Innovating out of recession

17 February 2010



Although the economic effects of recession can be felt in different sectors of the German converting industry, its companies have been busy launching new innovations, equipment and technologies aimed at energy-saving, waste-reduction and increased productivity. Anca Gurzu reports.


The recession left its mark across many sectors of the economy in many parts of the world, and the German converting sector did not escape its trials. A good example is printing companies.

Although final figures have not yet been released, according to the German Printing and Media Industries Federation, companies with 50 or more employees saw a 7.2% decrease in sales in 2009 (down to about €9.6 billion). German printers have suffered heavily from rising paper and energy prices, says the federation’s Dr Nora Lauterbach. German energy prices rose by 4.6% in 2008, while paper prices increased 1.7%. This phenomenon encouraged many companies to develop and use more energy-efficient and waste-reducing converting equipment.

The German plastics converting sector has witnessed a similar situation. For 2009, there was an expected decrease in overall turnover of 10% (down to €12.5 billion), according to statistics released by the German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films.

The development in 2010 depends very much on the general economic situation in Germany – but also in Europe and worldwide, says Inga Kelkenberg, the association’s communication manager, who predicted a slow return to robust growth in the next three years. “Overall, one could say that the plastics packaging and film sector in Germany is doing somewhat better than most other European countries, which have been influenced by the crisis severely – such as Spain or the UK,” Ms Kelkenberg says. “In terms of innovation, the sector is focusing on sustainability, such as developing thinner films.”

Smart packaging

Innovation will be the watchword at this year’s Frankfurt-based LOPE-C (Large Area, Organic & Printed Electronics Convention), an annual meeting where scientific achievements in the field of organic and printed electronics will be presented.

The aim is to mass produce organic and smart electronic materials at a low cost by extending well-established graphic printing techniques: layering very thin stacks of electronic components, semiconductors, insulators and barriers on polyester substrates.

This process enables a multitude of novel applications such as organic solar cells, e-readers, flat batteries, and sensors for ambient intelligence in smart packaging. These achievements, says a federation spokesman, show that the German converting industry in 2009 – despite the recession – had a busy year innovating.

The German printing industry was also particularly active regarding innovation in 2009. Manroland received the 2009 German Innovation Award of the printing industry for its Roland Inline Coater Smart equipment. Originally introduced in 2006 and then upgraded in 2008 to become compatible to fit more offset presses, the Roland Inline Coater Smart is a versatile product that can be used for coating, adding a spot of colour, or for in-line finishing.

Manroland places the product’s price tag at 60% lower than that of a conventional coating module, and emphasises its flexibility. “This flexibility is an advantage especially for smaller and medium-sized printing companies: with a low investment sum they can cover a wide range of applications,” according to the company.

The gravure printing sector did not lag behind either. In March 2009, Hell Gravure Systems released HelioXtreme 32, an upgraded broadband engraving system based on the Xtreme Engraving process. This combines ultrafine resolutions with high-ink applications and can be used to reproduce logos, barcodes, labels, drug packaging, micro-lettering, security features, and cigarette packaging. The HelioXtreme 32 can perform the Xtreme Engraving process at 12kHz and vibration engraving at 8Hz - 50 % faster than the previous HelioXtreme 22 system.

In September, the company also released the PremiumSetter 1300, a laser engraving machine that enables direct engraving of elastomer printing forms. Like the PremiumSetter 1600, this new product uses high-resolution fibre laser and 3D-shaping. However, unlike its predecessor, this new product is geared towards manual operation.

“The advantage of manual operation is a question of need. Some manufacturers of printing forms use the automatic operation, but many smaller companies have no need for it. The focus of the manual machine is on those smaller companies,” according to Petra Merbach, product manager at Hell Gravure Systems.

Another German converting industry innovation last year was the Gallus Group’s launch of the Gallus ECS 340, a granite-based press for label printing, which reduces paper waste. The Gallus Group is headquartered in Switzerland, but its development and production facility is located in Langgöns, north of Frankfurt.

