Tyre development that’s on a roll

Around the world, the KraussMaffei Berstorff product brand stands for advanced, future-proof extrusion solutions. The company’s product spectrum ranges from single extruders with application-specific tooling, to up- and downstream components and fully automated extrusion lines. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Hans-Georg Meyer, vice-president of sales for rubber machinery at KraussMaffei Berstorff to find out more.

The KraussMaffei Group is among the world’s leading suppliers of machinery and systems for producing and processing plastics and rubber. Its products and services cover the whole spectrum of injection and reaction moulding and extrusion technology, giving the company a unique position in the industry. The KraussMaffei Group is innovation-powered, supplying its products, processes and services as standard or custom solutions which deliver sustained added value along the customer’s value-adding chain. The company markets its offering under the KraussMaffei, KraussMaffei Berstorff and Netstal brands to customers in the automotive, packaging, medical, construction, electrical, electronics and home appliance industries. Continuing a long tradition of engineering excellence, the international KraussMaffei Group currently employs around 4000 people. With a global network of more than 30 subsidiaries and more than 10 production plants, supported by around 570 sales and service partners, the company is close to customers around the world. KraussMaffei has been headquartered in Munich since 1838. KraussMaffei Berstorff, part of the KraussMaffei Group since 2007, was created through a merger of KraussMaffei and Berstorff, an engineering specialist with a long tradition. The product spectrum ranges from single extruders with application-specific tooling, to up- and downstream components and fully automated extrusion lines. This product range, plus a customer-specific choice of service modules, guarantees that KraussMaffei Berstorff is a robust system partner for customers such as the bulk chemicals, automotive, construction, packaging and pharmaceuticals industries.

Mr Meyer continued, “KraussMaffei Berstorff initially focused on producing extruders for the rubber industry and this was steadily joined by rubber and plastic machinery, rotating machines for the plastics compounding industry, sheet making equipment and different forming materials. It also added complex production lines for foam sheets and boards. All these capabilities were considered a strong match for the plastic and rubber activities at KraussMaffei Berstorff and the merger of the two companies has created a very strong global player across the plastic and rubber industries.” The international tyre industry is a major part of KraussMaffei Berstorff’s business today, representing 80 per cent of its turnover in the rubber business area. Manufacturing tyre components for global tyre manufacturers including Pirelli, Goodyear and Michelin, KraussMaffei Berstorff is experienced in meeting the changing demands of these high-profile names in the industry.

Mr Meyer said, “As the automotive industry has changed in recent years so too has their demand for more environmentally responsible and performancedriven tyres. We relish the challenge of meeting these needs. One such example is the new EU regulation that comes into force in November 2012 where reduced rolling resistance and noise reduction of the tyre is required. These changes are required for new tyre labelling and they require new compounds to achieve this.”

The new compounds have to have a higher silica volume instead of the current tyre black compound, which also requires new extrusion. The new compound is more aggressive and abrasive, so KraussMaffei Berstorff has been investing in changing its equipment as necessary in order to be able to produce the tyre components.

Mr Meyer continued, “We’ve really utilised our extensive research technology centre in Hanover as we work hard to meet these challenges. We have a team of highly skilled employees here including engineers and designers and we also work in joint development with some of our prime customers. They provide us with the compound or base material and then our team works on creating the best solution.”

Offering solutions to customers is integral to KraussMaffei Berstorff’s continued success. Having already developed new screws for the inside part of the extruder and researched different types of coatings for the screws, the latest tyre regulation project has now reached the stage where it is ready to be rolled out.

Continuous development

Trends in the tyre industry are closely reflected in KraussMaffei Berstorff’s project development. It works in close collaboration with its tier-one clients, including BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen, to develop relevant extrusion lines. The company also sells components to tier-two clients, with this balance providing a good interactive platform to the automotive industry as a whole.

KraussMaffei Berstorff also works with the wider automotive industry, designing and manufacturing automotive profiles. With its unique capabilities in both rubber and plastic

compounds, the company is at the forefront of developing hybrid solutions using TPE and polypropylene, which is enabling it to gain new clients in this interesting area.

KraussMaffei Berstorff is active worldwide, with a particularly strong performance in its European heartland and a rapidly growing presence in the BRIC countries, supported by its extensive manufacturing capabilities in Shanghai where certain components are produced for the local market. This global expansion is key to KraussMaffei Berstorff’s future plans, alongside its ongoing activities in Russia, where Berstorff’s 10-year history is certainly helping it to be ahead of the competition that are just starting to explore the extensive opportunities in the region.

Mr Meyer concluded, “We’re focusing on fast-growing countries. We have a substantial sales office in Russia and we are expanding our facilities in China. Our strategy is to continue to employ a strong local staff who are led by German technology experts in order to bring our unique products to a wider market while retaining the high quality and high performance which customers associate with KraussMaffei Berstorff.” n