Packaging development pilot plant

Manufacture, processing, and conversion of polymers

Plant to apply coats on films and other packaging materials

Pilot plant for packaging solutions: Efficient development and material testing

With our technical center, we are happy to support you in the product development of web-shaped materials. We offer you our systems for thermoplastic processing, coating and vapor deposition at fixed daily rates.

This gives you the opportunity to carry out product optimization on a pilot plant scale with low material input. While you test new materials and material combinations, your in-house production can continue. This allows you to significantly reduce your own development costs.

Your benefits

  • Development time and costs up to industrial implementation in production are reduced
  • Production of new materials or material combinations on a pilot scale, with initial machine-compatible test quantities on rolls for application trials on your systems
  • Iterative optimization of new materials with regard to their properties and processing by our in-house test laboratory
  • Your production facilities remain efficient by outsourcing initial machine trials
  • You benefit from our expertise and many years of experience in the development and evaluation of packaging materials

Our pilot plants

Processing
thermoplastic
materials

Coating and
vaporization of
web-shaped materials

Processing thermoplastic materials

On our pilot plants, we determine technical feasibility and individual processing and functional properties for you in a time and cost-saving manner before they are optimized on industrial production systems.

We offer you processing tests for plastics on a scale from a minimum of 1 kg up to several 100 kg. The following are manufactured:

  • Individual polymer compounds (bio-based, containing recycled materials, additive-based)
  • Monomaterials, also bio-based
  • Materials containing recyclate or fibers
  • Multi-materials according to customer requirements
  • Injection molded test specimens
  • Thermoformed parts

Our packaging test laboratory is equipped with all the measuring equipment required for the iterative characterization of raw materials, initial material samples and their application properties.

Thermoplastic material processing in our pilot plant

Co-rotating twin-screw extruder

Scientist stands at the co-rotating twin-screw extruder and controls the output.

Technical details

Production of polymer compounds (e.g. use of recycled materials)

Dosage

Up to three solid dosages and one liquid dosage

Screw
diameter

25 mm

Speed

Maximum 800 rpm

Temperature

Maximum 400 °C

Throughput

Maximum 15 kg/h

Outgassing

Atmospheric & vacuum degassing

 

  • Twin-screw extruder 50 kg/day
  • Smallest quantity processing possible >1kg
  • With vacuum pump unit specially developed for mechanical recycling - degassing of residual moisture and solvents
  • Additives can be added - liquid and solid additives (e.g. colorants, antioxidants, fibers, etc.)

7-layer coextrusion line

Extrusion coating and extrusion laminations possible on various materials.

In the background, a blue film in the coextrusion line for extrusion coating
Technical details Flat film line with up to 7 layers
Materials Processing of up to 4 different polymers
Dye width 300 mm
Film width 250 mm
Throughput 1 kg/h bis 15 kg/h
Film thickness range 20 μm to 1.5 mm (sensor-supported inline monitoring of the film thickness)
Winding
speed
Up to 16 m/min

Injection molding machine

Picture of the BOY35 E injection moulding machine
Technical details Clamping force of 350 kN
Materials Thermoplastics bio- and petrochemical-based, with and without fibers, various bio-based polymer
Process
details
Integrated, individually adjustable drying possible
Injection mold form Test specimen production for tensile specimens type 1A and type 5A according to DIN ISO-2:2012 (D)
Test specimen production for permeation measurements

Laboratory thermoforming system for the production of deep-drawn parts

Forming station for thermoforming the model system for thermoformed packaging
Technical details

Maximum heat output of 3.9 kW

 

Maximum pressure of 8 bar

 

Bowl shape 120x120x30 mm

Coating and vapor deposition of web-shaped materials

The constant reduction of materials, costs and environmental impact in terms of sustainability and recyclability is leading to new solutions in the field of barriers. In particular, the combination of coating/laminating and vacuum evaporation delivers good results.  With our systems, we enable you to take the important step between laboratory scale and production in a time and cost-saving manner. Your new materials are tested and combined before the production phase.

Take advantage of the opportunity to test alternative application processes, clarify efficient process parameters and produce samples for further application tests. For this purpose, we are at your side within the scope of smaller orders, in bilateral R&D projects, but also in cooperation in larger, partly publicly funded projects.

Our pilot plants for web-shaped materials

Lacquering and laminating system

Lacquering and laminating plant for films
Film dimensions Film width: up to 480 mm
Application width: up to 460 mm
Film thickness: by arrangement
Typical base materials Plastic films, vacuum-coated films, biodegradable polymers, paper and cardboard, aluminum films, others on request
Coating Coating protected by enclosure
Solvent-based coating materials: low-viscosity paints, adhesives, high-viscosity biopolymers (e.g. starch), protein-based systems (e.g. caseins) and modified biopolymers
Web speed Max. 30m/min
Application method Slot die coating
Anilox rollers for low-viscosity coating systems
Temperature-controlled roller mill up to 80 °C
Corona unit Corona treatment of non-conductive films, corona power adjustable from 0.15 kW to 1.5 kW
Laminating unit 350 N/cm per 500 mm belt width; temperature control up to 80 °C
Special film guide Functional layer can be transported without contact after coating; separate servo-controlled rewinding
Drying and cross-linking IR, UV, convection drying

Vacuum coil coating system (with electron beam evaporator)

Exterior view of the vapour deposition system
Film dimensions Film width: 280 mm
Film length: up to 100 m (for Al approx. 30 m for SiOx 50-100 m)
Typical base materials Paper and various plastic films such as polypropylene (BOPP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (nylon) or polyimide (Kapton), but also films made from bio-based polymers (e.g. polylactic acid (PLA))
Coatings Vapor deposition with metals (e.g. Al)
Oxides (e.g. SiOx and their mixtures)
Web speed 1 - 10 m/min
Evaporation source Electron beam evaporator
Inline measurements Quartz layer thickness monitor
Application examples Gasbarrier layer Al, SiOx
Optical coatings: Al,Ag

Visit our pilot plant virtually