Arburg’s open days bring new customer centre to life

Over 4,000 visitors from 48 countries were welcomed to Arburg’s brand new customer service centre in Lossburg, Germany, between 19-21 March as part of its 2009 ‘Technology Days’ event. Visitors were given a unique opportunity to discuss future trends in the injection moulding industry whilst viewing the complete Arburg product range.

At the heart of a new 10,100m2 building at Arburg’s manufacturing centre in Lossburg is the new Customer Centre. Spread over a 2,100m2 area, there is space for the permanent display of over 30 injection moulding machines. In addition, there are three further areas used as a clean room and for powder and production technology.

With energy efficiency remaining a focus at Arburg, the company presented two new sizes of its Alldrive electric machine series, a small Allrounder 270 A with a clamping force of 350 kN and the large Allrounder 720 A with a clamping force of 3,200 kN. A new series of Allrounder H (Hidrive) models was also presented. The energy efficient theme extends beyond production equipment however, with the energy supply for the entire building being provided solely using geothermal power. The building is heated by extracting energy from the upper rock strata and, when necessary, is cooled by transferring heat to the ground. The system is expected to produce some 600,000kWh of heating power and 400,000kWh of cooling power each year. In addition, solar panels cover an area of 160m2 on the building’s south-facing façade.

Arburg reported a 14% decline in turnover in 2008, following a record year in 2007. It has been reported that although the company has been affected by the decline in the automotive industry, the supply of moulding machinery to areas with more diverse end-user markets, such as metal and ceramic injection moulding, has been affected to a lesser extent. A 17% rise in demand for Arburg’s all-electric machines has also been reported, making Arburg the largest European manufacturer of all-electric machines.

Whilst the outlook for manufacturing in general remains bleak, Michael Hehl, Managing Partner, stated, ‘Arburg is fortunately very strong; it does not fall over with every storm. We have been investing out of profits and can live a while from substance. This severe crisis will end and we will come out of it stronger’.

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