PRA June-July 2014 Feature-Taiwanese Machinery machinery

Taiwanese Machinery & Technology

Taiwanese machinery makers view potential of Chinese market In 2012, China was the largest export market for Taiwanese plastics machinery makers, with a value of US$454 million, according to the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry. In fact, machinery exports to China grew by 7.9%, compared to 2011. Since China is the destination for almost 50% of Taiwanese plastics machinery, the recent Chinaplas show in Shanghai was an important meeting place for not only local visitors but also international buyers of machinery, said Taiwanese exhibitors interviewed at the show.

Lung Meng updates bag making machinery At the Chinaplas show in April, extrusion machinery maker Lung Meng Machinery, which makes bag making, blown film lines and recycling equipment, was showcasing an improved converting system that is targeted at producing rubbish bags-on-a-roll.

“With the integrated servodriven system, the speed of the TA-IPD-S four-axis shuttle bag making series has been improved from 90 m/minutes to 130 m/minutes,” said Kelly Kao, Sales Manager.

Other attributes of the machine include a hot air sealing system allowing for stable sealing; automated draw tape feeding system; PLC touch screen control system and a compact rotary overlap bag winder. “The machine has been improved to allow for a complete synchronisation of infeed/outfeed, sealing and shuttle motion,” claimed Kao.

Two models are available: for bag widths of 400-1,000 mm and bag lengths of 450-1,200 mm. The model on display had been sold to a Chinese customer that exports its output to the US, according to Kao.

“We are exhibiting the model to showcase to prospective buyers from all over the world, not just for Chinese customers,” said Kao, adding that Lung Meng’s market spanned from the Middle East and Asia to Europe/US. “Our bag making machinery are especially popular in the Middle East, while sales of our multi-layer blown film lines are increasing to Europe and the US.”

The Tainan-headquartered firm that was established in 1976 operates four facilities in Taiwan, with one of the facilities dedicated to R&D. “Our business has been growing and so we had to expand our operations. We started one facility this year and another last year,” said Kao.

At the upcoming Taipeiplas show in Taiwan, to be held from 26-30 September, Lung Meng will be exhibiting two machines.

“Definitely one of the machines will be for bag making and/or a blown film line,” said Kao, adding that with the dedicated R&D centre, Lung Meng would be able to innovate new concepts for the market.

Lung Meng showcased its bag making machinery at Chinaplas

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Taiwanese Machinery & Technology STC harnesses R&D for product portfolio Extrusion machinery maker Shang Ta Chia (STC) Industrial is another company that was using the Chinaplas show to exhibit its machinery for markets other than China. “Our machinery is targeted at growth markets like Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Turkey. Chinaplas gives us the opportunity to focus on the worldwide market because it has a number of foreign visitors,” said Carrol Tung from the Sales Department.

STC’s product portfolio comprises lines for PP/PC hollow profile sheet extrusion; PC corrugated sheet and PC/PMMA, PC/ABS and PP/PS sheet co-extrusion; PET/ PLA/PS sheet co-extrusion; PP sheet extrusion and PET sheet twin extrusion.

STC produces profile extrusion lines

“Our output is around 35 machines/year. But this year, we expect a lower number of machinery to be produced because our customers have been facing market challenges.” She explained that the escalating prices of raw materials is one of the reasons for the lower sales.

Even so, the company, which was established in 1984, is active in R&D. “We pursue total customer satisfaction, with quality, high production and profitable production machinery. All these are win-win situations for our customers,” said Tung.

“Some of our new lines include for PP hollow bubble sheet co-extrusion; for the diamond-type PP hollow profile sheet extrusion and for HDPE sheet co-extrusion,” added Tung, explaining that STC is working on a new line for Taipeiplas.

Jenn Chong relies on customisation Armed with the knowledge that the market is inundated with machinery makers, extrusion machinery maker Jenn Chong Plastics Machinery Works prefers to focus on customised lines, according to General Manager of the company, Tony Wang.

The firm produces a range of strap tape, monofilament strap and blown film lines, with 95% of the machinery exported. “China is not our main market; we participated in Chinaplas to meet customers from other countries,” said Wang.

And though the company is a new contender in the market, having started up only in 1981, it has already won accolades. For instance, it won an award in the previous Taipeiplas show in 2012 for a three-layer blown film line (JC-3CX series), which boasts a lower bubble height; Sypro air ring from Italy and servodriven drives.

This even though its main forte is monofilament, tape and strapping band extrusion lines (70% of the output). “We cannot compete with pricing in blown film lines since there are numerous competitors in Taiwan selling blown film lines. That is why we customise our

technology to suit our customers’ needs,” explained Wang.

“Since 1993, we have worked together with the government-backed Taiwan Plastics Industry Development Centre to have a continuous update on market trends in this fast moving industry,” he added.

“This is our strong advantage,” said Wang. The company produces a wide range of monofilament extrusion lines for heavy gauge and crimped monofilaments with different profiles and diameters from 0.1-5 mm for applications in the agriculture, fishery and industrial sectors.

At the upcoming Taipeiplas show in September, Wang said that Jenn Chong will show a customised co-extrusion monofilament line targeted at the water filtration sector.

Cheng Yieu creates fresher look for traditional machines Counting itself as a major player in the Asian market is Cheng Yieu Development Machinery or CYKF, a specialised manufacturer of twin-screw and singlescrew extruders and pelletising extruders. Other machinery in its stable includes pipe/profile, PP strap making and recycling machines.

“We sell around 15 lines a year in Asia,” said ViceGeneral Manager Bill Hsu. “This year, we are expanding our sales to Japan, Russia and east Europe (Romania and Hungary).”

At Chinaplas, it showed a laboratory co-rotating twin-screw extruder (CK-42HT), which is a new compounding pelletiser that can be custom-sized to suit requirements, according to Hsu. It comes with a lossin-weight doser/feeder, made by in-house Cheng Yieu, Siemens controls and screw diameter of 80 mm. It was shown compounding TPE pellets.

“It is especially suitable for materials with low melting temperature, high viscosity and those that are difficult to cut with conventional strand pelletiser systems. We are also able to make pelletising equipment for ABS and PLA pellets,” claimed Hsu.

He added, “The average age of CYKF staff is only 35 years old. We believe in both theory and practice as far as designing our machines and a new, fresh outlook for traditional industrial extruders.” Hsu also claimed that the Taiwanese machinery maker only uses Japanese or European parts, adding that “no Chinese components are used”.

Cheng Yieu displayed the co-rotating twin-screw extruder for TPE pellets JUNE / JULY 2014

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