Page 12 - ETP-April-May2020

NEWS INTERNATIONAL

KHS invests €20 million in site modernization

he KHS Group has in- supplier has now created con-
Tvested €20 million in ditions that enable the relevant
modernizing its headquar- technology for container and
ters on Juchostraße in Dort- pack conveyors to be merged
mund, Germany. In a bundle and order processing to be-
of measures underway since come more efficient. KHS
2015 the company has built has also modernized one of
a huge, approximately 4,300 the oldest production build-
sq m production shop and ings on the company premises.
fully renovated another. The With an investment volume of
last construction machines carry on manufacturing in Germany. six million euros for this pro-
will disappear in the spring, mark- We’ve therefore further digitalized ject alone the engineering company
ing the end of the extensive process and automated our infrastructure has not only renewed the shop floor
optimization and other measures at and processes in Production.” Here, and roof; it also optimized its Sheet
the KHS production site in Dort- key elements of the modernization Metal Manufacturing Department
mund. According to plant manager included extending the production housed in the hall, incorporating
Dr. Joachim Konrad these were ab- area and renewing the machine park. new technology that includes a fast-
solutely essential to strengthen KHS’ At its production site on Juchostraße er, more efficient fiber laser, a com-
competitiveness. “As a company ac- KHS has erected a completely new bined punching/laser machine and
tive worldwide we find ourselves in production shop. In an area measur- a larger, fully networked sheet metal
a competitive situation and want to ing 4,300 square meters the systems warehouse.

DSM Engineering Plastics Arburg injection moulds face masks
changes name from LSR

fter Arburg started producing protective glasses on Allrounder
Ainjection moulding machines at its headquarters in Lossburg
(Germany) in mid-April, the mechanical engineering company has
now launched an additional project to combat the spread of the
coronavirus: Since 11
May, face masks are injec-
tion moulded from LSR
(liquid silicone rubber)
and PP (polypropylene).
About 3,500 of these
multifunctional high-tech
masks are expected to be
SM Engineering Plastics will now be produced daily under
Dknown as DSM Engineering Materials. series production condi-
The Economic Times POLYMERS | April-May 2020
With its new business group name, DSM En- tions. “The demand is enormous. We are receiving specific requests
gineering Materials would like to emphasize the from hospitals and nursing homes from all over the region,” says
broad character of its specialty materials portfo- Gerhard Böhm, Arburg Managing Director Sales, regarding the cur-
lio and expertise. Additionally, it brings better rent situation. “We developed the high-quality and sustainable masks
expression to its advanced materials engineering made of flexible LSR and PP ourselves and additively manufactured
capabilities and know-how. DSM Engineer- the first prototypes with our Freeformers. The LSR component and
ing Materials is grounded in a strong heritage mould simulation was carried out using the Sigmasoft software from
in servicing the needs of its customers. We will Sigma Engineering. In a record time of only around five weeks, our
continue to rely on our proven industry leader- partners Polar-Form and Foboha built the corresponding injection
ship and expertise in advanced materials, and moulds for the LSR and PP components. This means that we can
market-focused research to bring innovative so- now start series production in Lossburg.” The companies Ewikon
lutions to our customers, just like we have done (cold runner) and Männer (hot runner) were also involved in the
in the past. Recently DSM announced that it implementation of the mould technology. Other partners were Barth
will offer a full alternative range of its existing Mechanik (gripper) and Packmat (packaging technology), the raw
portfolio based on bio- and/or recycled-based material for several 10,000 masks was sponsored by the chemical
engineering materials by 2030. group Wacker and Borealis.

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