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American Kuhne, Inc. Celebrates 15 Years of Extruder Innovations
2/7/2012 |
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Company introducing multiple new developments at NPE
(American Kuhne, Inc., Ashaway, RI February 6, 2012)… American Kuhne celebrates their 15th year anniversary this year. The company was officially founded January 1997 in partnership with Kuhne GmbH in Germany. Since that time, American Kuhne has been designing and supplying superior screws, extruders, and tubing systems for the North American market and has become a leading provider of extrusion machinery in all single screw extrusion markets.
It all Started with a Clean Sheet of Paper
When Bill Kramer, President, and his partner Ed Steward, former VP of Technology left their place of employment to start American Kuhne, they headed over to a Staples office supply store to pick up some supplies and start their new extruder company.
"We had the unique opportunity to really start from scratch. Literally a clean sheet of paper, " said Bill Kramer, President. "I'll never forget walking down the aisle of Staples with a shopping cart -- we need a stapler, check, how about a tape dispenser, check - oh and some paper clips and paper too. We drove to our new office with an empty desk, took out a clean sheet of paper and started working."
That first year in operation happened to be NPE 1997 and they designed and displayed two new extruders at the show: a 2.5" air-cooled and a 3.5" water-cooled extruder showcasing dozens of new and unique features. Now, at NPE 2012 the company continues its innovations with a number of new extruder designs that include energy efficient extruders, micro bore extruders, and convertible extruders ideal for blown film.
"We have a rich history of creating new designs. For years everything we sold was a first design. I am very proud that our team was able to execute 100's of first designs correctly the first time," Kramer adds. "Our focus from day one that still continues today is providing a cost-effective customized solution for our customers to allow them maximum productivity."
Customization includes optimizing screw design, improving operator ergonomics, enhancing the system controls, and other enhancements to take the machine design to the next level for their customers. "Being a start up meant proving ourselves; providing a better machinebetter service," adds David CitronVice President, Sales & Marketing. "That same philosophy and approach applies to how we do business to this day. What was a necessity to survive has driven what the company culture is today. We couldn't just be different - we had to be better. Better both technically in machine design and the service side as well."
Fifteen years later the company has worked diligently to preserve and maintain the company character of being a young fresh startup company. "A positive attitude and a keen focus on customer service can get watered down or lost in bigger corporations. We've assembled what we call a dream team; we are very fortunate to attract people with the best experience - but more importantly they have the motivation to understand and service our customers needs," adds Kramer.
With this enthusiasm has come success. American Kuhne growth has continued to outpace the industry despite the recent economic times. "We've succeeded because we never chase business that we can't execute well. We've grown in a very organic way - by fully servicing our existing and growing customer base," adds Citron. "High quality equipment and service is much more important to us than quarterly or annual targets."
The company expects continued growth in their base business and by expansion into other markets such as their recent initiative into Blown Film with partner Kuhne GmbH. "We still believe there is room for innovation and advancements and we work on those every day. We continually add new hires with fresh ideas that help us to fuel our innovation. We are very excited about our NPE lineup," states Citron.
An Array of Innovative Equipment will be on Display at NPE
E3 Energy Efficient Extruder:
The E3 Energy Efficient Extruder is a 3.5" 24:1 L/D air-cooled extruder designed for maximum energy efficiency and simplicity of operation. This innovative machine features a combination of over a half dozen unique mechanical and electrical design features that result in over 15% projected energy savings. Areas of improvement include:
• Barrel heating and cooling system
• Drive and motor
• Extruder feed section
• Gearbox (gearless operation optional)
• Special control system
Convertible Extruder:
The Convertible extruder enables fast and easy transition from a 3.0" smooth feed extruder to a 60 mm grooved feed extruder, including:
• Low-boy extruder primarily for blown film applications
• Ideal for "swing lines" that transition between grooved feed processing of HMW-HDPE and smooth feed processing of LLDPE blends
• Unique packaging enables fast changes between feed section/barrel modules
• Manual screen changer and 3 layer cut-away blown film die
Modular Extruder:
The Modular extruder provides simple and fast changes of barrel diameter and/or L/D, including:
• Modular extruders range from ½ to 5" in barrel diameter
• Available with gearless or servo drive systems
• Production environments benefit from fast, contamination-free change-over
• Clean barrel/screw off-line to increase run time
• Optional carts facilitate install/removal and off-line heating
• AKcess II Touch Screen Control system incorporating 3D graphics and mobile access via iPad
Microextruders:
One 12 mm and two 16 mm Microextruders for ultra-low volume micro medical tubing applications, including:
• Mounted on a common base with compact packaging
• Microextruders run at comfortable screw speeds to avoid polymer degradation
• All Microextruders include pressure control and servo drive systems. Melt pumps are available as an option
ULTRA Cut-Away Extruder:
2.5" Cut-Away extruder reveals unique design features and benefits of AK's ULTRA extruder product line, including:
• Superior gearbox design
• Proprietary feed section design
• Efficient air-cooling system
• Unique wire management
• Dual adjustment barrel support
Steward Barrier Screws:
Steward Barrier screws will be on display for a variety of applications including:
• General purpose pipe, profile, and tubing
• Blown Film applications for Linear Low Density PE blends
• Various medical tubing applications
About American Kuhne, Inc.
American Kuhne, Inc. is a leading worldwide supplier of standard and customized single screw extruders, feed screws, extrusion systems and extrusion process controllers. Extruder sizes range from 1/2" (12.7mm) through 12-inch (305mm). They are designed and built in Ashaway, RI. Turnkey pipe, tubing and profile systems are also developed, tested and manufactured within their plant. In addition, the company maintains two medical tubing lab lines capable of multi-lumen and taper tube extrusions available for customer trials in their facility in Ashaway RI and their European facility at Kuhne GmbH in St. Augustin Germany.
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Related Exhibition:
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NPE 2012
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The International Plastics Showcase
4/1/2012 - 4/5/2012
Venue: Orange County Convention Center, Orlando FL, United States
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