Process and 
winding machine for the continuous winding of a web of material onto a reel spool to form a reel. The process includes forming a winding nip between a 
peripheral zone of a reel drum the reel, guiding the material web over the 
peripheral zone of the reel drum, positioning the reel in a secondary zone, and displacing and pressing the reel drum against the reel in the secondary zone. In this manner, one of control and regulation of a linear force in the winding nip occurs through the displacement of the reel drum. Upon obtaining a completed reel having a desired reel 
diameter, the process includes moving the reel drum into a temporarily 
fixed position, introducing a new, empty reel spool into a primary zone, forming another winding nip between the new spool and the reel drum through a relative movement of the new reel spool with respect to the reel drum in the temporarily 
fixed position, 
cutting the material web, winding the material web onto the new reel spool to form a new reel, and removing the completed reel. The process also includes transferring the new reel spool from the primary zone to the secondary zone, releasing the reel drum from the temporarily 
fixed position, and displacing the reel drum for one of the control and regulation of the linear force in the winding nip between the reel drum and the new reel spool in the secondary zone. The 
winding machine includes a reel drum arranged to form a winding nip with the reel, a primary 
mount adapted to hold a new reel spool, wherein the primary 
mount is further adapted to displace the new reel spool along a first guide path substantially radially to the reel drum, and a secondary 
mount coupled to the reel spool. The 
machine also includes a pressure device coupled to the reel drum, which is adapted to move the reel drum at least substantially horizontally when the reel spool is in the secondary mount, and which is further adapted to at least temporarily fix a position of the reel drum when the new reel spool is in the primary mount.