DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY – Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik, the German extrusion machinery manufacturer, is to unveil a new machine at this year's K show which it claims will herald a new concept in extruding.
The machine, developed by the group's extrusion technology division, is to remain under wraps until the trade event kicks off in Düsseldorf in October.
However Ulrich Reifenhäuser, the company's managing director, told a press conference at a pre-K show event in the German city this week that the new kit will offer customers better performance and energy savings.
Lower melt temperatures would mean increased output through the new machine, Reifenhäuser said, while a new gear concept would result in lower energy being used.
Other Reifenhäuser developments announced at the pre-K gathering included new technology that allows flattening of blown film "in a more effective and energy-efficient manner than all other systems available on the market".
Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion's 'Evolution Ultra Flat' system sees the flattening unit positioned upstream, between the haul-off nip assembly and turner bar system.
The Troisdorf, Germany-based company said that flattening via stretching was "significantly improved since the melt is still not fully crystallized at this point".
Reifenhäuser said it was also planning to invest 20 million euros in its research and development facility in Troisdorf in time for the K show, a development which will increase its R&D capacity "by about 30 percent."
Speaking about these and other developments which the family-owned firm had been working on and planned to show at the K show later this year, Bernd Reifenhäuser, the firm's chief executive, said the company had "reassessed the art of technology and had the passion and the courage to re-think" what it did.
Part of this process had seen the re-branding of the company's corporate image, a process which had taken four months to bring to the market.
On trading over the past 12 months Bernd Reifenhäuser said the year had been "mixed", with the group unlikely to match the 450 million euro figure which it made in 2011/12.
However the group's on-going operational performance was "positive" and "we are on track", he added.
