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Profile Outfits the Perfect Job Shop

When Sam Swartz was hired as Plant Manager for Grand Rapids, MI based Profile Industrial Products in May of 1998, his purpose was to purchase and install everything necessary to make a custom blown film extrusion plant. Owner Steve Ehmann, along with three other partners, gave Sam a budget, and the rest of the purchasing decisions were up to him. With a July start-up scheduled, there was no time to waste.

“As a manufacturer of custom industrial polyethylene products, our original marketing plan called for three extruders that would cover web widths from 22” to 63” wide,” explains Swartz. “Profile wanted to be able to corona treat, print, vent, seal and wind many different types of products in a ‘job shop’ style environment. A few of our product goals were J-sheeting, single wound sheeting, converter grade tubing and bags on rolls.”

The corona treater Swartz needed for these lines had to have multiple capabilities. Easy conversion from two-sided treatment of films at widths up to 64”, to single-sided treatment at widths of only 12 inches, was key. Swartz had experience with Pillar equipment before starting at Profile. “The one, single-sided corona treater that my previous employer utilized was dependable and easy to operate. This is the initial reason I contacted Pillar.”

There was still a lot of corona treater homework to be done for Sam to reach his ultimate decision. Swartz recalls, “I researched several different corona treating companies but chose Pillar because they gave us many treater options.” Both Pillar’s Universal Corona Treater and Blown Film Split Box Systems were able to meet Profile’s needs. “Pillar came through for us with special terms, multiple unit discounts, and a delivery of the first unit in the time frame I needed,” Swartz continued. “In a nutshell, lead time, terms, price and quality is why Pillar earned my business over the competition.”

Profile currently utilizes two Universal Corona Treaters and two Split Box Stations, all powered with P6000 power supplies, and their fifth corona treating system is on its way. All four treaters are double sided; used in two-sided, fully-treated film for the foam-in-place market, and strip-treating for in-line printing. The fifth treater is a covered roll, single-side, segmented electrode station with P6000 power supply, for lighter runs and less demanding applications. Swartz confirms, “the Universal Treater design is open and makes it easier to thread the web, and the segmented electrodes allow me to select where the treatment will occur on the film.”

Since 1998, Profile has continued to grow, and has expanded their capabilities from their original marketing plan, but their goal and focus is to maintain their capabilities of completing small, custom extrusion runs.

Along with the Pillar treaters, Profile’s five extrusion lines include Alpine extruders; AEC vacuum loaders, chillers and blenders; Samtech bag machines (in-line); Samtech and CDD winding equipment; BST Promark edge guides and Bellmark printers.

“Our success has allowed us to expand and we now have five lines with a Pillar corona treater on each. The Universal design as well as the split box design have done a great job for us,” Swartz comments. Of the over seven million pounds of material produced by Profile in the year 2000, they estimate that 55% of the finished product received corona treatment. “We want to add an additional line in the fourth quarter of 2001. This will include a double sided treater.”

Pillar is proud to be a contributing factor to Profile Industrial’s quick growth and success. The Pillar continuous improvement philosophy, supported by engineering excellence, customer service, employee involvement and a total commitment to quality, have proven to be an extremely successful formula. Pillar promises to manufacture the highest quality and newest technology based equipment available today.