ORLANDO, FLA. (April 3, 9:3-0 a.m. ET) — GN Thermoforming Equipment (Booth 1683) added three new positions to its engineering department in Chester, Nova Scotia, and two to its sales staff in Jihlava, Czech Republic.
Workforce expansion for the manufacturer of roll-fed, in-mold cut thermoforming machines reflects strong response for its GN760 plug-assist thermoformer, now making its North American debut in a demonstration at NPE2012 after a launch at K 2010 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Jerome Romkey, GN marketing manager, reports overwhelming response to the GN760 and anticipates further growth for cut-in-place machinery. GN is trying to expand its offering.
At NPE, the machine runs a 10-up common-edge die tool for PET meat trays. The demonstration underscores the machine’s low-scrap capability.
GN’s tooling technology can reduce skeletal web scrap to 18 percent from 30 percent when compared to typical form-cut-stack machines.
The new cut-in-place machine has 30-inch-by-21-inch (762 mm by 533 mm) forming area and helps meet a demand for medium- to large-volume runs.
GN has sold GN760 units to customers in Poland, Russia, South Africa and Mexico with most manufacturing custom food trays of PET, high-impact polystyrene, polypropylene or PE/PET laminate.
Romkey said the plug-assist thermoformer and common-edge tooling provides processors an opportunity to improve profitability in an era of escalating resin prices and environmental footprint pressures.
With an electronic regeneration system, the GN760 is energy efficient when compared to competitive equipment, Romkey said. The model uses servo drives for plugging, material transport, stripping, and stacking and boasts a radiant infrared heating system with 60 zones.
