Munich-based KraussMaffei AG has sold two large-tonnage MX injection presses to German customers — including a big 4,000 metric-tonner — and KraussMaffei Berstorff extruders to two pipe-making customers in Egypt.
KM sold an MX SpinForm press with a clamping force of 1,600 metric tons to Hofmann Innovation Group in Lichtenfels, Germany. Two mold faces rotate between the two injection units.
Hofmann does mold making, modeling and prototyping for customers around the world. Before getting the KM SpinForm press, company technicians had to transport large molds over long distances to mold sample parts.
Last fall, KraussMaffei also installed a 4,000-ton MX to Ford-Werke AG, which is molding car bumpers at Ford's plant in Saarlouis, Germany. The bumpers go on the Ford Focus, Focus ST, C-Max and Kuga models.
KM supplied Ford with a complete manufacturing cell, including a large Kuka industrial robot that places the bumpers on a two-belt conveyor, where they are cooled for 30 minutes.
The machinery maker also supplied the safety housing, platforms and ladders to allow workers to perform maintenance on the injection unit and the clamp on the big machine.
“Regular benchmarking shows that running our own injection molding operation in Saarlouis brings clear efficiency gains. This was the basis for our decision to invest in a big-tonnage machine to add to our machine park,” said Rainer Hoefner, divisional manager for the paint shop and plastics production.
In extrusion news, KM sold six KraussMaffei Berstorff extruders to Cairo-based Al Amal, a major maker of PVC pipe in Egypt. Al Amal plans to make three types of pipe: unplasticized PVC, chlorinated PVC and polypropylene random copolymer. The first lines shipped in late 2009; the rest are being shipped early this year.
Al Amal already operates a KM pelletizing system.
KM also announced the sale of four PVC pipe extruders to United for Developed Industries, part of Egypt's Lasheen Group. KM will install the lines at a plant near Cairo.
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