MACHINERY | EXTRUDER DEVELOPMENTS
ing system, and a cooling chiller. Teraplast has also installed three stretch film
converting machines from sister company Noel – two machines for pre-stretching stretch film and a multifunctional line for core, coreless, pre- stretched, and mini-rolls film. Thanks to the patented three-roller pre-stretch device, Teraplast can compete in pre-stretch market with the highest quality film, says Colines. “We are very satisfied with the consistency and
Above: W&H is expanding its headquarters in North America
width, can process a variety of materials including LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and mLLDPE. It produces films that are stiff and flat – but with high productivity, thanks to advanced die and extruder technology. By minimising LDPE content, it claims to offer significant cost savings, says the company. The machine has an output of over 900 kg/hr and is equipped with a new high-pressure cooling system to improve output and profile tolerances. Automated winders provide precise tension control, reducing the need for manual adjustments. “Since integrating this machine, we’ve noticed an
increase in productivity and operational efficiency,” said Nitesh Kumar, managing director at Lorven. Elsewhere, the German company is growing in
North America – having recently begun expanding its headquarters in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Andrew Wheeler, president of W&H in North
America, said: “By doubling warehouse capacity and making space for our growing team, we are fostering further growth in North America.” The first phase will expand the warehouse by 12,000 sq ft and the office building by 5,600 sq ft with completion anticipated within 12 months. The second phase is the renovation of the existing 8,400 sq ft of office space, which should take six months. The entire project is expected to be completed by winter 2025. As part of the expansion, photovoltaic panels
are being installed to generate nearly all the building’s electricity needs, which includes power- ing the HVAC system for the office space.
Stretch advantage Colines of Italy recently supplied two nine-layer, 3000mm Allrollex film extrusion lines to Romanian stretch film manufacturer Teraplast. Both lines are equipped with the AI-based
virtual production assistant Mastermind, continu- ous filters to work with PCR resins, a robot-palletis-
30 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | October 2024
flexibility of Colines machines, and with the quality of the product achieved,” said Nicolae Rosu, operations director at Teraplast. Separate to this, Colines has developed a special technology kit allowing more efficient production of in-line coreless stretch film. Production of coreless film rolls can save up to 15% in weight, helping to reduce CO2 emissions and costs. Coreless stretch film continues to gain market share, with a share of more than 25% in Europe.
Its technology kit, with fully pneumatic system
air-shafts – developed jointly with Noel – is based on a historic patent owned by the company. It allows Allrollex lines to guarantee the production of in-line coreless film at over 500 m/min, with further improvements coming soon for both 2in and 3in reels for all thickness ranges, it says. The technology helps to raise production speed
above that of competitors and resolves critical issues of low reliability and low speed of existing systems, it says, adding that the quality of the finished product is superior to that achieved using its Mastermind virtual production assistant. The kit can be equipped as an option on new Allrollex lines.
Five-layer line At NPE, Italy’s Luigi Bandera demonstrated Techno Flex PO5, a five-layer co-extrusion line that can process a range of polyolefin-based films to make shrink film, print lamination and gusseted film. Key features of the line include: a four-compo-
nent gravimetric loading and dosing system for the extruder; a five-layer co-extrusion head with 300mm diameter die; dual-flow cooling ring; and automatic film thickness correction control. At the show, it also introduced its Trim Flex
regranulation system, which it says condenses recycling (with Bandera’s co-rotating twin-screw) and blown extrusion into a single step – bypassing pelletising for economic and process advantages. This year, the company opened physical head-
quarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, consisting of a sales office for the US and Canada, a spare parts warehouse and an after-sales service with on-site
www.filmandsheet.com
IMAGE: W&H
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