Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH posted sales of about 560 million euros ($690 million) for fiscal 2006, topping 2005 record sales of 551 million euros, Josef Märtl, chairman of the managing board, said at Fakuma 2006.
It marked the fifth straight year of increased sales for Munich, Germany-based Krauss-Maffei, which accounts for about half the total sales of machinery giant Mannesmann Plastics Machinery GmbH. In July, Madison Capital Partners, a Chicago investment group, bought MPM.
Orders grew more strongly, gaining 10 percent, to around 595 million euros ($732 million).
Märtl announced the unaudited results for fiscal 2006, ended Sept. 30, at a news conference Oct. 19 during the Fakuma show.
The solid growth in orders is driven by global business for KM's injection presses, extruders and polyurethane processing machinery, and success with equipment for high-tech applications, he said. The extrusion business enjoyed the steepest increase.
Demand for injection molding machinery has grown steadily in Western and Eastern Europe and North and South America, Märtl said. Business slowed in Asia and China.
A booming home-building sector in Turkey led to surging demand for KM's profile and pipe extrusion machinery. The company also won major extrusion orders from customers in Russia, other Eastern European countries and North America.
In manufacturing news, KM has added production of medium and large sizes of its two-platen injection press, the MX, to an assembly line in Munich. MX machines made on the line have clamping forces of 880-1,760 tons. KM already was making its CX press on the line, dubbed ``synchronized flow production.''
KM also streamlined production of extrusion and PU machinery. ``Both divisions now have consolidated, clearly defined production areas. Efficiency gains are ongoing,'' Martl said. All extruder production will move to assembly-line manufacturing in fiscal 2007, he said.
The company plans to supply more automation, including robots, to its extrusion equipment, mirroring the trend to supply integrated robots with injection molding machines.
At Fakuma, KM premiered a larger size of its CX press, with 220 tons of clamping force, which molded an automotive wire harness duct in a two-cavity mold. The press used the MuCell process from Trexel Inc. to mold the parts from filled nylon. A six-axis robot removed the parts, cut sprues and dropped the parts onto conveyor belts, according to the specific mold cavity.
Also at the show, an 880-ton MX molded bottle crates on a 40-second cycle, with robotic removal. A plasticizing unit gave optimal melt homogeneity at low melt temperatures, reducing the need for colorant by as much as 30 percent, the company said.
KM also molded parts on two of its all-electric EX presses.