Brabender Technologie is commissioning its new Technical Centre in Duisburg for efficient customer testing, ahead of FAKUMA.
Horst Vohwinkel, CEO, said: “This gives us entirely new opportunities, in terms of both the quantity and quality of the tests we conduct. To date we have suffered from space restrictions and have always only been able to model parts of the process. The new Technical Centre will bring a radical change.”
Brabender has added a new feeder filling level and a two-tonne overhead crane which can lift standard packaging like big bags, silos, drums and sacks. Overall there are four full test lines available but the Technical Centre also provides space for smaller tests that do not require use of the filling level. In addition, there is a separate area with the hygienic conditions required for food and pharmaceutical applications.
3D plan of new Brabender facilities.
Continuous processes are the most common test requested, but batching applications can also be tested on a large and small scale in the Technical Centre. Vohwinkel added: “Batching is very interesting for high-precision applications.”
The new facilities enable engineers to conduct precision feeding tests during all phases of the feeding process, eliminating risk.
“These new facilities enable us to make much better use of our resources. The individual testing lines can be retooled independently, which gives everybody extra time resources to play with,” said Vohwinkel.
Now that the entire process can be simulated, customers can test their projects in practice on a much larger scale.
Bradender believes the new facilities will be popular, and staff will be increased at the Technical Centre to assist in achieving quicker lead times.
The company will now be able to devote more resources to its own research and development efforts with the extra time saved. Horst Vohwinkel therefore expects faster development lead times for product innovations and enhancements in the future.
In the Industry 4.0 era those responsible for the new Technical Centre have not made any compromises in terms of networking – of course in compliance with data security requirements and non-disclosure agreements. All test results are shared with colleagues in Canada and China, where the same testing and analysis software are run. Customers can attend tests either via an online connection or in person.
Fakuma - Hall A6 – Booth A6-6213
