The blown film packaging market in Indonesia is said to be booming, and the challenges and economic obstacles companies need to tackle in order to meet high demands were up for discussion at the second Extrusioneers Summit held by Reifenhäuser in Jakarta on September 2nd, 2014.
Main topics of the event were the production of high-end films and the realisation of high output rates.
Reifenhauser Extrusioneers Summit
Indonesia has a population of 250 million. The majority strive for better living standards – with much success. The country’s per capita income has doubled over the past 10 years and so has the consumption of plastics - from 9.7 to 17.5 kg per capita. This rapid development will continue, which is illustrated by comparison with, for instance Western European regions, where every inhabitant consumes about 140 kgs.
The Southeast Asian country is still far away from reaching these figures. But its potential is enormous.
Although film producers will benefit from this development, they have to rise to new challenges: Higher demands require an increase in productivity. Better product quality will become ever more important in the future.
At a Reifenhäuser Extrusioneers Summit, the manufacturer of plastics extrusion systems showed ways how film producers can benefit from growth opportunities and demonstrated which technical prerequisites are needed to keep pace with the development in the future.
Juergen Rehkopf, Managing Director of Reifenhäuser Singapore and organiser of the event commented: "With the Extrusioneers Summit we have offered producers the opportunity to exchange views and have face-to-face discussions with experts in production lines, conversion processes, recycling and raw materials, on topics such as ROI, overall efficiency and sustainability, and to look beyond their own areas of activity. The great interest in the event shows that there is a high demand for exchanging information, particularly on the subject of productivity."
Over 70 visitors, mainly decisionmakers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, accepted the invitation to attend the event at which lectures were given by experts from Reifenhäuser, Flexoprinting Technology by KBA,NGR, Plast-Control, and Dow.
The most important message to attendees was that the high output rates required today due to increasing demands can be realised very well also in tropical zones like Indonesia. Advanced technology using modern cooling concepts makes it possible.
How this works in practice was shown to the attendees at an Open House following the Extrusioneers Summit on the afternoon of September 2nd. Packaging film producer Nusa Eka demonstrated the outstanding performance of the EVOLUTION Ultra Cool cooling concept on a Reifenhäuser blown film line under tropical conditions and with high air humidity. 550 kg/h of mLLDPE were produced at 35°C at the bottom, 50-55°C at haul-off level, and 28°C cooling air coming from a 350 mm die.
The Nusa Eka case study shows that this high productivity can be obtained without many years of know-how in the high-performance market. The company was a newcomer to this market and used Reifenhäuser technology to get off to a fast start with their strategic step.
James Winner, Managing Director of Nusa Eka said: "Today, we are able to produce dimensions and, of course, also qualities that are quite different from the previous ones. This will not only enable us to strongly grow in Indonesia, but also to enter export markets of the ASEAN free trade area. The best evidence for this is the fact that the line was working at full capacity only several months after production start."
Nusa Eka was the first company in Southeast Asia to rely on the new EVOLUTION Ultra Cool cooling concept. Other companies from Vietnam and Thailand have followed the positive example in the meantime. Juergen Rehkopf is convinced that the market will continue to push the technological development of the country forward.
"Much is happening in Southeast Asia in technological respects," he said. "Ultra Cool has absolutely proven in practice. Ever more producers recognise the added value of high-performance systems. However, the demands made on packaging and technology will continue rising. In our opinion, the trend will go from 3-layer lines to 5-layer polyolefin lines in the medium term. We will further accompany our customers down this road."
The next Extrusioneers Summit is scheduled for 2015. The focus in Vietnam will be on 7-layer lines provided with EVOLUTION Ultra Cool and EVOLUTION Ultra Flat.