Waiting for the customer to catch up

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Industry champions in fields as competitive and in-demand as thermoforming have to be constantly developing to maintain their lead. The experts at battenfeld-cincinnati never stop fine-

tuning their extrusion systems for thermoforming sheet, providing their customers with some of the best machines in the world for this sort of application, but every once in a while there is a breakthrough.

At battenfeld-cincinnati's Packaging Division at its plant in Bad Oeynhausen to the west of Hanover in Germany, thermoforming sheet extrusion is one of the largest applications. EPPM took the opportunity to sit down with Regional Sales Manager for Packaging Hartmut Hachmeister at PLAST 2015 in Milan to learn more.

"Thermoforming sheet in general is a much broader manufacturing technology than is applicable just for packaging. Because of the widespread use of PP, PS, PET and ABS, its final uses are very broad and what battenfeld-cincinnati has done over the last couple of years is develop a high-speed single screw extruder for sheet production, mainly for thermoforming," Hachmeister said.

Quantum leap in extruder technology

battenfeld-cincinnati's high-speed extruder - where 'high speed' refers to screw speeds over 400 rpm - has been dubbed "a quantum leap in the history of their extrusion technology". This is not something companies can say very often, as often it is a case of gradually evolving and fine-tuning a system rather than introducing something ground-breaking to market.

The single screw extruders BC 1-75-34 DV and BC 1-75-40DV provide users with up to 20 per cent energy savings, shorter changeover time thanks to the reduced volumes required, improved quality and a smaller footprint, all of which comes down to simply adjusting the screw speed and the performance of the drive unit.

"battenfeld-cincinnati was one of the first to really push this kind of technology into the middle of the market back in 2004 and since then we've supplied a few hundred of these systems all over the world, first starting in Europe and then spreading out from there," Hachmeister explained.

High-speed extrusion systems for PS, PP and PET are becoming more popular, and since 2004 a number of battenfeld-cincinnati's competitors have followed in its footsteps.

"We believe we are a bit ahead of them because we started earlier and we believe we have more hands-on experience," Hachmeister noted.

"There will always be tough competition"

Competition can only be positive, however, not least because suppliers who are unique in the solution they provide run the risk of customers being afraid of committing to a technology over concerns no other plastics processor has made the business decision to back the same horse.

Indeed, battenfeld-cincinnati is maintaining its strong position on home ground in Europe and thanks to its facility in the US, battenfeld-cincinnati USA, it is penetrating the American market much more easily than if it was targeting the US from across the pond.

Hachmeister was even optimistic about the notoriously competitive Asian market, where demand for thermoforming systems for packaging applications is still very high thanks to the large population.

"Of course, there will always be tough competition in Asia regarding price - China and Taiwan in particular - but with our high-speed single screw extruder concept we are focused on bringing more machinery into the Chinese, Japanese and Thai markets," he said.

When asked if battenfeld-cincinnati is enjoying the back-to-Europe mentality some companies have been experiencing as a result of a return to familiar, closer-to-home service and high quality after switching to cheaper options amid the financial crisis, Hachmeister was realistic.

"Every time there is a project, you have to fight for it because even those who have had a good experience with you before still think about other suppliers. Not just those who are more local, but those who are lower on price, so every time you have to really look after your customer.

"Right now, the foreign exchange market is supporting the machinery business. Due to the exchange rate, more people are interested in European equipment. Countries in South America and Asia, where the US dollar is the dominant currency for example, who were more interested in short term investment, have gone for a European machine because of the weakness of the euro against the dollar. You really see more activity when the exchange rate drops like this and it has proven to be a small push for us."

Unique roll stack design

battenfeld-cincinnati's leading technology coupled with the favourable foreign exchange climate are not the only factors helping the company to maintain its strong global position. Its Multi-Touch roll stack is also helping to move thermoforming sheet technologies along.

"For foodstuff packaging," Hachmeister explained, "you have to have a very good sheet tolerance, as well as a very constant shrinkage. Because form fill seal (FFS) machines have to be adapted to the quality of the sheet, if the sheet quality changes during processing you're in trouble."

This is where battenfeld-cincinnati's Multi-Touch roll stack comes in, creating uniform cooling on both the top and bottom of the sheet and offering excellent functionality and handling for optimal sheet production results.

"With our Multi-Touch system, we can achieve even tighter thickness tolerances, as well as very good sheet flatness and constant control of shrinkage. This equipment is proving really popular

with customers who produce a lot of FFS sheets.

While the favourable conditions in the foreign exchange market will not stay the same forever, battenfeld-cincinnati is maintaining its lead by building fast machinery and developing innovations such as Multi-Touch, but does Hachmeister have news of any new ventures on the horizon for battenfeld-cincinnati's Packaging Division?

"To be honest, I think we're at a very high level - I wouldn't say we cannot make another big jump, but I see a lot of customers still using old equipment, which is really far from the level we are at right now," Hachmeister remarked. "Also there's work to do to convince customers to make a modification, a change, and that an investment would make sense, because for a lot of producers high-speed extrusion is still very, very new, even if it has been on the market since 2004. Some customers we talk to are still surprised to learn about it - so there's plenty of work still to be done."

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