On the 19th October Andy and Ben Freer set off to Dusseldorf, Germany to visit K 2022. They went with a few different objectives in mind:
- Boost productivity by way of investing in new machinery and ancillary equipment for both blow extrusion blow moulding, and injection moulding. This allows Measom Freer to stay ahead of the curve and competition with knowledge of new advancements in technology, whether it be in tooling or machinery.
- Reinforce our strong connections with major material suppliers, allowing us to increase access to stock of quality recycled materials.
- Making the most of the opportunity to visit some of our international customers to strengthen our partnerships, discuss new projects, and network further.
Upon their return, they have kindly summarised everything they got up to for us.
Visiting the K2022 Exhibition in Düsseldorf was an opportunity to see the innovations in plastics processing machinery and recycling, closed loop manufacture and recycled material availability for ongoing improvements and investment at Measom Freer. We were particularly looking at new extrusion blow moulding machines for purchase and ways to automate further our production facility.
Day 1
The first day was only a few hours as we had just flown in and decided to have a brief look at the ancillaries, some VERY large blown film line machines (3 stories high!) and a sneaky peak at the blow moulding, one of which was making Halloween pumpkins. Then it was time to sample the delights of the Altstadt (Old Town) where we had the best Wiener Schnitzel I’ve ever had!
Day 2
Day two was time to concentrate on blow moulding properly and we had a detailed look at everything that was on show, talked to existing and new manufacturers and gained a very good insight into what was available and which area of machinery we needed to concentrate on within this process. There was lots to see with many areas of automatic quality control with integral packing lines available. The quality of the machines on show was very good and we discussed our requirements in depth with the engineers and sales staff. It was nice to be back out speaking to others in the industry to give our support to existing suppliers and to gain insight into new technologies first-hand. This section was very important as we will be purchasing a new machine in the coming months which will expand our larger bottle manufacturing capabilities making them more cost effective and improved options for our customers including adding Visi Stripe to our larger bottles to allow the level of the contents to be seen on coloured containers.
After the blow moulding halls we looked at the Circular Economy Centre where plastic was being recycled back into high quality recycled polymer compound. The size of the recycling machinery has reduced in size considerably over the years and hopefully will be taken up by companies willing to service the increasing demand for recycled materials allowing us all to apply a greener approach to our products whether you are the manufacturer or consumer. There were a number of new approaches to recycled materials which we will be taking on board when specifying next year’s materials. The choice for our customers will be greatly enhanced by what is now on offer.
In the evening we treated ourselves to a couple of beers at a craft beer bar and the best beer was Augustiner Octoberfestbier which went down nicely but was one of the stronger ones on offer!
Day 3
On the third day we took a trip up to the north entrance where all the material halls were. Such a difference in quietness in there, after such a noisy day the day before. Perhaps as well after the Octoberfestbier the night before! We talked at length with the material manufacturers about what they could offer and what is coming on-line very soon. While there is now more availability of recycled materials the market is still developing and is slightly being offset by higher energy costs involved in its cleaning, refining and manufacture. We had some very productive discussions with one of our existing suppliers to secure recycled food approved PETg for the beginning of 2023 which we have now tested and are extremely happy with the results. Once the certification comes through we can sell this to our customers as a material available for our bottles from stock.
Injection Moulding and Ancillaries was on the next day’s agenda and there was lots to see. We spent a good amount of time on the Arburg stand, our excellent injection moulding machine supplier, seeing all their machines and innovative automation cells with robotic assembly and cobot use. We had seen a lot of this at their Technology Day earlier in the year but already they had moved things forward and built upon their sector leading technology and approach. They had also placed some of their machines on other exhibitor’s stands who were showing additional equipment which could enhance the production capabilities of the Arburg injection moulding machines by adding processing capabilities that were not possible even just a few years ago. One of which was incorporating recycled content with two layers of virgin material allowing the article to be used with food. There was a lot of in-mould-labelling on show and excellent wadding machines which would work with our caps nicely giving our customers the option to have wadded caps and integral induction seals if necessary. There were also some fast optical quality checking machines for rapid cap production, this was also of great interest.
Overall this was one of the best shows we have been to and we came away with a hoard of ideas and direction to keep Measom Freer at the forefront of recycled plastic bottle and parts manufacture. This will benefit our customers and help to keep costs down with even better products.