of the web.  This doesn’t happen with a Vetaphone corona unit because of our automatic power density device.  This allows the generator to raise or lower the corona power setting automatically according to the line speed, ensuring the same treatment is applied per square meter throughout the run.  The generator automatically starts and stops with the production line and will ‘flag’ situations that are outside of its capability.

Is Vetaphone technology integrated into the line control?

Yes, it is.  Vetaphone provides an interface between the corona unit and production line, whether it is a printing press, laminator or extruder.  This allows the operator to make adjustments, read data and see any ‘flagged’ issue.  Our latest iCorona generators also feature the unique iCC7 control panel, which has been available since 2017 and we believe takes Vetaphone beyond Industry 4.0.

What’s so special about iCC7?

It’s designed to make the technology easy to understand and intuitive to use.  It collates and utilizes feedback from operators who use the technology in a commercial environment on an everyday basis.  We keep the front page of the iCC7 display simple, with optional in-depth sophistication that allows the operator to explore more detailed information as required.  It logs function and maintenance requirements, with remote analysis via a download tool and USB port.

All technology has downtime – how does Vetaphone resolve this issue?

Our equipment is built for high production security.  Its design and modular construction make it easily accessible so downtime related to maintenance, repair, or upgrade can be kept to a minimum.  The entire encapsulated generator module can be easily accessed and quickly exchanged from Vetaphone’s worldwide support centers (including in the USA), if necessary.  The corona treater station is built with an electrode system in a removable pull-out/push-in quick change cartridge for easy maintenance and cleaning.  This ensures minimum downtime and increased productivity.  On our larger corona stations, the electrode assemblies are pneumatically activated and pivot away for easy access.

What about the cost of spare parts?

The thing to remember is the importance of using original spare parts, not cheaper copies.  Our parts department is always available to provide you with the right part at the right price.  This will ensure sustained performance from your Vetaphone technology and a longer working life.  Our equipment is well documented, which makes wearing parts and spares parts easy to identify and order.  We typically provide spare parts for 20 years after the original Vetaphone equipment is sold and offer global technical support and a support hotline to solve problems instantly.

Finally, how do you keep running costs down?

As energy costs continue to rise and environmental issues become more prominent in our daily lives, Vetaphone is constantly on the lookout for ways to become ‘greener’.  Maximum performance with minimum impact is something of a mantra for us.  That’s the reason our generators use the Vetaphone patented resonance circuit.  This ensures maximum energy reaches the electrodes and less of it is lost in heat in electrodes and in the electronics.  All of which means that our equipment provides more dyne/kW.

Tags: Vetaphone, Corona Treating, Plasma Treating, Grosel Industrial Sales

A Story from our President – Dean Grosel

When I was a junior in high school, I started a small landscaping business. I provided weekly maintenance and developed a customer base of about twenty.  I used my dad’s old station wagon (and yes, with the wood panels on the sides) and later purchased a trailer for mulch and grass.  I did everything from installing yards, weeding beds, mulching, clean-ups…you name it.  It helped having an expert assist me since Google was not around then.  You see, my father and founder of Grosel Industrial Sales, started a landscaping business many years prior. His situation was a little different. He was a salesman for a power transmission company and basically told his boss to go fly a kite.  However, I heard that was not the exact vernacular.  The problem was that he had to go home to his wife and six children with little money in his pocket and no job.  So, he started and developed the landscaping company and the manufactures’ representative business (Grosel Industrial Sales) at the same time. 

I remember going landscaping with him a few times. I was about eight at the time and really admired my father.  He was a hard worker and commanded respect from his crew.  I recall being in awe and thought to myself that I will be like him one day.  Years later, I found old plastic business cards in my dad’s basement that said Grosel Landscaping… and that gave me the idea to start my first business.  I truly have an entrepreneurial spirit because of my father.  Grosel Industrial Sales was the second time that I followed in my dad’s footsteps.  He taught me that passion for what you are doing, hard work, and staying within process will help you attain any goal.  Understanding and being guided by a process has enabled me to do things right the first time and finish.  By following the designed roadmap and analyzing the steps along the way, I have found that the outcome is usually positive. If it is not, I continue to learn and keep moving forward toward my goals.

I know things were not always easy for my dad, but his willingness to succeed was immeasurable.  He always taught me to take care of the customer, which started as a landscaper.  When I would make a mistake in my landscaping business, he would just say, “go fix it and learn.”  The easy way takes little effort, but doing it right takes perseverance and commitment.  I realized how much he fostered my passion for learning and helping people.  This became second nature to me; from coaching to helping family members, friends, and neighbors with my hobby of remodeling and wood working.  This same mentality goes into my work at GIS.

