Engel Opens New Customer Tech Center at Large-Machine Plant in Austria

Engel has opened a brand-new customer technical center at its large-machine assembly plant in St. Valentin, Austria. The company invested more than €14 million in this project, which occupies 36,600 ft² and is focused on the themes of energy efficiency, digitalization and the circular economy.

The new facility is divided into four sections. The Application Technology Centre for large duo series two-platen machines produced at the plant displays machines from 700 to 1700 metric tons. Among them is a 1500-mt combi M type horizontal machine with rotary table for a center-stack mold, and a 900-mt duo machine with Engel’s new two-stage injection process designed to take recycled flake directly after grinding.

Another section of the new tech center is an expansion of the Technology Centre for Lightweight Composites; the new Machine Technology Centre now includes a v-duo vertical 1700-mt, an insert 130-mt vertical press, and a duo 1700-mt horizontal machine with two easix articulated robots for composite processes. All these machines are equipped with Engel’s own style of IR ovens. Engel is also demonstrating innovations in the tape laying process at this location.

The third and fourth machine sections are in the new Packaging Centre spread over two locations—St. Valentin and Schwertberg, Austria. St. Valentin has a 900-mt duo speed machine for production of pails and containers--especially with high recycled content—and an e-speed electric machine (420 mt) for thin-wall containers.

All told, the new technology center showcases a full range of Engel technologies, including surface decoration techniques (foilmelt, clearmelt and Decoject); sandwich technologies (coinjection, skinmelt); foammelt structural foam; coinmelt injection-compression; combimelt multi-component processes; and composite technologies (organomelt and HP-RTM).