MONTREAL — Equipment distributor and manufacturer Nordic Sensors Industrial Inc. has entered the small-production extruder market.
Nordic, based in Montreal, showed a single-screw, one-inch extruder at Expoplast 2014 held Nov. 19-20 in Montreal. It was one of two built by Nordic in the past few months and it was sold at the show to an undisclosed customer.
“We make heaters and thermocouples and we wanted to get to the next step,” said Francis Guillemettes, Nordic's national sales director for plastics, in an interview at Expoplast.
Guillemettes said Nordic plans to make only single-screw machines and at least initially, up to 1.75 inches in diameter. It is aiming the machines at window profile, pipe and tubing markets.
Nordic's product lines include components it can use in its extruders. Companies it represents include PEM Feedscrews, Gefran and its temperature and pressure controls and transducers, and Calex Electronics Ltd., which supplies infrared thermocouples and temperature sensors. Other companies it represents include Beta LaserMike, for wall thickness and length controls, Puritan Magnetics Inc. and AAE for blenders, loaders and dryers.
The extruder at the show featured a 24:1 screw built by PEM. The machine is made of modules that can be configured to a customer's specific needs. The first extruder Nordic built is at its headquarters for use in research and development. The company also reconditions existing extrusion lines to upgrade sensors, controls and other components.
Nordic is a private company employing more than 20. In addition to announcing its entry into extrusion, Nordic unveiled a new line of heater hoses at Expoplast.