Growth and innovation in specialty films market

German film stretching line specialist, Brückner Maschinenbau, considers Asia an important market. The company has poured considerable investments into this region and in China, its growing presence is more visible in its active participation at CHINAPLAS.  Mr. Helmut Huber, COO Sales & Project Management of Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, talks about the company’s products and how they meet the fast-rising demand in the Asian region.

Brückner Maschinenbau has considered Asia an important market. Do you have existing plants or facilities in Asia?

Mr. Huber:  Ever since our company’s very early days, Brückner Maschinenbau has established reliable partnerships with the plastics industries all over Asia. In regard to production lines for oriented films,  the entire region is extremely important for us. That we have several offices and sites in China, India and Indonesia reflects the significance of Asia for our company. We even increased the number of square meters and manpower within China and India in the past two years. This network allows us to be present for our customers within the shortest time.

Mr. Helmut Huber, COO Sales & Project Management of Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG

Which among the Asian countries are your biggest markets? What are the products from your company that are in high demand in these markets?

Mr. Huber: China has been our largest single market worldwide for many years now. India is getting stronger and stronger and so our sales figures there are continuously on the increase. Furthermore, Indonesia with its large population is also a very good market for us.

Asian film producers are traditionally interested in Brückner’s high speed, high output and high performance stretching lines for the production of BOPP, BOPET or BOPA commodity packaging films. Upcoming trends and new markets are leading to more demand for innovative oriented specialty films in packaging as well as technical applications.  

Brückner invested considerable amounts of manpower and money in its R&D efforts in the past years, e.g. in our pilot line and the new Innovation Test Center (ITC). In this respect we are constantly further developing stretching technology for the production of specialty films and helping film producers to diversify and enlarge their portfolio for the future.  The lines we offer comprise production lines for multi-layer, high-barrier BOPP films, BOPET lines for the production of optical and semi-optical applications, our simultaneous LISIM technology for various added value films or production lines for thinnest BOPP and BOPET capacitor films – to name but only a few.

What current and upcoming trends in specialty films production are being met by the company’s stretching technology?

Mr. Huber: Let me pick out just one example: battery separator films. These films are widely used in Li-Ion-batteries for so called 3C applications such as portable electronic devices, for example tablets and smart phones. But separator films are also needed in the batteries of electric vehicles and power storage systems. The markets for all these applications are growing fast, and such is the demand for innovative battery separator film production lines.

Brückner offers various stretching technologies, standing for high production efficiency and consistent film quality: Our patented Evapore process, proven machine components for the wet battery separator production process. We also offer coating solutions for separator films used in high-end applications andour battery separator film production lines have met with a positive reception on the market. We have received several orders, especially from leading Chinese battery separator manufacturers, and are very optimistic to be able to get qualified film results until the end of 2016 .

What other product or services enhancements has the company launched  for the Asian markets?  

Mr. Huber: Our stretching technologies are well accepted in the Asian markets: we are the number one stretching line supplier worldwide and therefore also in Asia, so it’s clear that our developments meet the film producers’ demands. We are also constantly striving to improve our service. Let me give you just two examples: Our  China headquarters in Suzhou offers enhanced service, improved spare parts distribution, ideal conditions for customer training and is a meeting place for Brückner customers, not only from China. Secondly, here at CHINAPLAS, our sister company Brückner Servtec, presents its special “Technical Service Packages”, which include 24/7 service support, on-site training and services or spare part handling.

Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG
Tel:  +49 8662 63-0                                
Fax:  +49 8662 63-9101
E-mail: sales@brueckner.com
Website: www.brueckner.com
CHINAPLAS Booth: E1K03