Bausano to open US headquarters

Bausano & Figli SpA, an Italy-based manufacturer of custom extrusion lines, has not had a strong presence in the United States, but that is changing.

The family company has been designing and producing extrusion lines for plastics processing since 1946. Since then, it has expanded to other markets, particularly Brazil in 1999 and India in 2011.

Now history is about to change. Bausano chose NPE2024 as the perfect opportunity to announce the opening of a new headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.

"The U.S. market is our goal," Alessandra Grosso, marketing manager at Bausano, told Sustainable Plastics on the NPE show floor.

"We think that European technology is very appreciated in this market, and the U.S. is a very big country, so there is a lot of work for everybody. For this reason, this year we decided to open a new headquarters here."

The goal was to have an open house at the new HQ during the NPE period, but bureaucracy put a spanner in the works, Grosso explained. The launch date is now set for some time between July and September.

Bausano selected Charlotte as its new U.S. home due to the company's new focus on pipe extrusion using high density and low density polyethylene.

"Two years ago, Bausano started to work in a new field: pipe extrusion, mostly HDPE and LDPE pipe extrusion, as well as PVC. It's not so simple to start a new market, but we have a strong know-how because we created a pipe technically qualified staff.

"We decided to create this new headquarters in Charlotte because Charlotte is an area with a lot of plastic pipe manufacturers. We hope that it will be easier to collaborate with them from there," Grosso said.

The machine manufacturer already secured a building in Charlotte and is now in the process of moving its equipment to the new facility, which will also include a large amount of space for spare parts storage.

"We know that it is important to have in-house spare parts, to have technical services capable to give customer assistance within 12, maximum 24 hours. … We understand that for U.S. customers, it's very important to be reactive, to be very fast. The only answer to that is to open a facility in the country," Grosso said.

Even though Bausano has expanded to Brazil, India and now the U.S., the core of its manufacturing remains in Italy, where it has patents for its technology.

"We would like to protect our know-how," Grosso said. "We prefer to ship machines and parts from Italy because in this world it is very easy for someone to copy your technology," she explained.

Bausano's entire portfolio will be available in the US. Grosso expects lead times of five to six months for pipe extrusion lines, with an extra month for shipment.

At this year's NPE, Bausano has a MD 92 Nextmover twin-screw extruder on the show floor. The machine is not new, but it features Bausano's induction heating technology for energy saving, an in-demand feature in today's high-energy prices market.

The company says by using an alternating electromagnetic field for contactless cylinder heating, the system reduces wear and tear and delivers energy savings of up to 35 percent. It predicts the system can pay for itself within 18 months in energy savings. Potential savings at a later stage come from reduced wiring on new machines, less frequent replacement, savings due to fewer number of spare heater bands in inventory, reduced downtime, and improved product quality.

Bausano is looking to patent the technology this year, which can be added as a retrofit application in the entire range of its extruders.

The MD Nextmover line of extruders has also been designed to produce water-soluble bioplastic granules. These are ideal for subsequent blown film extrusion for the production of bio-based films.

When processing water-soluble bioplastics, counter-rotating twin-screw extruders are preferred over co-rotating extruders. Configuring these correctly requires a number of factors to be taken into consideration. In the first place, the length of the barrel is critical: the material must pass through in the time that is strictly needed for the screws to process it. If it remains in the barrel too long, it will be subject to excessive stress.

The second aspect is temperature. Processing occurs at much higher temperatures than a resin such as PVC, for example. Moreover, to produce a granule without impurities, the gel point must be determined with absolute accuracy. Another important consideration is the choice of head and cutting technology, which help determine the correct way to cool the extrudate.

Unlike polyolefins, water-soluble resins cannot be cooled in water. This cooling step requires careful attention to ensure a good-quality granule is produced.

The counter-rotating twin-screw configuration also makes it possible to manufacture wood-plastic composites. It achieves an accurate mixing between melted polymer and natural fiber, passing it through the mold without the need for a melting pump. Specifically, profiles can be directly extruded from the raw material, known as direct extrusion, or the material can be processed starting from the granule (indirect extrusion).

In direct extrusion, Bausano machines allow for the processing of fibers with a humidity level of up to 12 percent at a three-times higher speed than comparable solutions. The granulation lines can also be used with recycled materials. The wide range of modular accessories makes it possible to customize the lines according to specification.