“In places, our stand was so crowded that it was barely possible to get through,” says Managing Partner Andreas Lichtenauer. “The live presentations of the all-electric jerrycan machine, our Industry 4.0 application, Virtual Machine, and new example applications from the field of Specialities attracted particular interest.”

Kautex booth with the new KBB400
VAll-electric and connected
The all-electric KBB400 exhibited in Düsseldorf to manufacture stackable jerrycans was used numerous times a day on all eight trade fair days and impressed the trade visitors not only with its speed and efficiency, but also with the ability for networking in terms of the trade fair megatheme “Industry 4.0”. The KBB400 boasts an integrated quality control system for the manufactured products, the data for which, as for all other ‘IntelliGate‘ downstream modules, can be exchanged and used to optimize the running processes using the newly developed interface ‘Connext’.

New areas of application and Open House
Selected example products from the business area Specialities, which were intended to offer trade visitors suggestions of further extrusion blow molding applications, generated a great deal of conversation at the trade fair stand. The range extends from kayaks and outdoor sheds to sports shoe soles, traffic signs and new forms of wound pressure vessels. Alongside the trade fair, Kautex this year once again opened its doors to visitors at its main factory nearby. Interested parties were taken directly to Bonn via shuttle bus several times a day to view blow molding machines for applications from the fields of Automotive, Packaging and Specialities.

About Kautex Maschinenbau
Eight decades, shaped by innovative strength and services for its customers, make Kautex Maschinenbau a globally leading provider within extrusion blow molding technology today. The company’s international customers include automobile firms and suppliers, as well as companies from the packaging industry. They all rely on the expertise of a brand that represents quality and reliability. With 430 employees in Germany and a further 160 employees worldwide, the company generated an annual turnover of over 110 million euros in 2015. Besides its headquarters in Bonn, the newly opened Customer Service Center in Berlin and regional offices in the USA, Russia, China, Italy and India, Kautex Maschinenbau maintains a dense global network of service and distribution offices.

Expansion of the all-electric KBB series
The new KBB200 and KBB400 models were specially developed for the manufacture of stackable jerrycans. The machine at K 2016 will be equipped with a Kautex three-layer head for a cost-efficient ReCo process. Like the KBB bottle machines presented at K 2013, the all-electric jerrycan versions are setting new benchmarks when it comes to speed and efficiency.

Downstream Integration
There is an additional highlight in the form of new, networked post-production modules so that downstream equipment can become an integral part of the Kautex machine in keeping with the “smart factory” trend.

New generation of virtual machines
Following the huge success of its introduction of virtual machines, Kautex Maschinenbau is now launching a second generation, this time with a modular concept. The new, considerably more flexible virtual machines are able to work with a variety of control systems. Virtual machines eliminate the need for training on actual machines as well as potential risks of damage. In addition, costs related to material consumption will no longer be incurred.

Open House during the trade fair
During the 2016 edition of the K event, Kautex Maschinenbau will once again be opening its doors to visitors at its nearby parent plant. Interested visitors will be shuttled directly to Bonn for a look at the blow molding machines for applications in the automotive, packaging and specialities segments.

About Kautex Maschinenbau
Eight decades of providing its customers with innovative products and services have turned Kautex Maschinenbau into the world's leading company in extrusion blow molding technology. With customers that include major automobile manufacturers and suppliers, as well as companies working in the packaging industry. All of them have come to rely on the knowledge and experience of a brand that stands for both quality and reliability. With 430 employees in Germany and a further 160 around the world, Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH currently has an annual turnover of €110 million. In addition to its HQ in Bonn and regional offices in the USA, Russia, China, Italy and India, Kautex operates an extensive network of service and sales offices around the world.

A development partnership
Jürgen Moitzheim, Sales Director at Kautex Maschinenbau, is looking forward to working with the Japanese resins manufacturer. "The latest developments in combustion engines are once again creating challenges for automotive industry suppliers. This is especially true for the interplay between materials and engine technology. For this reason we like to work very closely together with our customers on the development of new solutions." This also convinced Toshiteru Nishijama, Manager for Automotive Products Business, Resins Global Marketing Dept. at Toray: "We were looking for a provider who not only produces good machines, offers high process reliability and good service, but who will also support us with their know-how in the R&D field. It became clear quite quickly that we would use a Kautex suction blow molding machine."

PPS for turbocharger
A current development trend in the automotive industry is the downsizing of car engines while at the same time increasing performance. In order to achieve this, turbochargers are installed which need especially heat-resistant ducts. Toray achieved very good results here with polyphenylene sulphide PPS. This plastic distinguishes itself with especially high and durable heat-resistance up to 220 degrees Celsius. Kautex machines have been able to process this material without problems for many years.

Low-waste blow molding
Since 1999, it has been possible to produce 3D molded parts on Kautex machine type KBS which have numerous applications for pipes and tubes in the car industry. They are used as fuel filling pipes, intake air ducts, or cooling air ducts in modern combustion engines. 3D blow molding is an especially low-waste production method. In contrast to the conventional method, the parisons are molded into functional components without welds.

Further advantages arise in the manufacture of 3D ducts when using the suction blow molding method. Here, the parison is drawn into the elongated cavity of a blow mold before the actual blow molding of the part. This allows the use of significantly simpler and consequently cheaper blow molding tools.

About Kautex Maschinenbau
Eight decades of providing its customers with innovative products and services have turned Kautex Maschinenbau into the world's leading company in extrusion blow molding technology. With customers that include major automobile manufacturers and suppliers, as well as companies working in the packaging industry. All of them have come to rely on the knowledge and experience of a brand that stands for both quality and reliability. With 410 employees in Germany and a further 140 around the world, Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH currently has an annual turnover of €110 million. In addition to its HQ in Bonn and regional offices in the USA, Russia, China, Italy and India, Kautex operates an extensive network of service and sales offices around the world.

