Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Echte Site, RKW has put a new tube former into operation. The company will use this high-performance production line to manufacture different versions of the self-venting RKW ProVent® plastic sack and FFS films. The system is suitable for a wide range of sack formats and allows for custom manufacturing to meet individual requirements. This investment in new machinery and the expansion of the garbage bag production amounts to approximately €4 million. RKW invested already millions of euros in infrastructure measures and a new flexographic printing press in 2016.
According to site manager Johannes Heintges: "In response to the growing demands on our products – especially the RKW ProVent® packaging solution – we are continually investing in technologies to offer our customers more flexibility and maximum product quality. The new production line is subsequent to the 2016 investment in our printing centre, which serves the need for high-end print designs. With the tube former we are now taking the next step and focusing on high-precision and customised converting."
At RKW, the tube former is perfectly coordinated with the flexographic printing line to ensure short delivery times and produce plastic sack solutions that are precisely tailored to customer requirements. Production manager Dr Markus Brinkmann explains: "The system is designed for a wide variety of sack formats and is currently the most advanced on the market. This machine can be used to produce a wide variety of bag formats with different venting options. Small production runs are easy to manage thanks to optimised set-up times." A special focus is on small packaging sizes.
The system sets industry standards when it comes to product quality and sustainability. For example, the special winding technology ensures high winding quality, especially for narrow rolls and small diameters. Centralised machine control ensures consistent quality for each roll as well as from one roll to the next one. The system also offers new options for modifying the packaging by processing, for instance, thinner films to reduce material consumption.
50 years of innovation and growth
The plastic sack solution RKW ProVent® produced on the new line is a sustainable packaging solution for powdery goods such as construction materials, chemical precursors and food additives. Compared to conventional paper sacks, RKW ProVent® offers much better protection against external influences such as moisture and wet conditions and thus minimizes product loss. RKW launched the first stable alternative to paper in 2005 with its self-venting plastic packaging developed in Echte.
RKW is also expanding the production of garbage bags at its Echte site. "All in all, we have significantly increased production capacities with investments in our printing center in 2016 and in the new tube former. Now we are recruiting new staff in all areas to support the steady growth of the Site," says site manager Heintges. The Echte plant is specialised in the development and production of high-quality industrial packaging (FFS films, converted sacks and shrink films) and garbage bags. The company celebrated 50 years of the Echte location on 8 September and inaugurated the new tube former as part of the celebrations.
