Paper and tissue converting
Custom Paper Converting Machines
GFM builds and retrofits custom paper and tissue converting machines, from a single module to a complete turnkey line, each built around your product rather than a standard machine. Tell us what you want to produce and we will tell you whether it can be built, and how.
More than 40 years in converting machinery · More than 1,000 projects delivered worldwide · Engineered and made in Germany.
Overview
Custom Paper Converting Machines from GFM
We build across a wide range, and a custom line is built for exactly the cases a standard machine cannot cover. The figures below show where most of our paper and tissue lines sit, not a fixed limit. If your product falls outside them, or you are not sure where it sits, get in touch anyway.
| Parameter | Range |
|---|---|
| Working width | up to 4,000 mm |
| Line speed | up to 400 m/min |
| Material thickness | 0.02 to 5 mm |
| Market approval | UL or CSA for North America, where required |
Built for the Way Your Paper Runs
The way your paper runs through a line decides how that line is designed. Paper is stiff and barely stretches, so it tolerates only a narrow tension window: too much tears the edge, too little lets the web wander and lose register, and the web handling is built around that window. Paper also takes up moisture, which makes it curl and shifts its dimensions, so tight tolerances for embossing, multi-layer register or perforation depend on how the line is designed. Cutting and perforating raise dust, so extraction and blade life belong in the design from the start, not as an afterthought.
Tissue, a Special Case within Paper
Tissue is the exception within paper. It has very little strength, runs lofty and absorbent and is handled at low tension, and it is typically embossed, ply-bonded, perforated, interfolded or wound into logs. That is a handling regime of its own. We build for it, but a line for a differentiated tissue product is a different task from the mass-market machines that turn out standard toilet paper or napkins.
From the Paper Reel to the Finished Product
Every paper line starts with the reel and ends with the finished product, and the order of the stations in between follows what you make. The reel is unwound, an autosplicer joins the next reel so the line does not stop for a reel change, and the web is guided and held at constant tension as it runs. From there it passes through the stations your product needs: slitting and cross-cutting, perforating, embossing, folding, laminating and coating, with inline optical inspection before the product is counted, stacked and passed to packing. Because each station is a module in its own right, we can add one to a paper line that already runs rather than replace the line. Explore the modules.
Typical Applications
A few typical products our paper and tissue lines turn out. The clearest proof that a line can be built is one that is already running.
Coffee Filters
From the paper reel to the packed coffee filter in one continuous line, at volume.
Baking and Greaseproof Paper
Converting lines for baking and greaseproof paper, a current project area for us.
Absorbent Pads
Absorbent pads for thermoformed trays, including paper- and cellulose-based meat pads.
Dry and Paper Towels
Dry and paper towel lines, with cartoning integrated where it makes sense.
Knurled Paper Packaging
Knurling bonds several layers of paper by embossing, with no plastic and little or no adhesive.
Disposable Catering Products
Placemats, folded napkins and hand towels, and other single-use catering paper.
Solutions Beyond the Standard
We build beyond the catalogue. When a standard machine cannot make your paper product the way it has to be made, we design the line around it: your material, your feature, your output. That covers a product with a feature no standard machine makes, a paper that behaves in a way a standard line cannot hold, a hand-made product that has to go into series, a plastic part you are replacing with paper, or a line you already run that has to take on a new step.
The feature drives the machine. A fold or an embossing pattern your paper product depends on decides the unit that makes it, and we build that unit around your product rather than fit your product to a catalogue machine.
Retrofitting Your Paper Converting Equipment
Not every project starts with a new machine. A large part of our work is done on paper lines that are already running, often on lines we did not build. We bring an extra process step into a line that is otherwise sound, we convert a line to a new paper product, and we keep a line producing when its original manufacturer is gone. The mechanical interface is rarely the hard part. Getting the new module to talk to your existing control system is what decides the effort and the schedule. More on maintenance, spare parts and retrofits under Service.
Industries
Food
Coffee filters, baking and greaseproof paper and absorbent pads.
Hygiene and Care
Dry and paper towels, with cartoning where it makes sense.
Sustainable Packaging
Plastic-free, multi-layer paper packaging bonded by knurling.
What decides whether we can help is not your industry but your paper product. If it runs from a reel, describe it.
Tell Us about Your Paper Product
If your exact product is not shown above, describe it. Your enquiry reaches the engineers who build the machines, not a call centre, and we reply quickly.
FAQ: Paper Converting Machines and Custom Lines
What Is a Paper Converting Machine?
A paper converting machine takes paper or tissue supplied on a reel and turns it into a semi-finished or finished product. It unwinds the reel, guides the web through a sequence of stations such as slitting, folding, perforating, embossing or laminating, and delivers a new roll, a sheet or a packed product. The term covers a family of processes rather than one machine type, which is why two converting machines built for two different paper products often have very little in common. The order of the stations follows the product, so the line is designed for your case.
How Is Tissue Converting Different from Standard Paper Converting?
Tissue is a special case of paper converting rather than a separate discipline. It has very little tensile strength, runs lofty and absorbent and is handled at low tension, so the web handling and the processing stations are set up for that behaviour. Typical tissue steps are embossing, ply-bonding, perforating, interfolding and winding into logs. A line for a differentiated tissue product is custom work. The standard high-volume machines for everyday toilet paper or napkins are a different, mass-market field and not what we build.
Can You Retrofit Paper Converting Lines from Other Manufacturers?
Yes. A large part of our work is done on lines we did not build, including cases where the original manufacturer no longer exists. What we need first is access to the line and whatever documentation survived, and from there we judge what can be repaired, rebuilt, extended or replaced. The mechanical side is rarely the obstacle; connecting a new module to your existing control system is usually what decides the effort, and it is often where a first project with us begins.
Where Do You Deliver, and How Does Service Work Worldwide?
We deliver worldwide, with more than 1,000 projects delivered to date, and every machine is installed and commissioned on site wherever it goes. After handover, service runs through remote diagnostics over a secured connection for anything that can be solved that way, and through a technician on site when it cannot. Genuine spare parts ship from Germany.
Do You Build to UL or CSA for North America?
Yes. For projects in the United States and Canada we build to UL or CSA where the market requires it, and we handle the relevant conformity during design and build rather than leaving it to you on site. Tell us which market the line is going to and we will confirm which approvals apply.
Tell Us What You Need to Produce
Describe your paper product, your material and the output you need. We will tell you whether it can be built, how, and roughly what it will cost before you commit to anything.
Let’s Talk about Your Paper Product
Write to us and we will get back to you quickly.
