“That was the most successful expo that Windmöller & Hölscher has hosted to date. Never before have we had so many visitors in just two days. We received very positive feedback about our new technologies and the event as a whole,” said the company management as the expo came to a close. W&H showed live demonstrations on a total of 12 machines representing the company’s comprehensive range of equipment for the production of flexible packaging. Two demonstrations were world premieres.
The motto of the expo was Packaging 4.0, inspired by the phrase Industry 4.0. W&H demonstrated the kinds of possibilities the 4th industrial revolution brings by connecting production lines and data streams in the manufacturing of packaging. Customers and W&H opened other dialogues about future projects in which Packaging 4.0 plays a role.
Given the unique fluidity of W&H’s products in extrusion, printing and converting, it is well positioned to tackle the topic of automation. Visitors found it particularly interesting to see Packaging 4.0 in action, which W&H demonstrated by connecting more than one production process. An example of this was the Varex II blown film line running thin, breathable backsheet diaper film that was then brought over to the Vistaflex flexographic press for high-speed printing.
One highlight at the expo was the premiere of the Aquacage, the world’s first adjustable water calibrator, which runs with the Aquarex blown film line. Before this development, the flexibility of the line was limited by its single-sized calibrator. Every film width change required the calibrator to be switched out. The Aquacage enables width changes without the extra steps, providing customers with more flexibility and enlarging the range of possible applications.
The second world premiere was Turboclean, the new automatic purging system for the Varex II blown film equipment. W&H showed how resin changeover times of a three-layer film could be dramatically reduced. Due to new automation modules, what used to take a machine operator 30 minutes to do has been shortened to just two minutes. This is possible due to a combination of an intelligent control algorithm with the automatic pneumatic cleaning of gravimetric and vacuum conveyors.
Other developments shown at the expo include the first Optimex blown film line in five-layer configuration producing a novel five-layer stretch hood film; the newly developed AD Plastic 2 bottomer for heat sealed valve sacks made from plastic film; and the Miraflex S flexographic press for smaller repeats.
The Filmex cast film line produces very thin taut stretch films for reliable load securing. The term ‘taut film’ describes stiff film with minimal elasticity, that regardless of its 8μ thickness has extreme holding force and puncture resistance and allows even simple stretch automats to achieve reliable load securing.
