Sustainability remains top issue for KraussMaffei

For KraussMaffei, Fakuma is a must-attend event. The reason is twofold, said Manuel von Varchmin, director of global sales for injection molding machinery and regional sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"This show is a trade fair of international importance. We've had extremely good conversations with global players the last couple of days. The first fair days were just fantastic. At the same time, it is somehow also like a family event. This is what makes the Fakuma so special," he said.

"Anyone who is here at Fakuma is familiar with the current trends and challenges in plastics processing" was how Von Varchmin phrased it.

Like many of his colleagues at the show, Von Varchmin talked about the ongoing bleakness of the current economic situation and the difficulties the industry has been facing over the past few years.

"Raw material prices are rising, and manufacturers are complaining about a generally poor supply situation. The coronavirus pandemic has mercilessly exposed the dependence of entire supply chains," Von Varchmin said.

"Moreover, the energy supply and cost situation are still very challenging in the European Union. Especially in Germany, customers are suffering from high energy costs, which makes them hesitant about making new machine investments. These have been main reasons for this development. In other words, the market is really under pressure — and it's a tough market," he said.

Nonetheless, KraussMaffei is looking toward the future with confidence.

"Because there is one thing we are convinced of, no matter what: Sustainability will remain in focus in the coming years. And, as KraussMaffei, we have the solutions the market needs," Von Varchmin said.

Sustainability continues to gain momentum in the plastics manufacturing industry, a trend that KraussMaffei has long been part of. The company can look back at more than 30 years of experience in the research and development of recycling technology and can supply equipment suitable for mechanical, solvent-based and chemical recycling. Thus, the circular economy can be considered a pillar of the company's strategy, Von Varchmin said.

"We consider ourselves a solution provider for high-quality recycling facilities. Within our technical innovation center at Laatzen, [Germany,] we constantly conduct trials for different forms of mechanical or advanced recycling," added Franz-Xaver Keilbach, global product and application owner, circular economy/recycling. "Our single- and twin-screw extruder systems, whether used in combination or separately, achieve high quality and high throughput for polymer waste streams."

For KraussMaffei, recycling will definitely remain an area of focus. It views the upcoming legislation on mandatory recycled content in products and packaging as an opportunity for further development, Von Varchmin said.

"It is important that our plasticizing units and screw designs are able to handle even low-quality material, as, when the demand for recycled materials rises in the future, good-quality material is likely to become scarce. We need to ensure that no matter the quality of the recycled material, our customers can still produce quality products," he said.

For now, however, the overall economic situation has also noticeably affected the progress toward the circular economy.

"The pace has slowed down, and the time required to make decisions for projects has increased," Keilbach said. "We do see some positive progress, such as PureCycle's achievements with its solvent-based recycling facility. We are at a point where recyclates are becoming available, also in high qualities. We are convinced that such applications will have a very positive impact on future projects within the transition toward a circular economy."

One of the best and newest examples of KraussMaffei's ongoing focus on sustainability is the new lifecycleValueCalculator. This digital tool allows plastic processors to determine the economic and ecological impact of a machine and digital or life cycle service product over its entire product life cycle. The user must follow six intuitive steps to quantify the as-is situation and improvement potential for a specific application. The lifecycleValueCalculator is available free of charge in the customer portal pioneersClub from KraussMaffei.

Aside from this, in the injection molding machine space, KraussMaffei has launched a new HPS-Physical Foaming universal screw for MuCell applications with 30 percent higher plasticizing performance, which is on show at the booth in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

"In addition, we advanced the topic of MuCell and recyclate in a research project with the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences," he noted.

Another area in which the machinery manufacturer is collaborating with academic and other partners is on such issues as the processing of recyclates with higher viscosity.

"Our DCIM [direct compounding injection molding] technology, for example, is the right choice when it comes to challenging materials. The DCIM process combines injection molding and compounding in one process. A single-screw extruder takes over the material preparation, which makes the process economically attractive, especially for smaller components with a shot weight of 50 grams to 2,000 grams. Material savings of up to 50 percent per kilogram can be achieved. Recyclates can be easily processed," Von Varchmin said.

What about customization, another important theme in the industry today? At KraussMaffei, the modularization of the product portfolio is an ongoing effort, and this makes it possible to adapt flexibly to different customer demands. But Von Varchmin emphasized: "Flexibility is something the company has always striven for with our focus on holistic turnkey solutions aimed at maximizing the efficiency of the whole production cell."

Asked about the fledgling additive manufacturing business division at the company, Von Varchmin said it is "still evolving at full throttle" after the market launch of the two printers last year at K. The company is maintaining extensive communication with customers and partners to advance these products and solution offerings in terms of quality and productivity on an industrial level.

"With the official start of sales of our powerPrint in July of this year, we have taken a significant step forward in our AM business by producing customer parts — print-on-demand service — in line with the highest industry and quality standards. The unique multilaser technology of our precisionPrint will be a very exciting topic at Formnext this year," Vice President of Additive Manufacturing Rolf Mack said.

KraussMaffei has also created solutions to address the dearth of skilled operators in the industry. With options like smartOperation, even nonprofessional operators can easily start up a machine or production cell, including the automation, by pressing a button.

"It's like operating a coffee machine," said Von Varchmin. "Once the program has been programmed within the machine control, the operator is guided from step to step without having to do anything else in terms of programming. Even the night shift can stop and start the machine."

Another innovation that has not yet been launched — it is currently being developed — is an exchange between the injection molding machine control and injection molding simulation. This enables the parameters set in the 3D simulation program to be automatically transferred to the injection molding machine control.

"You don't have to start again from the beginning but can use the parameters from the 3D software. It makes it easier for the operator in a new process to be able to make use of existing data," Von Varchmin said.

Sustainability will continue to be an important focus for the machinery manufacturer. But, according to Von Varchmin, there is something else that needs to be mentioned.

"As European manufacturers, we build machines to last for 20-30 years — machines with low emissions, that are energy-efficient. We are required to do so, and we also support this. And we have customers who are telling us that this is important. But we see that they then buy cheaper machines that only last for seven, maybe eight years, with a far greater carbon footprint. To us, that is not sustainable.

"The European machines must meet all kinds of standards, fulfill all kinds of conditions, show all kinds of certificates," he added. "My message would be: We need a better balance and a more level playing field. Then we can see who is truly sustainable."