Americhem Europe Ltd., a global provider of
colour and additive solutions for synthetic fibres, is completing a plant-wide
renovation and redesign of the factory's workflow.
This endeavor represents an investment in
the company's customers and the industry, and the renovations are designed to
give the plant a lean, first-class workflow that increases productivity and
product quality.
“The work at our
plant is the result of a desire to serve our customers and position ourselves
for growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region,” stated Thomas
Weigl, vice president and managing director, EMEA. “These renovations will
allow us to better control efficiency from product design through manufacturing
to end-product quality control.”
As said, part of the work involved
combining two factories located across the street from one another. The
manufacturing process went through a lean overhaul before any of the work
began. The refurbishment will benefit the company's nonwovens customers but
also customers from the automotive, synthetic fibres, packaging and film and
sheet industries.
Due to increased demand for its products,
Americhem has installed a new extrusion line in the renovated production hall.
A second extruder has been ordered. These new lines will be capable of
producing any of the company's masterbatch products, but they are especially
adept at creating polymeric additive masterbatch, which can contain one or more
additives such as nDuramax ultraviolet stabilizers, nShield antimicrobials,
mBrace softening additives, hydrophilics, hydrophobics and more.
The plant has been undergoing the
renovations since 2016. It is part of Americhem's continuous improvement
philosophy, which extends to improvements in inventory management and strategy.
The renovation and expansion will result in a significant increase in the
plant's manufacturing capacity and there is room for future expansion including
the soon to be installed production line. The renovations also included a
complete rebuild of the company's existing production equipment, ensuring the
highest quality products for Americhem's customers.
In addition, the Manchester plant's
laboratories are being expanded and fitted with new equipment, including a new
high speed spin line and a polymeric film line. Other manufacturing pilot lines
in the lab include injection molding, extrusion and blow molding.