Spoolex Provides Textiles and Nonwovens Manufacturers with Reliable Converting Equipment
Spoolex commitment
With the Covid crisis, many companies have worked to fight against the virus. Textiles and nonwovens companies switched naturally their activities to produce face masks. Since the beginning, Spoolex and its 3 brands, Calemard®, Decoup+® and Roll Concept®, has also contributed to the fight by delivering equipment and accessories to various worldwide companies involved in face mask production. Spoolex has adapted its organization to protect all the employees whilst maintaining support to the customers. During the critical period of 2020 and 2021, Roll Concept® continued to manufacture and to deliver its technical rollers to major face mask machine manufacturers. With production capacities up to 300 masks/min, machines need high technical rollers with very low inertia in rotation. Thanks to its patented Alveotube profile in stock in its workshop, Roll Concept® was able to react quickly to provide tailored made and easy to install low inertia rolls.
On the other hand, Decoup+® has successfully adapted a manual sealing machine to produce face masks. Because it performs clean and resistant seams, ultrasounds are mainly used for quick manufacturing face mask operations. Decoup+® ultrasonic welding station is an independent and ergonomic working station, easy to use, affordable and perfectly adapted to small and medium size series. Then, during the containment period, Calemard® provided the needed resources to support specific requests either for spooling machine or for wide slitter and was even able to deliver machines to cover urgent need for wide slitting textiles, nonwoven and of course meltblown.
Spoolex and Cera Engineering Manufactured Mask Machines
In addition, continuing to ensure spare parts deliveries and remote technical assistance, the customer support team even managed to perfectly run the commissioning of machines using the industry 4.0 Calemard skills. More than even, Spoolex was committed to assist and support its customers involved in the struggle against the virus. As early as June 2020, the company decided to increase its involvement in face mask production. Indeed, Spoolex had set up negotiations with another French key player on hygiene market, leader on its own business. Cera Engineering manufactures for more than 30 years machines for medical applications, in particular machines for surgical and FFP2 masks. Two companies had already worked together in the past on demanding machines and developed a trust-based relationship. Therefor two companies have quickly entered a partnership for mask machines manufacturing. Today, Spoolex is still proud to have been able to react and to face the crisis by adapting its activity. Thus, its responsiveness and its employee’s key involvement will allow to manufacture these mask machines in 10 weeks only.
In March 2020, like many companies, its activity declined, but surprisingly slightly only. From 2021, orders returned to a high level.
Future of the industry
Each year, Spoolex dedicates 5% of its turnover to R&D, not only to enhance its machinery and equipment productivity but, some decades ago, the company has decided to take the turn of Industry 4.0. The company goal: to help its customer to answer their productivity, quality and safety growth. This risk-taking has allowed the company to anticipate and to acquire expertise and experience on many developments and especially on remote control services. Spoolex teams are used to handle remote control operations and did not be brought up short by learning on the job. On one side, new digital technologies allow its engineers to make remote operations on most of worldwide plants. Indeed, all new converting equipment are networked and equipped with VPN solutions for remote instantaneous communication and monitoring. On the other side, with an average of 10 years of experience at the company, skilled Customer Service engineers control perfectly all their equipment in production. Today, thanks to connected communication technologies, Spoolex teams could assist their customer in real time. Video conferencing tools and even augmented reality tools allow them to connect live together with customer teams on site. Finally, for several months, the company has studied how to simply integrate its machines “data collect and treatment” to its customers’ respective Manufacturing Executive Systems. Quickly, Spoolex invested massively by structuring its services and recruiting qualified staff. Today, Spoolex can study each specific MES projects and offer complete adapted solutions.
Spoolex latest development
With the widest range of spooling machines in the world, Spoolex is recognized by the major nonwoven converters as an expert in tension control, offering smart, adapted and customized solutions. The company has gained its reputation of leader thanks to constant new development. For example, its Pegase lines are today the most adapted response to the development of new ADL or top sheet materials always bulkier, fluffier and more tension sensitive, but also for thick and difficult to handle cellulose natural fibers. Spoolex’s way of being is led by a spirit of service, whatever the situation.
Strong Partnership with Universities
For several months now, the company has demonstrated its comprehensive vision of the textiles and nonwovens market by engineering and manufacturing for different customers all around the world, either technical slitter-rewinders as well as non-stop winders. We have notably established strong partnerships with the CETI Centre Européen des Textiles Innovants and The Nonwovens Institute of North Carolina State University, two major player in Nonwovens Research & Development.
One of its technical slitter-rewinder is going to enhance the testing capacity of the North Carolina University well-known R&D Center and one of non-stop winder is already running in the CETI lab. Once again, its tension control expertise convinced these major figures of the nonwoven industry.
