In a move that marks a distinct policy shift on investment, one of the Asian giants of flexible packaging Rang Dong has installed its first Vetaphone corona treater on a Shaanxi Beiren laminator at the production plant in the Tan Do Industrial Park in Long An Province, Vietnam. The company is part of the Rang Dong Plastics Group, established in 1960, and its vast production site covers 8.3 hectares and employs many hundreds of people.
Explaining the new policy, the vice director of the investment department, Dang Tien Hoan said, “We believe and trust in Vetaphone’s technology and instant service support.” He first encountered Vetaphone via Nguyen Anh Tu (aka Max) at Song Song, an agency based in nearby Ho Chi Minh City. Song Song represents several leading manufacturers in the print and converting sectors, including Vetaphone, the Danish company that invented corona and has pioneered its development over the past 70 years. “I could see the problem related to service and support, and as we are only 20km from the Rang Dong plant, knew we could solve this issue as well as offer corona technology that would improve productivity,” he said.
With more than 10 Italian-manufactured corona stations installed on a variety of laminating and coating lines at Rang Dong, the decision to switch allegiance was not an easy one to make. But the accessibility offered to the operator by the ‘slide-out-slide-in’ electrode cassette on the Vetaphone treater, which makes for simple maintenance, allied to the superior control offered by the iCorona generator was too convincing to ignore, and with local support only a short distance away, the decision to change was made.
The Vetaphone treater is a VE1C-D (4C) model, with a 1320mm web width and an operational speed to match the 200m/min laminating line. Used principally on 25-micron PET and CPP substrates that require a minimum dyne level of 38 for processing, the treater has a maximum power rating of 5kW. Speaking for Vetaphone, sales manager Asia Pacific, Holger Selenka said, “We are delighted to have secured the order from such a well-known and respected company as Rang Dong. Their confidence in our product to perform consistently and give a boost to productivity is a reflection of the unmatched knowledge and R&D that goes into Vetaphone technology.”
Output at the Long An site includes rotogravure printing in up to 12 colors, laminating up to 7-layer films, and 4-way stretch film, for a diverse product catalog that includes middle pressing, zipper, vertical, liquid cover, and vacuum bags as well as shrink sleeves. The plant produces more than 13.5m square meters of flexible packaging per year and over 10,000 tons of shrink film for markets such as food, confectionery, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and agriculture.
Renowned for its quality, and ISO 14001:2004, Rang Dong was the proud winner of two prizes at the 2022 Vietnam Packaging Awards – one for ‘Excellence’ and the other for ‘Creative Packaging’ with both products being produced for leading customer Nestlé. The annual Awards are organized by VINPAS under the heading ‘Green packaging for a green Earth’. With Rang Dong products meeting international standards, the company currently exports to the USA, Japan, Europe, Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, Nigeria, and the Middle East.