Low vibrations levels and the absence of a fan allow the ECS 340 to operate at low noise levels. “What’s more, granite is a natural raw material whose use has a very positive impact on the CO2 balance of the ECS 340. The eco-friendly design of the press is underpinned by the ease with which the granite can be recycled once the press reaches the end of its life cycle,” says Stefan Heiniger, vice-president research and development of the Gallus Group.

In December, the company announced that it sold more than 20 granite-based presses worldwide since the launch of the product three months earlier.

Another innovation from the company is an LED-UV drying system for narrow-web rotary presses, which the company developed in collaboration with partners Siegwerk, Switzerland, and Phoseon Technology, USA. Because the system does not cause the printing substrate to heat up significantly, there is no need for re-cooling. More so, the LED-UV drying systems do not emit ozone or infra-red radiation. These two advantages deliver energy savings of up to 60% compared with conventional UV drying technologies, according to Gallus.

In October 2009, Fisher and Krecke, now a member of the Bobst Group, announced that the Excelsior Packaging Group, in the USA, had bought three additional FP 36S-10 flexo presses from the company. The presses include Fisher and Krecke’s latest technological advancement, the ‘smartGPS’ (graphic positioning system). According to the company ‘smartGPS sets a fundamentally new standard when it comes to registration and impression setting’.

The new technology allows for the print setting to be finalised at the plate mounting stage, before the print job enters the press. “That means once the sleeves are put in the press, the machine can immediately be accelerated to production speed and print with the correct impression and register, literally ‘from the first impression’,” says the company. At last year’s Achema exhibition for chemical engineering, environmental protection and biotechnology, Windmöller & Hölscher revealed the Rubin. This is a new bagging machine designed to handle free-flowing products including salts, special sands, plastics resins, fertilisers, wood pellets, animal feed and pet food. A touchscreen panel allows the operator to change the filling weight or bag dimensions without changing any parts, allowing for a maximum bagging speed of 400 bags/hour.

The Rubin is supplied completely assembled with integrated safety enclosures, unwind, outfeed conveyor, and electrical cabinets. Windmöller & Hölscher presents the product as the ‘ideal piece of equipment for filling operations that want to shift from manual to automatic bagging’.

Of course, film production and conversion are another important sector of Germany’s plastics processing industry. In November 2009, Reifenhäuser Kiefel unveiled a new generation of blown film lines using only one ring for cooling. The company stated that the new technology is an answer to the demand by numerous film producers to have increased efficiency of complete blown film extrusion lines. The so-called counter cooling process (it does not have a trade name yet) is said to ensure that the cooling air is not only conveyed upward to the air lips of the machine, as is the case in conventional air rings, but also downward to an additional air exit. As a result, it only requires one air ring to achieve a stabilisation of the film bubble.

The counter cooling process increases output and flexibility, and allows for easier operation and line handling, says Reifenhäuser Kiefel representative Eugen Friedel. In addition, a number of film properties such as transparency, gloss and strength can be improved, depending on the film structure. German specialist for coating and laminating Coatema released an upgraded version of its Basecoater in 2009. This is a roll-on-roll coater, which was designed to coat substrates (textile, foil, paper and non-wovens) and chemicals with as little mass as possible. This third generation machine adds more functions and features, including enclosed coating areas, new dryers and UV cross-linking options.

“The number of companies engaged in printed electronics is rapidly growing and there will a new huge market for the printing and coating industry,” says Coatema vice-president Thomas Kolbusch.


Manroland’s Roland Inline Coater Smart equipment received the 2009 Germany Innovation Award of the printing industry Manroland The Fisher & Krecke FP 36S-10 is designed for high volume production Fisher & Krecke Coatema released an upgraded version of its Basecoater in 2009 Coatema

External weblinks
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Manroland
Hell Gravure Systems
Gallus Group
Bobst (Fischer and Krecke)
Windmöller & Hölscher
Reifenhäuser
Coatema

Coatema Coatema
Fisher & Krecke Fisher & Krecke
Manroland Manroland


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