Orlando, Fla. — At a technology breakfast organized by Reifenhäuser Inc. at NPE2018, Chief Strategy Officer Ulrich Reifenhäuser announced a change of strategy: developing its components area into its own business unit.
The new unit, called Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems, comprises the activities of the Reiloy, Extruder assembly, EDS and Enka Tecnica units.
In the past, the company only supplied extruders and dies for its own lines.
“Now, for the first time, we will also be selling to our competitors,” Reifenhäuser said. “We thought about it for a long time and decided it would be the right decision.”
The new unit develops and manufactures polymer carrying and forming parts such as screws, barrels, film tools, extruders, screen changers, spunbond fabric tools and spinnarets.
“We want to follow the success story of Reiloy,” Reifenhäuser said. Reiloy, a member of the Reifenhäuser group, manufactures screws and barrels. “And it's always the same question: make or buy? Do we develop it ourselves, or buy the expertise? In this case, it was buy.”
To that end, the group purchased EDS, an international supplier of high-end extrusion tools and special dies, in January, thus acquiring design expertise in dies and film tools and the tailor-made EDS product range.
The group is also ramping up capacities at its site in Maize, Kan., where it is expanding its service business for dies. Reifenhäuser Inc. is a unit of Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik of Troisdorf, Germany.
“We plan to start reworking film dies and spinnerets in North America this year. In order to make that possible, we're investing in machines and devices, including our own surface plating,” said Uwe Gaedike, managing director of the new business unit. He added: “Another step might be to produce and offer complete assembled extruders or flat dies in the U.S. Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems will also target growth in Asia.”