Report by Liz White, editor
At the K2010 exhibition in Dusseldorf, Hennecke GmbH sold a spray machine from the stand, according to Dieter Muller, regional sales manager, who added that business is going well for the German polyurethane equipment specialist.
Hennecke's advantage is that it doesn't have to concentrate on one specific sector - automotive or mattresses. "We have a complete variety of units," and you can survive better with a wide spread, Muller said.
Hennecke was promoting its Elastoline generation of low-pressure elastomer machine, "the only low- pressure machine Hennecke builds," said Muller. This modular unit can be used for all types of elastomer formulations, because of its high flexibility, he pointed out.
Advanced mixhead techno logy using hyhdraulic controls for extremely short changeover and excellent metering quality is another advantage, according to Hennecke.
Also, "Our spray technology is really booming," said Muller, pointing to two different projects, one in hybrid CSM (composite spray moulding) technology for Otto Bock Kunststoff GmbH to develop a foolproof spray skin process using a range of its own formulation s. Otto Bock also wants to use the system to test and optimise formulations for moulded foam.
The equipment has separate feed lines for moulded foam and spray, which may be utilised in combination at some stage.
North America spraying skins
Thin-ski n spray is also getting into the US market more now, Muller indicated, pointing to another project involving a PUR-CSM unit for Canadian company Corium Urethane Technology , to make high quality spray
Corium says spray skins are increasingly in demand in the US automotive sector, with back foaming. The company has found the Hennecke CSM equipment solves many problems, in terms of good look and feel, but "especially in functional optimisation."
Hennecke's QFoam range of simplified, basic foam machines, is going into the market gradually, Muller said. Hennecke has such a strong reputation as a high-end supplier that it can be hard to persuade users that it is offering simpler equipment. It has to get well-known with the smaller, less highly technical customers.
Hennecke is also doing well with refrigerated appliance lines, which it has recently adapted for US customer Trane (part of Ingersoll Rand) for making housings residential air conditioning units. The advantage is that the parts are pre-isolated so the air-handling units (AHUs) can be built and constructed easily. AHUs used to rely on mineral wool as an insulator, but this has disadvantages, especially concerning ageing.
Also, said Muller, if the cover breaks, "you have mineral wool blown into the air," and into the consumer's living space. "This is not that healthy," he commented.
In Germany, refrigeration and appliance lines are selling well, due to changeovers in blowing agent technologies, Muller said. Also in building uses, orders are good, due to the need to save energy, so "panel lines, everything to do with construction," are in demand.
Hennecke's composite spray moulding equipment also helps save energy via lighter weight car parts, he added.
On its stand, Hennecke also showed window parts for the automotive and outdoor sectors. Insulation using a Topline HK for a project with BBG: "a nice application, with no heat loss."
