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PUR plastic demand prompts new tooling capacity

Plastics processing machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei says "soaring customer demand" led it to double the production area at its plant in Harderberg, Germany where it manufactures molds and tooling for processing of polyurethane. The company also makes and markets reaction process machinery to process the material.

PlasticsToday Staff

December 7, 2010

2 Min Read
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Plastics processing machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei says "soaring customer demand" led it to double the production area at its plant in Harderberg, Germany where it manufactures molds and tooling for processing of polyurethane. The company also makes and markets reaction process machinery to process the material.

Cutting the ribbon for the expansion at the Harderberg facility are (from left) KraussMaffei CEO Dietmar Straub; Frank Peters; the local mayor, Heinrich Lunte; county commissioner Manfred Hugo, and Rainer Janotta.

The facility now has a total production area of 2700m2 (29,000 ft2). Frank Peters, a member of the managing board of the company and leader of its PUR machinery business, credits the manufacturer's Automotive Component Systems (ACS) business unit with driving much of the new demand. Sales generated by ACS in Harderberg have grown by more than a factor of ten since the end of 2005, as has the customer base, according to KraussMaffei.

"The decision to go ahead with the expansion was taken in the middle of Germany's most serious economic crisis in recent years, but it was an easy decision in view of the very good growth rates achieved by ACS and escalating customer demand. I'm very optimistic about the future," Peters commented in a company statement.

The KraussMaffei plant in Harderberg opened in August 2005 with just three employees but now 63 are employed there. "A key reason for the start-up decision was the local availability of a pool of highly skilled people with know-how in tooling and moldmaking, especially for polyurethane processing. Time has shown that this was the right decision, " explained Rainer Janotta, KraussMaffei's plant manager in Harderberg.

The new building and the extra capacity two new completely separate secure zones in its technical center for confidential project development. —[email protected]

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