I am fortunate to have a father, mentor, and boss who instilled those values.  The new lingo of “go fix it and learn” became do it right the first time. Today, I proudly acknowledge hard work, integrity, problem solving, reliability, and passion as a few of the values I learned from my dad.  I take these principles with me everywhere; it is who I have become.  If you love what you do, it is not a job.  Allow our expertise and love for business provide you solutions that will live up to your expectations… the first time.

Tags: Grosel Industrial Sales

Tension Control 101

Tension control and web handling are general terms.  This blog is about the basics of tension control. 

There is a simple formula: Tension = Torque / Radius

The Tension is the force of the material as it goes through the tension zone.  The Torque is the force applied to the roll or spool.  The Radius is half the diameter of the roll.  On an unwind, as the roll get smaller (the radius is decreasing), you must decrease the torque proportionally in order to maintain a constant tension.

There are three types of tension controls: manual, open loop, and closed loop. 

Manual System Control

On a manual system, the torque is constant so the tension will rise as the diameter of the roll decreases.  The control could be a power supply for a magnetic particle brake, a regulator for a pneumatic brake, or a leather strap or mechanical brake with a thumb knob.  For some applications, this works fine.

Open Loop Control

On open loop control, there is a measurement for the diameter of the roll which can be achieved in a few different ways: diameter sensor (either laser or ultrasonic), follower arm, or a calculation from tachometer input from spindle and line speed.  The diameter input is utilized by the control to send an output to the brake (torque) via an amplifier or current-to-pressure transducer.  There is no feedback from the material which classifies the control as open loop.  It automatically adjusts the torque as the roll gets smaller in order to maintain a fairly constant tension.

Closed Loop Control

There are two types of closed loop controls: dancer and load cell.  In dancer control, the feedback comes from a potentiometer on the dancer arm.  The proper way to load a dancer is with an air cylinder.  The force on the dancer sets the tension.  The control tries to maintain the position of the dancer arm.  It will increase the brake if the dancer lowers and decrease the brake if the dancer rises.  Dancers are great for intermittent motion, badly out of round rolls, and splicing on the fly.  However, this type of closed loop does not allow for a read out in tension which is vital for precise tension control.

Our Favorite

By far the best tension control is utilizing closed loop load cell (tension sensors, tension transducers…) control.  The load cell signal is utilized by the control to provide output to the brake via an amplifier or pneumatic converter.  As mentioned previously, this is controlling the torque of the brake.  The load cells will monitor the tension of the material which gives the operator a pound’s tension value to determine how the process is running.  The control will maintain the set point tension by reducing the output to the brake as the roll gets smaller. 

The Reasoning

Because of the set point and feedback from the load cell, this is the most stable and repeatable system for controlling tension on a web handling or continuous processing line.

Remember, this is tension control 101.  There are many factors to determine the correct solution for each application.  Luckily, Grosel Industrial Sales has over 40 years’ experience to assist.  Please contact us with any questions.

Tags: Tension Control, Web Handling, Converting, Closed Loop Tension Control, Load Cells, Tension Transducers, Tension Sensors, Application Expertise, Grosel Industrial Sales

Coast Controls is Now the “All” Web Guiding Company

Many of you have known Coast Controls as the all-air web guiding company.  That is because, since 1992, Coast Controls has been recognized because of its patented All-Air controller, excellent engineering, and quality manufacturing capabilities to provide robust, long-lasting guiding systems.

Over the years, requests continued for specific systems that only electronic systems could perform. For years, they fought that notion.  In recent years, they decided to offer an electronic guiding solution. They have found that some applications are just easier to solve, like line guiding or motorized sensors.  The new electromechanical web guiding system has a sleek LCD controller with PID control.  The web guiding sensors are ultrasonic, Infrared, or LED (for line) and work for almost every web guiding application.  The linear actuators are electromechanical, with a ball screw design.

Most customers agree that Coast’s guiding frames and custom engineering are what separates them from the competition.  From unwinding guiding systems to guided rewinds (complete with motors and drives) to custom converting equipment to precision idler rolls, Coast has grown into more than an “All-Air” web guiding company.  For more information, please click on the link.

Tags: Coast Controls, Web Guiding, Center Line Guiding, Unwind Guides, Rewind Guides, Displacement Web Guide, Intermediate Web Guide, Grosel Industrial Sales

Montalvo Vanguard Tensioning System (MVS)

The patented Vanguard System is Montalvo’s flagship closed loop tow and tape tension control technology system.  Vanguard is leading the way in precise, uniform, consistent, automated tension control.  Montalvo specializes in composite, fiberglass, multi-strand, tapes or any application processing multiple webs into a single end product.  The system automatically controls even the slightest changes to ensure tension is always optimal.

The Vanguard system includes Creel Brakes, Creel Shafts, Pneumatic Converters, Multiple Web Load Cell/ Tension Sensors, PC and Operator Interface.  The system is modular, and each component can be purchased separately or as a system.  A single control board can provide a read out up to 24 positions or full control.

