It is one of approximately 52 such centers sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation. Like the other NSF centers, the WHRC is also sponsored by a large group of industrial firms from throughout the United States. The WHRC was initiated in 1986 and is the only center of its type in the world. The term web is used to describe thin materials which are manufactured and processed in a continuous, flexible strip form. Web materials cover a broad spectrum from extremely thin plastics to paper, textiles, metals, and composites.
Web processing pervades almost every industry today.
It is web processing that allows us to mass produce a rich variety of products from materials that originate as a continuous strip of material. Products that involve web processing somewhere in their manufacture include aircraft, appliances, automobiles, bags, books, boxes, clothing, floor covering, furniture, newspapers, photographics, plastic sheeting, tapes of all types, video tape, and more. Web processes include calendering, casting, cleaning, coating, cooling, drying, dyeing, embossing, folding, heating, laminating, moisturizing, printing, sheeting, and slitting. Also, web processing is motivated by the need for increasing product quality. A primary goal of web handling is to transport the material through processes and machines without incurring defects and losses.