Market segment meeting "Trends and Technologies in Packaging"
Trends and technologies in injection moulding solutions for the production of food packaging was the main topic of the third Market Segment Meeting at the main Demag plant in Schwaig, owned by the Japanese-German machine manufacturer Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH.
Together with innovative partners from the fields of mould construction and automation, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag demonstrated how the current challenges in the packaging sector can be mastered by using efficient manufacturing solutions. Barrier technology, in-mould labelling, thin wall techniques, productivity increases and energy efficiency were among the most important aspects here.
Together with the New Materials Cluster managed by Bayern Innovativ GmbH, and the plastics network Kunststoffnetzwerk Franken e.V., Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, who hosted the event at its facility on 28 June 2011, brought together around 60 experts from the packaging industry in the German-speaking countries.
After the Market Segment Meetings, "Process Chains and Applications for IMD and IML“ in 2010 and "Efficiency and Precision for Optical Plastic Components" in 2009, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag gave proof of its leading role as a supplier of technology for injection moulding applications for the third time at the Market Segment Meeting "Trends and Technologies in Packaging".
The Japanese-German company generates more than one fifth of its sales by producing injection moulding solutions for the packaging industry. This manufacturer of injection moulding machines has made itself indispensable in this market, mainly with its high-speed El-Exis S machine. Since launching this hybrid-drive, high-performance series in the autumn of 1998, this supplier has consistently expanded its leading role as a manufacturer of high-speed machines.
Based on many years of experience in this market, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag developed the new El-Exis SP (Speed Performance) for the K 2010 last autumn, a series with even greater dynamics and efficiency. At the Market Segment Meeting the high-speed specialists demonstrated with three different applications that this gives packaging manufacturers a sustainable production system for the future.
"Our strength in the packaging market brings us together with the best in the industry," says Christian Renners, General Manager of the Sales & After Sales Business Unit at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, with conviction, referring to the highly specialised partners from mould construction and automation who demonstrated their specialised packaging expertise in presentations and in relation to the manufacturing concepts presented at the Technical Centre.
The management of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag also sees strong partnerships as essential for continuing success in the packaging industry. "The requirements of packaging manufacturers are just as diverse as the spectrum of available packaging. This can only be produced in optimised manufacturing cells with innovative and specialised development partners," emphasises CEO Dr. Tetsuya Okamura. "In addition to optimising the injection moulding machine, our role is mainly to assemble all components to form an efficient and complete system," he continues.
Competent partners are needed for the development of functional packaging solutions that can be produced at low cost. The machine manufacturer plays an important role here as system integrator, as Arthur Kramer of the Sales Back Office at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, explained in his presentation. Together with partners from the fields of automation, moulds and auxiliaries, this supplier is developing tailor-made and integrated solutions for the packaging industry.
One of these partners, for instance, is Schöttli AG of Diessenhofen in Switzerland whose core competence is high-performance moulds for the packaging industry and medical technology. In his presentation on system partnerships for international markets, Stefan Gaul, Product Manager for Packaging at Schöttli, highlighted the benefits resulting from the international orientation of the Schöttli Group. Schöttli AG is the core company of the Mould Technologies Group (MTG) which was formed in 2008 and is headquartered in Diessenhofen. s-mouldtech in Suzhou/China and Magor Mold in San Dimas CA/USA are also owned by MTG. Within the group the three mould makers can provide plastic processors with a broad portfolio of moulds from a single supplier.
Holger Kast, Sales Manager at Marbach moulds & automation GmbH from Bad Urach, reported on innovation and trends in the field of mould construction and IML. The partner company of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, which specialises in injection moulds for thin-walled packaging and IML automation, brought along a complete novelty to Schwaig in the form of full-cover labelling.
The special feature of this new in-mould labelling process is that the banner label and the base label are inserted overlapping around a radius, thus completely covering the plastic surface with the label right up to the edge of the seal. For this full labelling Marbach has developed a process where a "Full Cover Label Placer“ inserts the banner label and the base label in one stroke. In addition to the informative presentation, the visitors at the Market Segment Meeting were also able to experience the new process live in a manufacturing cell centred on an El-Exis SP 200.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag had developed further production solutions for the packaging industry and medical technology in conjunction with two Swiss companies, Kebo and Schöttli, and the French partners Collomb and Machines Pagès. These were on display at the Technical Centre.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH, Schwaig/Germany, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of injection moulding machines for the processing of plastics. The Japanese-German company was formed in the spring of 2008 by merging the injection moulding activities of Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) and those of Demag Plastics Group.
The global development and production network of Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo (SHI) Demag consists of four plants in Japan, Germany and China with more than 3,000 employees. The product portfolio encompasses all-electric, hydraulic and hybrid injection moulding machines with clamping forces of between 180 and 20,000 kN. With almost 100,000 machines installed, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag is present in all important markets throughout the world.
With more than 4,200 machines sold each year, Sumitomo Heavy Industries counts as Japan's largest manufacturer of injection moulding machines. The main Sumitomo plant in Chiba produces machines with low and medium clamping forces. Around 95 % of all machines supplied by Sumitomo Heavy Industries have an all-electric drive.
The main Demag facility in Schwaig/Germany focuses on the hydraulic Systec and the hybrid high performance, high-speed El Exis machines. Recognising the increasing importance of electric drive technology for injection moulding machines, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has expanded the former Demag factory in Wiehe/Germany into an international centre of competence for electric machines. Thanks to the new production capacities, Wiehe now supplies all electric injection moulding machines for the European and American market with its IntElect and SE series and also the hydraulic Systec series with clamping forces of up to 1,200 kN.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag continues to operate the former Demag plant in Ningbo/China which has been active since 1999. Since 2007 the subsidiary located there, Demag Plastics Machinery (Ningbo) Co., Ltd, had its own, newly built plant and after reaching full capacity, moved to a larger factory with a production area of 11,000 sqm. Injection moulding machines from the Dragon and Systec C product lines with clamping forces of between 500 and 8,000 kN are produced here for Asian markets.
In addition to injection moulding machines, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag offers customised and standardised systems for the automated handling of moulded parts, technical solutions for special applications in process engineering, tailor-made service concepts and various forms of financing for investments in injection moulding machines.
With its seamless sales and service network of subsidiaries and representations, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag is present in all major industrial markets.