Employees for two Reifenhäuser Group units are getting acquainted with a newly constructed 55,000-square-foot facility in Maize, Kan., near Wichita, and preparing for a Sept. 3 open house.
Dave Larson is president of both units, Reiloy USA and Reifenhäuser Inc., and operates each as a separate business.
“We are in one location as of mid-July,” Larson said by telephone.
Reiloy USA, employing 58, is the new identity as of midyear for Westland Corp. and continues as a maker of engineered components for extrusion and blow molding machines.
Reifenhäuser Group's Reiloy Metall GmbH acquired Westland in December 2012 and had operated the maker of centrifugally-cast bimetallic-lined screws and barrels under the brand name Reiloy Westland.
The Maize site is about nine miles north of the 27,000-square-foot Wichita facility that Westland had occupied since 1987.
Initially known as CAC Tool, Westland was founded in 1969, began making screws and barrels in 1982 and started a relationship with Reiloy Metall in 2005, said George Jansen, regional sales manager.
In technology transfers, Reiloy Metall has drawn upon Westland's knowledge in the injection molding field while the U.S. unit has benefited from Reiloy Metall's expertise in extrusion.
On Aug. 20, Reiloy USA anticipates the arrival of the final major component of its new first-in-the-U.S. model 600-6000 multi-product machining center from Weingärtner Maschinenbau GmbH of Kirchham, Austria.
“People went to the Weingärtner facility several times for training, and we did the final run-off and testing during the week of June 8,” Larson said.
“This machine will manufacture both screws and barrels,” Larson said. “It is the third machine of this type for our industry.” The other units are in Austria and Germany.
The five-axis MPMC can machine 7 meters. Previously, Reiloy USA's largest unit machines 4 meters.
“Not all of our competitors do what we do,” Larson said, noting that most do screws or barrels but not both.
Isoqar Inc. of Bonita Springs, Fla., accredited the Reiloy Westland operation under ISO 9001:2008 on March 13. The certification carries over to Reiloy USA.
Larson's other responsibility, Reifenhäuser Inc., employs 14 and, in the U.S., provides parts and service for lines of the group's extrusion equipment. Previously, the Reifenhäuser U.S.-support location was in Danvers, Mass., north of Boston.
Among functions in the new facility, the Reiloy USA shop floor occupies 37,800 square feet, and the office space is 8,300 square feet. A 1,350-square-foot reinforced storm-emergency safe room is available as needed for employees, who regularly use the space as a lunchroom and for restroom breaks.
The warehouse and headquarters for Reifenhäuser Inc. occupy the mezzanine above Reiloy USA's office space.
At NPE 2015, Reiloy Westland introduced a new mixer that is part of a screw design. As an adaptation to a screw, the mixer can alter four characteristics allowing individual adjustments that can change the unit's performance and accommodate the properties of different resins.
Parent firm Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik, which operates as Reifenhäuser Group, and the Reiloy Metall unit are based in Troisdorf, Germany. Reiloy USA is family-owned and -operated Reifenhäuser GmbH's only manufacturing facility in North America.