Thin Films and Coatings, Pulp, Paper, & Packaging

Innovating Thin Films, Coatings, Pulp, Paper, & Packaging: VESL’s Expertise

The converting industry—spanning thin films, coatings, pulp, paper, and packaging—is at the forefront of global manufacturing, driving innovation in products we use every day. But this innovation comes with challenges: scaling up new products, maintaining quality across large, high volume and complex production lines, and meeting sustainability goals.

At VESL, we’re not just familiar with the challenges of this industry—we’re deeply embedded in it. With decades of hands-on engineering experience, we’ve executed successful projects for multiple product lines in the converting industry. Our engineers sit on the editorial board of industry journals, staying ahead of emerging trends and contributing thought leadership to the field. Whether it’s fine-tuning your process controls or helping you weave your way through production bottlenecks (pun intended), VESL is ready to handle your web—or your problems.

The Challenges

The thin film, coating, and packaging industries face unique, overlapping challenges:

• Precision Demands: Maintaining consistency in film thickness, coating uniformity, or laminate adhesion is critical but increasingly complex.
• Scaling New Products: Launching new formulations or designs can be slow, expensive, and resource-intensive due to inefficient trial-and-error approaches.
• High Resource Costs: Energy-intensive processes and volatile raw material costs eat into already narrow margins.
• Sustainability Goals: Customers and regulators alike demand greener production processes and waste reduction.
• Complex, Multistage Operations: From material prep to converting and finishing, each step requires seamless integration to avoid bottlenecks.
  
  

These challenges make innovation difficult and create significant barriers to profitability and growth.

A Proven Approach: Solving Problems from the Ground Up

At VESL, we combine deep industry expertise with advanced tools like digital twins, soft sensors, and automation to solve these challenges. Our focus is on practical solutions that deliver measurable results, whether you’re optimizing existing lines or scaling up a new product.

Imagine this: Your production line achieves perfect consistency across coatings and laminates thanks to advanced process controls. Soft sensors give you real-time data on material thickness and quality, flagging deviations instantly. Digital twins allow you to simulate new materials or configurations offline before committing to costly changes.

With VESL, this is more than a possibility—it’s the standard we help you achieve.

How We Help

1. Accelerating Product Scale-Up

We know that scaling new products can be a costly and time-consuming process. VESL’s expertise helps you streamline the scale-up process, reducing trial-and-error through:

• Digital twins to simulate new product configurations and test failure modes before they reach the production floor.
• Process optimization to stabilize new formulations or materials faster, ensuring smooth production runs.
• Data analytics to guide smarter decisions during product development and launch.
  
  

By partnering with VESL, you’ll save time, reduce costs, and get new products to market faster than ever before.

2. Precision Process Control for Seamless Production

Our engineers specialize in implementing advanced process controls that ensure optimal performance across your entire operation:

• Real-time adjustments to maintain coating uniformity, film thickness, and laminate adhesion.
• Reduced variability and material waste through predictive control systems.
• Enhanced throughput and equipment reliability, even in high-speed converting environments.
  
  

3. Soft Sensors for Real-Time Visibility

Soft sensors bridge the gap between limited instrumentation and full operational insights. VESL uses these advanced tools to:

• Monitor critical parameters in real time, like material flow rates, thickness, and adhesion.
• Detect inefficiencies or deviations before they impact production.
• Reduce downtime and manual interventions with automated insights.
  
  

4. Digital Twins for Virtual Testing and Optimization

With digital twins, we help manufacturers create virtual models of production lines and equipment, enabling:

• Offline testing of new recipes, workflows, or designs without disrupting operations.
• Identification of bottlenecks and inefficiencies to improve productivity.
• Simulation of failure modes to proactively design solutions and improve reliability.

Decades of Experience, Proven Results

VESL’s leadership in the converting industry is backed by decades of engineering experience, a track record of successful projects, and a commitment to staying at the cutting edge of innovation.

• Industry Expertise: We’ve executed projects for multiple product lines in the thin film and converting industry, tackling challenges in coating consistency, product scale-up, and production efficiency.
• Thought Leadership: As editorial board members for leading industry journals, we contribute insights and stay ahead of the latest trends, ensuring we bring the best solutions to our clients.
• Practical, Measurable Impact: From energy efficiency improvements to material waste reduction, our work delivers results you can measure—and rely on.

A Story of Success

One of our clients, a mid-sized manufacturer of specialty laminates, struggled with inconsistent coating thickness and long cycle times when scaling up new products. These issues led to excessive material waste, production delays, and strained customer relationships.

Working with VESL, they implemented a digital twin of their production line, allowing them to test new formulations and optimize parameters offline. Soft sensors were integrated to monitor coating consistency in real time, enabling automatic adjustments and reducing variability. Advanced process controls streamlined changeovers and improved throughput.

The results were transformational: a 20% reduction in material waste, a 25% improvement in production speed, and a dramatically faster time to market for new products. Most importantly, their team regained confidence in their ability to innovate and meet customer expectations.

Why VESL?

Here’s what makes VESL the ideal partner for thin film, coating, pulp, paper, and packaging manufacturers:

• Decades of Engineering Expertise: With a history of successful projects in the converting industry, we know how to solve complex challenges efficiently.
• Industry Leadership: Our role on editorial boards keeps us ahead of trends, ensuring our solutions are cutting-edge and tailored to market demands.
• Cost-Effective Expertise: Building an in-house team of experts is costly. VESL gives you access to specialized resources without the overhead.
• Advanced Technologies Made Accessible: From digital twins to soft sensors, we make powerful tools available to mid-sized manufacturers, leveling the playing field.