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Home > MacroLetter > 11.2 - Autumn 2007 > Recent News
MacroLetter News
Specialty Sheet Line Up and Running in China
September 7, 2007 (Mississauga, Ontario) - Macro is pleased to announce the successful installation and start-up of a new highly specialized sheet production plant in China. The $35 million production facility was designed to the customer's specifications and was delivered on time and on budget.
The project began in 2005 with a significant amount of custom engineering and component integration, followed by an interim installation near Macro's headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario for testing and development purposes. Overseas installation began early this year. "This has been a very exciting project for Macro," said Macro's president, Mirek Planeta. "We have plenty of experience with custom built extrusion lines from previous projects, but none were at the scale of this line. The challenge of overseeing such a large installation was a major undertaking, and successfully executing it at the other side of the world has been very rewarding."
Macro Manufactures the Biggest Blown Film PVC Die
Macro has built what is believed to be the largest blown film coextrusion die for PVC in the world. The 24 inch (610 mm) diameter die is used to produce 6 m wide, 3-layer PVC geomembranes and greenhouse covers. Blown PVC film is typically monolayer and made on significantly smaller dies. Prior to Macro's die, the largest PVC die is believed to have been 16 inch (406 mm) diameter. The die was developed for Kautex Textron GmbH of Bonn, Germany who will be introducing the technology at K-2007.
Macro Drives Deeper into the Auto Industry
October 4, 2007 (Mississauga, Ontario) - Macro announces the placement of an order for a complete custom extrusion system for a major automotive supplier. Toyota Boshoku Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the Japanese giant Toyota, has secured Macro's services for the design, manufacture and installation of a custom-built extrusion coating line that will be used during the production of new automobiles. The line will be installed in 2008 at a new Toyota facility in Southern Ontario, Canada.
October 11, 2007 (Mississauga, Ontario) – Macro announces the successful installation of a custom-built extrusion line in Southern Ontario. The custom line uses an in-line thermoforming process, followed by lamination to produce specialty HDPE sheeting for the home construction industry. The line can produce sheet with thickness ranging from 0.4 mm to 1.0 mm, at speeds up to 20 m/min (65 fpm). The line features an 8” MacroPlast extruder designed for an output up to 1200 kg/hour (2650 lb/hour), a 3050 mm (120 inch) autoprofile flat die, and a fully adjustable 3400 mm (124 inch) casting unit.
The highest level of customization occurs at the end of the line where a sophisticated winding, taping and labeling system was developed to meet the customer's needs. A highly customized turret winder was designed for coreless winding and can perform cut and roll transfers once every minute. The taping and labeling system, which is incorporated into the winder's turret, operates at the same speed. The wound, taped and labeled rolls are then transported by an unloading cart to an over-wrapping station for packaging. The line also contains a customized slitting station to allow the line to run 3-up. This means the line can produce 180 fully taped and labeled rolls every hour.
The line was installed as a complete turn-key package and has been in operation since mid-2007.
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