System and method for unwinding tissue webs

In the production of many paper products, such as tissue and towel products, paper webs are typically formed in a paper making system and initially stored in large parent rolls. The parent rolls are unwound for finishing operations, such as embossing, printing, ply attachment, perforating, and the like and then rewound into retail-sized logs or rolls. A system and process for unwinding rolls of material is disclosed. The system is particularly well suited for unwinding soft, high-bulk tissue webs. In one embodiment, the system includes the combination of a center unwind device and a surface unwind device to unwind the roll of material in a primary unwind location. Once the roll of material is partially unwound, the roll is then moved to a secondary unwind location while a new roll of material is moved into the primary unwind location. In this manner, multiple rolls of material can be continuously unwound without substantial downtime.