Converting companies are companies that specialize in modifying or combining raw materials such as

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...

s, adhesives,

silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...

, adhesive tapes, foams, plastics, felts, rubbers, liners and metals, as well as other materials, to create new products. Materials such as

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

, plastic film, foil and cloth often are produced in long, continuous sheets that are rolled up for more convenient handling and transportation. These rolls of material vary significantly in size and weight — ranging from wide and weighing as much as several tons. The converting industry takes these continuous rolls of thin, flat materials — known as

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

s — threads them through processing machines (such as printing presses, laminating, coating and slitting machines) and converts or changes the web of material into an intermediate form or final product. For example, a converter’s equipment might take a web of plastic film, cut it into lengths, and fuse their edges, thus converting it into plastic bags. This activity is known as web processing.

Processes

Typical converting processes include coating, laminating and printing.

Coating A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the Substrate (materials science), substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquid ...

technologies can include hot melt coating, gravure coating,

curtain coating Curtain coating is a process that creates an uninterrupted curtain of fluid that falls onto a substrate. The substrate is transported on a conveyor belt or calender rolls at a regulated speed through the curtain to ensure an even coat of the die. ...

and slot-die coating. The most common printing techniques are

flexo Flexography (often abbreviated to flexo) is a form of printing process which utilizes a flexible relief plate. It is essentially a modern version of letterpress, evolved with high speed rotary functionality, which can be used for printing on a ...

printing and rotogravure (gravure) printing. Both print processes are suited to high speed roll-to-roll processing. Many converting companies will process large diameter, wide rolls of material as this increases the converting efficiency by minimising changes. On completion of the converting process the rolls may be cut into smaller rolls on a slitting machine or a sheeter. These rolls or sheets are then a convenient size for handling on packaging and other machines. Further processes such as collation may occur after sheeting. Depending on the specially of the converter, many other processes might be involved. These might include:

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (a sheep may be said to have been "shorn" or ...

, die-cutting,

laser cutting Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...

heat sealing In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

laser converting For industrial processes, Laser converting or laser digital converting is a Manufacturing, production technology that enables device manufacturers to produce features that otherwise would be problematic or even impossible to Die preparation, die-cu ...

perforating A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...

, Ultrasonic welding,

Surface finishing Surface finishing is a broad range of industrial processes that alter the surface of a manufactured item to achieve a certain property. Finishing processes may be employed to: improve appearance, adhesion or wettability, solderability, corrosion re ...

, etc.

Web alignment

When converting from rolls of material, web alignment is an important part of a converting operation as a moving web of material has a tendency to track off course and wander out of alignment during the converting processes. To avoid these problems, engineers have developed a variety of automatic web-guiding systems that assure production accuracy and reduce waste. Web-guiding systems typically are positioned just before a critical stage on a converting machine (for example, just before a print station on a printing press). Each type of web guiding system uses a sensor to monitor the web position for lateral tracking, and each has an actuator to shift the running web mechanically back on course whenever the sensor detects movement away from the set path. Actuators may be pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, or some kind of electromechanical device. Because the web may be fragile — particularly at its edge — non-contact

sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

s are used. These sensors may be

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A central ...

, photoelectric, ultrasonic, or

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

. The system’s controls must put the output signals from the sensors in to a form that can drive the actuator. Many controls today are electronic, typically using an amplifier to convert signals from the sensor, then commanding a special servo motor incorporating a lead or ball screw for guiding actuation. The latest web guiding systems have touch screen controls to simplify the setup procedure. Some web guiding systems have been designed specifically for the converting industry.

Services

Many converters specialize in * Adhesive coating to make labels and adhesive tape *

Silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...

coating to make a release liner *

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

-cutting materials into finished parts or labels *

Printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

services *

Roll slitting Roll slitting is a shearing operation that cuts a large roll of material into narrower rolls. There are two types of slitting: log slitting and rewind slitting. In log slitting the roll of material is treated as a whole (the 'log') and one or mo ...

of wide webs into narrow webs, rolls, sheets, or coils * Laminating services *

Vacuum forming Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, where a sheet of plastic (in various forms HIPS (High impact polystyrene) for low impact products, or for Bathroom shower trays ABS, and exterior vehicle parts HDPE, plus various other ty ...

Newer technology

Some converting companies now incorporate electronics in their finished products. For example, converters producing

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

stock labels must incorporate RFID chips and antenna inlays.Description of an RFID upgrade at a conversion company
The electronic components make up the RFID tag. The tag stores the information about the items that have been tagged. These converters therefore sometimes incorporate volume electronics manufacturing practices including controlling static electricity, electronic manufacturing test and similar processes. Solving some of the issues of inclusion of materials sensitive to external influences has led to more tech companies embracing roll-based manufacturing processes, with particular success in the lithium ion and solar cell manufacturing sectors.Lithium ion and solar cell manufacturers increasingly embracing converter web processes
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Paper converting

Paper converting can refer to manufacturing processes involving paper as the raw material. This raw material, similar to other converting industries, can be in a roll or sheet form. Paper converting is required for the manufacture of nearly all paper based products, such as magazines, books, newspapers, labels, bags, and general purpose paper products.{{Cite web, title=What is the paper converting industry?, url=https://www.brdisolutions.com/what-is-the-paper-converting-industry, access-date=2020-09-17, website=www.brdisolutions.com The process of processing pre-cut cartons or "blanks" and folding them into the appropriate shape to become finished packaging containers is known as tray forming or carton erecting. This is a specific example of a type of converting. These machines can create, for example, nacho trays, chinese noodle soup boxes, pizza boxes, french fry trays, hamburger clamshells, etc.

References