Service, training, retrofitting
“Our customers benefit from the new site thanks to faster reaction times, an extended range of customer service offerings and intensive personal consulting on site,” says Marco Stühmeier, who is responsible for managing the new customer service center. Stühmeier was previously the production manager for extrusion blow molding machines at Uniloy Milacron Germany / B&W and has extensive experience in Berlin. Thilo Schmidt, head of global service at Kautex Maschinenbau, is delighted about the opening of the new customer center. “The Berlin site is a further strategic step to build on and expand our customer base and the service business for packaging machines,” says Schmidt and adds: “In Berlin, we offer customer training, extensive service relating to machine maintenance and consulting on modernizing machines through retrofitting – not only for Kautex machines.”

Five-person expert team
The new, five-person team at the customer center consists of experts from the fields of spare parts sales, field service, start-up and machinery sales. Besides Marco Stühmeier, Karola Hepfner, who joined Kautex Maschinenbau as a sales manager for the packaging department at the beginning of the year, also possesses extensive experience in the field of extrusion blow molding.

Individual employees at the new Kautex site have up to 30 years’ experience with blow molding machines for the packaging sector. The range of services and consulting is not limited to Kautex machines, but also comprises extrusion blow molding systems from other manufacturers and virtually forgotten companies such as Fischer W-Müller, Voith and SIG-Blowtec. The new customer center is therefore not only the first port of call when it comes to service for Kautex customers, but also for anyone who has packaging machines from other manufacturers.

About Kautex Maschinenbau
Eight decades shaped by innovative strength and services for its customers make Kautex Maschinenbau a globally leading provider within blow molding technology today. The company’s international customers include automobile firms and suppliers, as well as companies from the packaging industry. They all rely on the expertise of a brand that represents quality and reliability. With 410 employees in Germany and a further 140 employees worldwide, the company generated 110 million Euros in sales in 2015. In addition to its headquarters in Bonn and regional offices in the USA, Russia, China, Italy and India, Kautex Maschinenbau maintains a comprehensive global network of service and distribution offices.

New features, new design
The new blow molding machine model, which was announced at the Open House event in October last year, represents a complete relaunch of the KCC series. As well as a number of new and revised technical features, the machine has also been completely re-designed, to visually blend in with the look of new Kautex machines.

With its compact form, the new KCC generation takes up less floor space in the production hall. Better accessibility not only makes the blow molding machine easier to service, but also speeds change over times. Molds can now also be changed from the side, for example, and products are discharged from the rear of the machine. A greater standardization of modules and components has reduced the investment costs of the new machine and shortened future delivery times.

Gradual introduction of the new machine
Mark Lueddecke, Vice President of Kautex Maschinenbau in Shunde, plans to introduce the new generation of machines to the market on a gradual basis until the switch-over of the entire KCC range has been completed. “We offer KCC machines for all kinds of consumer and industrial packaging applications as well as for the automotive sector. This high degree of flexibility is precisely why this machine series has continued its success for almost twenty years.”

New KSB suction blow molding machine
Kautex Maschinenbau will also allow first insights in its new KSB suction blow molding machine at Chinaplas. This brand new machine type was specially designed for low-flash production of 3D molded parts.

Global demand for plastic ducts for the automotive sector is rising all the time, ever since the use of special materials such as PA6.6 or PPS has enabled the production of highly heat-resistant exhaust ducts.

A modern operating concept with Kautex BC5 controller makes the new KSB machines easy to operate. In addition, the new suction blow molding machine takes up almost 50% less space than previous equipment, thus reducing investment costs.

With continuously increasing exhibitor and visitor numbers, Chinaplas has become the second largest trade fair for plastics next to the K-show in Germany. This year, professional visitors can come to stand F 41 in hall E1 where several international Kautex employees will be on hand to present their innovations in new and existing equipment and explain their extensive portfolio of after-sales services.

About Kautex Maschinenbau
Eight decades of providing its customers with innovative products and services have turned Kautex Maschinenbau into one of the world's leading companies in extrusion blow molding technology. With customers that include major automobile manufacturers and suppliers, as well as companies working in the packaging industry. All of them have come to rely on the knowledge and experience of a brand that stands for both quality and reliability. With 410 employees in Germany and a further 140 around the world, Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH has reached an annual turnover of €110 million in 2015. In addition to its HQ in Bonn and regional offices in the USA, Russia, China, Italy and India, Kautex operates an extensive network of service and sales offices around the world.

An expert in international markets
Ms Hepfner boasts more than 20 years of sales experience in the field of blow moulding technology, primarily in the American, English and French markets, and has also been responsible for establishing new markets such as those in Indonesia and Vietnam. Before joining Kautex, she last worked as the Sales Specialist for Shuttle Machinery at Uniloy Milacron B&W.

"Together with Karola Hepfner, we will work on strategically extending our customer base in the field of packaging machines", states Andreas Lichtenauer, Managing Partner at Kautex Maschinenbau. "We will benefit from her many years of experience and expertise in the packaging sector in our discussions with our international customers."

About Kautex Maschinenbau
Eight decades of providing its customers with innovative products and services have turned Kautex Maschinenbau into one of the world's leading companies in extrusion blow molding technology.
With customers that include major automobile manufacturers and suppliers, as well as companies working in the packaging industry. All of them have come to rely on the knowledge and experience of a brand that stands for both quality and reliability. With over 400 employees in Germany and a further 140 around the world, Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH currently has an annual turnover in excess of €100 million. In addition to its HQ in Bonn and regional offices in the USA, Russia, China, Italy and India, Kautex operates an extensive network of service and sales offices around the world.