Production-grade precision at lab and pilot scale
IMC lab and pilot calenders provide the same precision gap control, force measurement, and temperature management as our production machines — but in a compact format designed for process development, material testing, and sample production. The engineering carries over intact; only the footprint is smaller.
The distinction matters because process data generated on a lab calender is only useful if it can be translated to production scale with confidence. If the lab machine uses fundamentally different roll geometry, gap control, or force application than the production machine, the process parameters developed at lab scale may not transfer. IMC lab calenders are designed to minimize this scale-up risk by using the same control principles and measurement approaches as the production systems they feed.
Available configurations
IMC lab and pilot calenders are offered as defined standard models — benchtop units for material screening through pilot-scale systems that replicate production conditions. Full specifications, options, and the model comparison live on the standard calenders page.
Options include non-contact thickness gauging, force measurement and logging, temperature profiling, speed control, and data acquisition for process characterization. The control system stores recipes and logs process data for analysis and scale-up documentation.
Lab trial services
IMC's in-house laboratory in Birmingham is equipped with lab and pilot-scale calendering equipment available for customer trials. Bring your coated electrode samples, your PTFE sheets, or your specialty materials, and our engineers will work with you to establish calendering parameters, evaluate thickness and density results, and generate the process data needed to specify a production system.
Applications
- Battery electrode process development
- New material evaluation
- Product R&D
- Quality testing
- Sample production for customer qualification
- Process parameter optimization before production equipment specification