Calender Consulting

Calender Technology: Consulting, Process Optimization and Training for Film Calenders

More than 30 years of calender technology in film production – from rigid and flexible PVC to PET. Our calender consulting optimizes thickness profile, changeover times and scrap on your 3-, 4- or 5-roll calender, and we train your calender operators on a model of your own line.

What we move on the calender

Thickness profile, changeover time, scrap – the three levers of the calender line.

In calendering, the roll nip decides quality and profitability. We bring nip force, roll temperature, roll bending and roll crossing to the operating point where the film runs within tolerance – and keep it there.

Schematic of a film calender line with co-kneader, liquid color dosing, 4-roll L-calender and inline measuring system
Calender types and films

Which calenders we work on

3- to 5-roll calenders in I, Z, F and L configuration, working widths of more than two meters, film thicknesses from about 50 to 800 µm.

Rigid PVC Film

Packaging and pharmaceutical film, blister, credit cards, printing and advertising films. Focus: thickness tolerance, gloss and transparency, residual thermal stability for thermoforming.

Flexible PVC Film

Construction and technical films, roofing membranes, flooring, furniture and decorative films. Focus: plasticizer distribution, surface, embossing and shrinkage behavior.

PET and Other Polymers

Calendered PET, PETG and PP films as well as rubber and blended systems. Focus: rheology in the nip, cooling process, modeling of new formulations before the first trial.

Services on the calender

From the audit on the line to training in the VR headset

On-Site Calender Audit

Two days on your line: process parameters, measuring points, quality and complaint data. The result is a prioritized action plan with the levers that have the greatest effect on thickness profile, changeover time and scrap.

To the service package

Calender Model and Precalculation

Physical model of the flow, pressure and heat processes in the roll nip, parameterized with your roll, material and formulation data. It delivers mean film thickness, calendered width, throughput, shrinkage and the optimum values for roll bending and roll crossing.

To the VR project

Training for Calender Operators

Practice changeovers and optimizations without tying up the production line: on a laptop or in a VR headset with the images of your line. One to two training days on site, up to eight participants.

To the service package

Measurement Technology for the Calender

Inline: thickness profile, gloss, color value, surface detection, rolling bank level, bearing monitoring. Offline: longitudinal thickness trace, residual thermal stability, shrinkage and shrink force – linked with control system, laboratory and ERP.

To inline measurement technology
Book cover: Innovations in Film Manufacture – Exemplified by Calender Technology
Standard reference on calender technology

Innovations in Film Manufacture – Exemplified by Calender Technology

C. Kohlert, T. Chistyakova · Hanser 2026 · ISBN 978-1-56990-440-4 · German edition “Innovationen in der Folienherstellung” 2024

Process fundamentals, measurement technology and digitalization of calender technology – written from three decades of practice at Klöckner Pentaplast and the research partnership with Technical University of St. Petersburg.

To the publications

What question is your calender asking right now?

Thickness profile, changeover time, scrap, training – in a 30-minute initial consultation we identify where the biggest lever lies.

Request Initial Consultation