Web Industries launches composite formatting line in France

Web Industries Inc. (Marlborough, Mass., U.S.), a precision formatter of composite materials, announced that it has installed a high-volume composite slitting and spooling line at its Omega Systèmes plant in Nantes, France. The new production line adds capacity to serve growing demand for both thermoset and thermoplastic slit tape composites from aerospace fabricators across the European market.

The 48-head line is the first of many that Web Industries says it will install at Omega Systèmes, a company specializing in formatting advanced materials and that was acquired by Web in January 2019. With the line’s custom slitting and spooling capabilities, Web says it can now offer the same services and quality standards to customers in Europe that it does at its North American precision converting operations. According to Web, the new line can take master rolls of composite materials, precision slit them into narrower widths and then traverse wind the slit material onto spools. Customers can then easily load these spools of slit tape onto their robotic automated tape laying machinery or other fabrication equipment.

“We are entering an era in which competition will intensify, and production optimization will be an increasingly important factor in productivity gains,” says Kevin Young, Web Industries VP of corporate development. “The new machinery we have developed and implemented can format both thermoset and thermoplastic composite materials to supply the entire European market.”

With this capacity investment, Web Industries says it is deploying resources to help customers meet composite material requirements for next-generation single-aisle aircraft programs with significant composite content. 

“We are focused on this challenge and are working with material suppliers, automation developers and fabricators to find new approaches that deliver improved yields, increased throughput and lower cost,” says Michael Quarry, vice president of aerospace operations at Web Industries.