IPSWICH, U.K. - BostonChron -- Following a meeting at K 2022 in Dusseldorf, Bryce Corporation has ordered another two Universal X8 slitting machines from Universal Converting Equipment. The Universal X8 is a highly automated slitting machine. This new order follows on from a major installation of an $8 million Automated Slitting Operation at the Bryce, Searcy, AR, USA facility based on Universal X8 slitting machines.

Sean Bowie, President, Bryce Corporation said "The Bryce Corporation is committed to making long-term investment decisions to ensure they have the Best-in-Class processing equipment to cope with the increased demands from our customers. One of the greatest benefits of this system is the reduced amount of manual lifting required by our value stream team members. We have also recently announced the start of building a new factory in Searcy that will employ an additional 142 people. The novel ideas from Universal Converting Equipment fit with our desire to look for next-generation solutions rather than buying the status quo.

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This new order follows the recent installation of an Automated Slitting Operation at the Searcy, AR, USA location of Bryce Corporation. Bryce's previous slitting operation did not meet the needs of their growing markets. They needed machines with automatic set up to allow job changes in a few minutes together with minimal stop time on completion of a set of finished rolls.

Universal Converting Equipment is a UK-based manufacturer of slitting and rewinding machines. Commenting on the X8 development, Alan Jones, Director said "Efficiency is achieved through attention to detail. We keep looking for processes that can be automated to ensure high quality, consistent operation. For example, all our machines include automatic knife positioning of rotary shear knives and razor blades. All the functions relating to unloading finished rolls and restarting the machines are automated, so the machine runs without an operator at the rewind. They have seen the results of this installation and followed on with a new order for a further two machines."

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The installation and commissioning of the $8 million Automated Slitting Operation have been overseen by Andy Pratt, Vice President of Manufacturing at Bryce plus his team of Engineers. Andy Pratt commented, "We had some very challenging requirements for our new slitting facility involving major improvements in safety, efficiency, and quality. Universal listened and proposed a solution which was different to other suppliers. All the processes relating to unloading, labelling, bagging and palletizing the finished rolls, along with reloading and positioning the cores and restarting the machine are completely automated with this system. We are excited by the efficiency figures being achieved. The ongoing support from Universal has been excellent during the commissioning phase and since we have been in operation."