Plastics News - Show Daily - October 17, 2024 - 6

FAKUMA 2024
6 * Plastics News, October 17, 2024
An Arburg 'pearl' of sustainability in paper molding
By Catherine Kavanaugh
Plastics News Staff
Germany's Arburg GmbH + Co
KG and a Swiss partner developed
a way to processes " paper
pearls " made of fi ber and a biobased
plastic, and it is fi nding its
way onto factory fl oors in the furniture
and packaging industries.
The pearls have a fi ber content
Luca Simon
from Arburg at
Fakuma 2024 in
Friedrichshafen,
Germany.
Furniture connectors made with
the paper pearls developed
by Arburg and Model Group,
injection molded on an Arburg
Allrounder press.
Plastics News photos by Caroline Seidel
of more than 50 percent that is
combined with a plastic material
to become not only injection
moldable but also
compostable at the
end of its life cycle.
There is no need for
any petroleum-based
plastics, according to
Arburg offi cials, who
began working on the
new concept about
two years ago keeping manufacturers
seeking more sustainable
products in mind.
environmentally friendly products,
according to Luca Simon,
Arburg's applications manager
circular economy.
" You could use a bioplastic
based on sugar or corn. It's fl exible,
and the choice depends on
the application and whether you
want the part rigid or fl exible, " Simon
said.
ARBURG GMBH
+ CO KG
A3-3101
Since this capability is in the
early stage of development, right
now paper pearls would be more
expensive than other materials.
" But in the future,
when we scale it up,
the plan is for it to be
below normal [pricing
of] standard plastics, "
Simon said. " Recycled
paper fi bers are very
cheap. They are basically
free. "
At Fakuma 2024, an electric
The machine builder partnered
with Model Group, a Swiss paper
and cardboard packaging manufacturer,
to develop pearls that
could be reliably processed on
standard Allrounders instead of
plastic granules.
Early adopters recognized that
combing a traditional material
like paper with modern injection
molding technology could open
the door to a wide range of more
Allrounder 370 A with a clamping
force of 600 kN will produce
positioning tools for furniture
connectors called Slot Locks in a
two-cavity mold with a cycle time
of about 60 seconds. The components,
which are usually made of
conventional plastic, are used as
assembly aids when putting furniture
together.
As paper injection molded
parts, the Slot Locks weigh 19.7
grams and can be composted after
use.
Arburg expects sales to slip €164M; future growth linked to sustainability
By Catherine Kavanaugh
Plastics News Staff
Injection molding machine
builder Arburg GmbH + Co KG
expects to generate sales of
about €620 million in 2024, down
from €784 million in 2023 and
down from €875 million for 2022.
That's when sales started declining
compared with the pandemic-induced
machine buying
sprees of 2020 and 2021, which
were fueled by the medical
market responding to demand
from COVID-19 while consumer
goods manufacturers were dealing
with lockdown consumer
spending sprees.
High energy prices, which have
doubled in recent years in Germany,
where the company does
30 percent of its sales, also have
contributed to the slowdown.
" In 2024, there were some
sporadic success stories
thanks to a number of attractive
projects, but the situation
in terms of incoming orders
remains weak, " said Steffen
Kroner, Arburg's managing director
of fi nance, controlling,
information technology and human
resources.
Still, Kroner sees a silver lining.
" We are ideally positioned and
will emerge from this crisis in a
stronger position as a solution
partner for sustainable plastics
processing, " he said.
Kroner also pointed to the
strength of the families that
have owned and operated Arburg
for 101 years, the company's
committed workforce and
innovative products.
Just like other companies in
the industry, Arburg is
navigating
a challenging economic
landscape. " I can say this
much, however. Arburg would
not be Arburg if we were not
looking ahead positively to the
future despite the diffi cult environment, "
Kroner said.
For now, there are no signs
of a signifi cant short-term improvement,
according to Tobias
Baur, managing director of sales
and after-sales.
" The market weakness affects
all regions and industries almost
equally. However, shifts and
small trends are of course recognizable, "
Baur said.
Regionally, sales in Europe
are fairly fl at with a " small ray of
hope " in Eastern Europe, he noted.
Elsewhere, Baur said, Arburg
offi cials see weaknesses in market
developments in the Americas,
including the United States,
and " major challenges " in Asia
due to weakness in China.
In terms of end markets, the
mobility sector, which is essentially
the automotive industry,
is still weak, while the electronics/electrical
industry has lost
strength but remains at a good
level. The medical and packaging
sectors are relatively stable,
Baur said.
Automation and turnkey solutions
have become an important
pillar of Arburg's business, and
the after-sales business is on a
par with the previous year.
" This shows that our customers
are producing but are currently
acting cautiously, " Baur
said. " However, we see the situation
in the after-sales business
in particular as a positive signal
that new investments can be
made again in the near future. "
No matter what, Arburg will
remain an independent, family-owned
company that is based
in Lossburg, Germany, according
to Michael Hehl, a managing
partner and spokesman for Arburg's
management team.
" At the same time, a sensible
degree of
internationalization
is important if we are to continue,
positioning Arburg securely
and sustainably for the future, "
Hehl said. " ... We are pursuing
a local-to-local strategy and
are currently looking into the
possibilities of internationalizing
various stages of the value
chain. Areas of focus in this
context include local sourcing
and assembly. "
For example, the Allrounder
line of presses was previously
built exclusively in Lossburg,
but other assembly sites are
being sought in Asia and North
America.
" We took an initial step toFrom
left: Tobias Baur, managing director of sales and after-sales; Michael Hehl,
managing partner and spokesman for the management team; Guido Frohnhaus,
managing director of technology and engineering; Steffen Kroner, managing
director of fi nance, controlling, IT and human resource management. Arburg photo
wards a local-to-local approach
several years ago with our Arburg
Technology Factories, or
ATFs for short, " Hehl said. " ATFs
have been set up in the Czech Republic,
at our Chinese location
in Pinghu, and at our U.S. headquarters
in Rocky Hill, Conn. In
these factories, Allrounders are
tailored to customer-specifi c
requirements, and turnkey systems
are implemented in cooperation
with local mold and peripheral
equipment suppliers. "
The next step is the assembly
of complete machines in China,
which began already, followed
by North America starting with
the Allrounder Golden electric
EVO machine in China. " We haven't
yet fi nalized our plans with
regard to the exact location
of our assembly operations in
North America, " Hehl added.
Plastics News - Show Daily - October 17, 2024

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