Argotec’s new plant will house 11 extrusion lines, two blown film and nine flat-die. Seven of the flat-die lines will be used for aliphatic TPU film production and will be housed in a 743m² hard-walled cleanroom, with each individual extrusion line additionally enclosed in its own Class 10,000 soft-walled cleanroom environment.
In addition to producing custom-engineered urethane film and sheet for the medical, textile lamination and graphics markets, much of the production from these extrusion lines will be used as automotive paint protection film and optical interlayers for laminating glass and polycarbonate into bullet-resistant glass composites.
“It will create greater efficiencies throughout our entire production process, permitting us to focus more of our resources on research and development,” said chief executive Bruce Wilby.
Argotec has laid out the new extrusion operation so that all seven extruders and the raw resin handling equipment are positioned outside the cleanroom, with only the final heated polymer passing through the wall to the flat die and winding apparatus.
“The investment we’ve made in our new facility, new extrusion technology and the best new measurement systems available, will help ensure that our films remain the cleanest and highest quality in the industry,” said Wilby.
However, cleanliness alone is no guarantee of quality so Argotec has invested in digital, in-line gauge measuring systems that allow the operator to make real-time thickness adjustments to maintain exacting specifications. The company has also bought custom-designed cameras that scan and analyse 100% of the film being extruded and detect and document pin holes, voids, gels, wrinkles, streaks, and dark or light contaminants as small as three-tenths of a millimetre.
To support its new facility, the company will convert its Greenfield Street plant to raw material and finished goods storage. It will also refocus its Adams Road operation as a stand-alone r&d centre with its own technical staff.
Argotec extrudes custom-engineered, high-performance, polyurethane film and sheet in thicknesses ranging from 0.2 to 125ml, and in widths up to 86in. In addition to flat-die, cast-on-carrier and blown-film-extrusion technologies, the company also has expertise in extrusion coating and multi-layer constructions.
Contact T +1 413 772 2564 F +1 413 772 2565 {encode="info@argotec.com" title="info@argotec.com"} www.argotec.com
