Gurten, Austria -- With economically employed technologies and automation along the entire production chain, the Austrian company Fill is driving forward development in the plastics industry. A great many visitors saw this for themselves on the Fill exhibition stand at the Composites 2012 and FAKUMA international trade fairs in Düsseldorf and Friedrichshafen respectively.
"The highest levels of cost-effectiveness, process reliability and efficiency are the hallmarks of our machines and systems. This went down very well with the many interested parties in Düsseldorf and Friedrichshafen. We held a wealth of high quality discussions and came away with many concrete business leads," said a satisfied Wilhelm Rupertsberger, head of the Composites Competence Center at Fill, in a company announcement.
This integrated approach -- from simulation through to plant engineering and quality control produced a great deal of interest in intelligent series production solutions at the two shows. "In concrete terms, several companies have made appointments to visit our company in Gurten in order to find out more about our work. Our experts have also been invited to visit the plants of potential customers to discuss production optimisation in detail with the engineers on site," said Rupertsberger.
In automotive, Fill Machine Engineering manufactures production systems for lightweight components made from polyurethane and composites, such as CFRP (carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic) structural parts, roof modules, interior parts, and bumpers. The preforming liner former allows two-dimensional parts to be transformed into a customer-defined, three-dimensional free form (3D) in a reliable, fully automatic process.
Fill claims also to be setting a milestone in production of rotor blades for wind turbines, with a fully automatic speedlayer 800 spar cap laying system -- in an area still characterised largely by manual labor. Fill has implemented industrial manufacturing processes for the first time here.
The integrated approach covers automation along the entire production chain, increasing productivity and flexibility. Furthermore, the Austrian specialist machine engineers integrate processes into existing production systems. Fill experts also develop completely new processes for the plastics industry.
With this competence and expertise from 30 years' experience in the field of automation, Fill said, it made a "convincing impression at both trade fairs." Inquiries regarding potential research projects from the University of Stuttgart and the Frauenhofer Institute confirm Fill's innovative ability in this field.
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