EMS has installed a new mini-slitter in the Attleboro facility. The slitter was specifically designed and built for slitting thin narrow soft materials as used in Li-Ion battery applications. The Li-ion battery market has created new applications for clad metals that did not exist previously. Clad metals provide improved thermal and electrical conductivity as well as good surface for welding connections. EMS is expanding production for this growing market.

The new mini-slitter will be used for slitting anode tab strip down to 80 microns gage and 3mm width. Burr free slitting can be a challenge especially with soft materials, but the EMS team has developed a process and tooling to achieve the goal. For battery applications where surface cosmetics and contamination are a concern, the slitter has been equipped with several additional features to address these potential issues. The slitter has also been installed in a Clean room environment to reduce the potential for contamination on the strip.

We anticipate a production start in Q3 2021 upon successful completion of customer quality audits.