In mid-April, more than 80 attendees accepted their invitation to the 2019 Engel Packaging Day in Shanghai. The aim of the event was to discuss ongoing trends with guests and inform them about the latest technologies. The injection moulding machine manufacturer hosted live demonstrations to highlight innovative and intelligent solutions for efficient packaging production.
“In China, there are increasingly high standards expected for the quality of products and, in turn, packaging - especially in the food industry,” says Kurt Hell, Director of Engel’s packaging business unit in Asia. “Special designs and functional properties are in demand, as is high-quality decoration with in-mould labelling. Multi-coloured and multi-component applications for food and non-food closures are also becoming increasingly popular.” The packaging sector in China is a stable market experiencing constant growth and evolution. “Within the Chinese plastics industry, the production of packaging parts is an important segment with highly specific needs,” Hell explains.
An exciting morning saw presentations by Engel and its partner companies Pass Card, Wetec, Borouge and Verstraete, as well as long-standing Engel customer Menshen. And the show went on in the afternoon with two live demonstrations at Engel’s location in Shanghai, where the injection moulding machine manufacturer demonstrated how a two-compartment yoghurt cup with IML decoration from Verstraete can be produced economically and efficiently on an all-electric e-mac 180 injection moulding machine. Pass Card’s two-cavity hot runner precision mould and Wetec’s high-speed automation were both the work of Taiwan-based companies and the product of European-Asian cooperation.
Pooling knowledge and experience
Engel has established a global network of system partners to create a one-stop shop for its proprietary automation solutions and process technologies, along with other peripheral units and moulds. Engel, Pass Card and Wetec have pooled their specialist knowledge and experience around packaging solutions to tailor the relevant systems solution to the specific needs of the processors in Asia. By working with local suppliers, Engel can guarantee high cost efficiency even for the most demanding applications while keeping delivery times short across the whole system. “There is growing demand for integrated systems solutions in China,” Hell reports. “In particular, the automation of processes is becoming more important.”
In a second live demo, Engel showcased closures production on a tie-bar-less victory machine, an impressive demonstration of how the barrier-free clamping unit ensures particularly efficient production processes. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Engel’s tie-bar-less technology.
Engel demonstrated how a two-compartment yoghurt cup including IML decoration can be produced economically and efficiently on an all-electric e-mac 180 injection moulding machine.
