Machines for food & beverage, pharma, consumer and industrial packaging – Bekum, Hall 10 Booth H31
Bekum, machine builder and specialist in extrusion blow moulded packaging, will provide information on 20 new machine models for small to large container volumes. Bekum’s new 8 series, first introduced at last year’s K’ 2022 trade fair, highlights energy-efficiency, flexibility and short delivery times. The presentation of many exclusive technical solutions, the expansion of digital service support, the processing of recycling materials and the calcium carbonate (chalk) in a three-layer technology are the focus at the trade show.
With the market launch of the new 8 Series, Bekum now also offers all-electric small blow moulding machines with a 60/120 kN clamping force and 280-520 mm carriage stroke for small bottles. The new all-electric long-stroke machines with 500 kN clamping force and 1080/1280 mm carriage stroke for maximum output complete the packaging machine line for bottles, canisters and containers, which starts with 150 kN clamping force and 520 mm carriage stroke. Another highlight is the newly developed XBlow large blow-moulding machines, featuring a new industrial machine design for large canisters, (L-ring) drums, and IBCs with hybrid-electric clamping unit up to 3,000 kN clamping force (patent pending).
The packaging and long-stroke machines are equipped with the new e-twin-toggle all-electric clamping drive via double toggle lever with a unique bearing system and with low wear, available exclusively from Bekum. The globally standardised control platform Bekum Control 8.0 with industry 4.0 package and AI health monitoring is claimed to provide maximum system availability, also available as retrofits for existing Bekum machines. In the 8 Series, efficient HiPEx 36D extruders in new sizes up to 720 kg/h throughput with high melt homogeneity and 20% energy savings are achieved.
With the expansion of service support in Traismauer, Austria, Bekum customers profit from shorter response times, digital technical support via smart glass (augmented reality), tablet, smartphone and a digital spare parts catalogue. In addition, Bekum is pursuing a complete approach to customer consultations for extrusion-blown containers with the name “contours and containers”. Based on a customer’s packaging concept, Bekum and its partners offer feasibility testing, FEM and extrusion simulation, as well as 3D prototyping through the development and design phase of a container. This accelerates time-to-market and reduces costs.
Material savings with tri-extrusion technology
For many years, Bekum has been committed to the circular economy and has been delivering solutions for the cost-effective use of correctly sorted PE or PP post-consumer recycled materials. By using tri-extrusion technology and Bekum’s simulation-based newly developed 3-layer spiral mandrel heads for packaging and industrial lines, resource-efficient blow-moulded containers are created. During this three-layer process, the recycled material (PCR) is embedded in the middle regrind layer between thin-walled inner and outer layers, which are manufactured from virgin materials. Of particular ecological concern is the ability to achieve the highest possible PCR loading in the middle regrind layer, taking into account the geometry of the moulded part, in order to reduce the overall consumption of the virgin plastic within the production cycle.
The ability to guarantee that the plastics have been correctly sorted is crucial for this process. If the inner layer, the outer later and the regrind layer are made of the same material, it is only then possible to easily recycle the three-layer product at the end of its useful life and reintroduce it into the circular economy. In addition, the use of PCR in the middle layer can often bring about a reduction in the cost of container production.
