Maag concentrates European sales and services for Reduction Pulverizing Systems in Germany

With the acquisition of the American company Reduction Engineering Scheer Inc. in Kent, Ohio in October 2015 by Maag Pump Systems AG, the Swiss company has added pulverizers to the product portfolio of the Maag group of companies. Until now that included melt pumps, melt filtration systems and pelletizing technology (strand and underwater pelletizing). 

 

Pulverizers are used to produce powder from plastic pellets or regrind material, usually polyethylene (LLDPE or LDPE), in some cases also PP, PVC or ABS. The powders aremainly used to manufacture large hollow parts with rotational molding, for example water tanks and storage containers, but also sports equipment and toys. 

 

While sales and service activities have been coordinated through Reduction Engineering Scheer GmbH in Korntal-Münchingen in the past, a new dedicated group for market development in Europe has been founded at the Grossostheim site and has taken on this task as of July 1, 2016. Along with additional sales employees to support prospective customers and process requests, the new group will ensure improved support when helping existing customers with technical problems through specially trained contacts and a supply of spare parts from local stock. "By focusing  our activities on pulverizers as a product with a different market approach we have created the best possible conditions for supporting our customer at the Grossostheim site. Our network of branch offices and representatives of the Maag Group in Europe  enable us to develop the respective markets more intensively andprovide premium service and availability to our customers," notes Alexander Datzinger, Business Development Manager Pulverizer at Maag Automatik GmbH. 

 

At the same time a special testing room for pulverizerswas set up in the Technical Center in Grossostheim, fitted with two machines of different sizes. A lab pulverizer type RE 25 AC can be used for basic tests or to produce small sample quantities with little effort. A pulverizing system type RE 85XLP can be used to conduct tests under production conditions. Different geometries of the patented Disposable Discs and screen inserts with matching mesh sizes allow for fast and easy configuration based on the relevant customer requirements. Depending on the material properties and desired particle size distribution, throughputs of up to 400 kg/h can be achieved. This is sufficient to ensure meaningful results and is also an indication of expected throughputs for larger systems in the pulverizer product portfolio.

 

 

By integrating employees across department boundaries into the already existing test and lab infrastructure at the Maag Automatik GmbH site, the company benefits from the many years of experience of these employees in processing polymers (photo). In this way professional preparation, implementation and documentation can be offered to prospective customers. 

 

Using test methods that extend beyond standard measurements on the finished product (grain size distribution, bulk density and flow properties of the powder produced), important information about material properties can be obtained even before the actual trial run is conducted and the appropriate machine configuration can be derived from these results. One of these methods is to analyze the material that has been made available more accurately using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). When processing recycled material or non-homogeneous re-grind it is also possible to determine the melt index precisely by means of an MFI measurement.

 

Reduction Pulverizing Systems at the K 2016

A cross-section of the current pulverizer machine portfolio will be presented at the Maag Automatik GmbH stand at K 2016 (hall 9 stand E37. The exhibit centers around the concept of a new machine size with the system specially designed for maximum maintenance ease, best accessibility and cleanability.