Macchi invests in facility, brings new kit to Milan show

Macchi headquarters

The company’s positive news also is helping it work through the loss last year of Luigi Macchi’s son, Alessandro, who had been running the company but was murdered in a domestic dispute (as reported by MPW here). “The loss of my son Alessandro last year dealt me and my family an enormous blow. But the best way to treasure his memory is to ensure the continuing success of the company that he helped build. And that is what we are doing now with this important investment,” says Luigi Macchi.

Construction work adding an extra 5000 m² of extra floor space at the company's headquarters in Venegono Inferiore began last summer and should be complete by the end of the first quarter of this year. The expansion will allow the company to add another six bays for assembly and testing of equipment immediately prior to shipment. According to the company, it currently has space for up to 10 lines at various stages of final assembly, but it has on occasion found itself cramped for space as its output currently is running at around 70 lines a year. Additionally, reports Macchi, demand increasingly is for more complex equipment, such as 7-layer film extrusion lines, which takes more time to manufacture and test.

Macchi's machining area will also be expanded, with the company planning to install new machining centers in the coming months. Space for the company's technical offices is being extended as well.

“The new space will not only enable us to expand our capacity,” says Luigi Macchi. “It will also help us improve working conditions for our operatives and further ensure the high quality of our products.”

During the triennial Plast trade show in Milan next month (March 24-28), Macchi intends to highlight an off-the-shelf solution to efficiently recover processing waste. The company (stand 15C-D14/19) is featuring its Recotrim, a portable extruder that takes edge trim directly from a film line and converts it into granules that can be fed straight back into a main extruder. It can also reprocess more substantial waste from out-of-spec rolls. Macchi says Recotrim overcomes problems associated with edge trim recovery, such as how to handle material that has picked up a static charge, as well as variations in the amount of trim needed to be recovered.

The new unit is based around a short co-rotating twin-screw extruder running at low speed and low temperature to ensure minimal material degradation. It uses 80mm screws, and heat is applied by ceramic elements grouped in two zones. Output is about 40kg/hr. Two types of feeder can be used on the Recotrim hopper. If the extrusion line winder uses a venturi to suck off the edge trim, it can be fitted with a special hopper that separates trim from air. Alternatively, a nip roll can be mounted on top of the hopper to maintain tension. Macchi calculates that a processor using a Recotrim next to a film extrusion line processing 300-400 tonnes/yr can see savings from €20,000/yr to €65,000/yr. —[email protected]; —[email protected]