The system can have several controllers which allows for almost an unlimited amount of tows or strands.  Montalvo designed this system in conjunction with manufacturers to provide the optimal solution for each of the applications.  For more information, please contact us or click on the link below:

The Vanguard Tow and Tape Tension Control System

Tags: Montalvo Tension Systems, Vanguard System, Prepreg Technology, Tension Control, Filament Winding, Fiberglass Tensioning, Composite Tape Processing, Multi-Tow Tension Control

Providing Solutions

Some companies sell products.  We differentiate ourselves by making it our mission to not only selling the best products, but by providing solutions.  Our philosophy is taking care of the customer first.  Our working relationships are built using credibility and trust.  We are a technical organization that provides value-added expertise to make the purchasing simple and efficient.

We represent many different product lines spanning across several industries.  All of them have continuous processing.  It is very essential for us to align our principals with our philosophies.  An important question we ask prospective principals is “What are your company values?”  We only represent companies that are privately held, have patents, a great sales process, and the technical team to back it all up.  We are selective when choosing which lines to represent.

Similarly, we are thorough in deciding which lines to distribute.  While it is easy to source cheap parts, we carry durable components that help customers achieve ROI on their purchases.  We make it simple to purchase products from us and try to turn quotes around as quick as possible.  With the ever-changing business climate, we are trying to stay ahead to service the most important part of our business: our customer.

We want to thank all our principals and customers that have allowed us to thrive for the past 51 years… We love what we do and are honored to be involved with this industry.  Please contact us with all of your business needs and inquiries; we are eager to provide solutions.

Tags: Converting Expertise, Grosel Industrial Sales, Grosel Philosophy, Providing Solutions

New Leadership and Direction at Dienes USA

The Dienes Corporation is the World’s Leading Manufacturer of cutting tools. With the selection of a new leadership team, their place in the industry will reach new heights.  Wade Gilman, the new Vice President of Sales, started with Dienes USA when he was 18 years old. Twenty-one years later, Wade is tasked with taking Dienes to the next level.  

He spent a majority of his career as a Sales Engineer solving problems for customers.  He embraces technology and social media to keep customers abreast of the latest slitting technologies.  He recognizes the value of implementing the right process to ensure the customer is first.  But most of all, he recognizes the Dienes culture of family that has allowed for the company to be in business for over 100 years.

Dienes worldwide has over 500 employees.  They are a German based company that manufactures most of its products in-house.  They have over 140 different knife holders.  Rest assured, they have one for you.  Dienes USA specializes in slitting positioning systems.  They have developed technology that allows the holders to move simultaneously…see the Dienes Slitting Positioning System video demonstration.  Along with slitting positioning systems they provide holders (score, shear and razor), blades, anvils, dovetails and more for the slitting applications.  They also provide core holding products and brakes.

Their expertise has always been top notch. Now with a young, talented and energetic engineer to lead the charge, customers will greatly benefit from The Innovation Company more than ever.

Tags: Dienes USA, Grosel Industrial Sales, Slitting Knife Holders, Slitting Positioning Systems, Slitting Products, Wade Gilman

Vetaphone’s New Test Lab Facility

Vetaphone Lab for Corona and Plasma Treating

Since plastic, foam and foil materials are increasingly more difficult to corona or plasma treat, Vetaphone has opened a state-of-the-art testing facility at its new headquarters in Denmark.  This is no surprise since Vetaphone is the leader in plasma and corona treating.  In fact, Verner Eisby created the concept of corona treating back in the 1950s.  His children, Frank and Jan, are the current owners of Vetaphone.  They learned about corona treating as young boys and talked with their father about his invention at the dinner table.  Their early exposure in corona treating developed into the passion that drove Vetaphone to be the number one supplier in the label industry.  They incorporated their dad’s design, their engineering expertise, and added a great process to provide the best equipment for both narrow and wide web processes. 

While the method of getting ink onto a non-absorbent material has not changed, new challenges, like environmentally sustainable packaging, have arisen.  Vetaphone’s new testing facility will allow existing and potential customers to engage with the scientists to perfect product development before committing to a solution.  Having the greatest expertise, technology and advanced equipment allows “science” to create products in a lab environment saving customers time and money.

As you often hear at Vetaphone, the magic happens in the closed-loop, sign wave generator that measures 20,000 times per second.  This patented generator design has allowed for the most efficient corona treating system available.  Along with the HMI interface, the treating stations having pull out electrodes and many other options to solve the most demanding applications.  The best equipment, plus the greatest expertise, plus the best testing lab equals the best partner for corona treating.  Please click on the link to view the lab on Vetaphone’s web site.

Tags: Verner Eisby, Inventor of Corona Treating, Plasma Treating, Corona Treating, Vetaphone North America, Vetaphone USA, Corona Testing, Grosel Industrial Sales