Unique simultaneous stretching line for Innovia
Innovia Films, a leading material science pioneer that manufactures BOPP films for labels, graphics, packaging and tobacco, started a brand new Brückner Maschinenbau line for specialty films at their Schkopau site near Leipzig, Germany. The new simultaneous LISIM® line is 8.8 meters wide and can produce 15 - 50 micron film with a capacity of 35,000 tons annually.
The investment is part of Innovia’s strategy to focus on sustainable materials for the label industry. Thinner materials equal more material efficiency and a lower carbon footprint of the end product, which supports the strategy of major brands looking to introduce sustainable packaging into the market. The portfolio of products that will be produced on the new line will range from pressure-sensitive facestock films for labels to flexible packaging films for mono-material retort constructions.
The LISIM® technology allows extrusion of high-quality simultaneously stretched film in a faster and more flexible production. “We can achieve excellent film properties for value added applications in labels and packaging with this technology”, explains Giuseppe Ronzoni, General Manager at Innovia Films in Schkopau. “In addition to that, the LISIM® line is significantly more energy efficient than other extrusion technologies for BOPP film, which, of course, leads to an overall smaller carbon footprint of the finished product itself.”
Markus Gschwandtner, Managing Director CSO at Brückner Maschinenbau is also very happy with the project: “The very close, joint development work together with our long-term partner has really paid off and led to great results: Innovia has received a line specially tailored to their needs and requirements – with a huge increase in production efficiency and film quality and significantly less energy consumption at the same time.”
Innovia Films is a leading producer of flexible films for labels, graphics and packaging with over 80 years of experience as a supplier to the packaging and labelling industry as well as to some of the world’s best-known brands in consumer goods.
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Simultaneous lines stretch the film in both directions at the same time. Brückner’s LISIM® technology (Linear Motor Simultaneous Stretching) uses linear motors driving clips without any mechanical connections – that means a fast and flexible production (not least because of the variable stretching ratios in maschine direction) and at the same time less wear parts, low maintenance. Since 1998, several LISIM® production lines have been successfully in operation. The packaging applications manufactured on these lines convince by