KRAUS FOLIE: The packaging business is one of constant change
KRAUS Folie is a story of real focus. The family owned company, founded in 1985, has film in their DNA. Marcin Kraus, owner and second generation of Kraus Folie, learned the extrusion business from the beginning, knowing the technology and business in and out. The relation with W&H started with a visit to K and our Inhouse EXPO in 2013. Eight years further and six machines later we take a look back at how everything began.
Back then and now, Kraus Folie was and is a company with high ambitions. Growth through newest technologies, new market opportunities, highest quality and the focus on efficiency are the guiding principles, leading the company’s strategic decisions.
How it all began
Since the first decision for a 5-layer VAREX II blown film in 2015, KRAUS Folie has shown a fascinating business development with a growth in production by 400%. We are proud to be a part in this development, which is characterized by the focus on sustainable and technology demanding multi-layer films. The initial change from 3-layer to 5-layer resulted in many successful projects that lead to improved product performance and downgauging, saving millions of Euros to customers and reduced environmental impact of packaging.
MDO as a retrofit
In 2020 Marcin Kraus decided to upgrade one of the existing 5-layer blown film line with an MDO, which enabled the company to produce PET replacement films with certain technical properties regarding quality and function, which are ready for recycling. ”This retrofit allowed us to offer our customers solutions for circular economy on early stage. We try to always be ahead of the curve and that’s why we chose W&H as a partner for this project.” adds Marcin Kraus. The biggest advantage of MDO films offered by KRAUS FOLIE are their special design, that makes them highly resistant to temperature and shrink. Another key factor is film planarity, which makes it suitable for most demanding converting processes like rotogravure printing, metallization or barrier coating.
High barrier solutions
A further step was made with the latest decision for a 9-layer VAREX II with MDO, which will be commissioned beginning of 2023. This new line enables KRAUS FOLIE to produce MDO films with EVOH and other types of high barriers ready for recycling.
With this machine park of currently six W&H blown film lines, KRAUS FOLIE feels to have the perfect set-up for the current market demands.
Efficient production
With the clear focus on efficiency, it is only natural, that the machines are not only delivering perfect and reliable quality, but are high performance machines, running 24/7 on highest average output rates of 1000 kg/hour. For this performance, Marcin Kraus relies on his internal maintenance department and on W&H automation modules like TURBOSTART , EASY Change or TURBOCLEAN. All supporting the operator to perform a recipe and product change within 15 Minutes. This saves time, allows for frequent product changes and avoids wastage of raw materials. Meanwhile RUBY continuously analyzes production parameters to ensure consistently high film quality. Asking which potential, he sees in the newly introduced “EASY2 Change ” during K22, Marcin Kraus sees the clear advantage of this new technology. “Newly introduced EASY2 Change system will further increase automation and ease of operation. We are looking forward to see it running in new and existing equipment.“
The success proves Marcin Kraus right, all machines were working on full capacity right after commissioning. The investment in state-of-the-art equipment and the continuous improvement with their internal R&D department makes KRAUS FOLIE confident to handle the future challenges of the packaging industry. We couldn´t finish this text any better as with the words of Marcin Kraus: “Both W&H and KRAUS FOLIE share the same mindset regarding future challenges for packaging industry and ways to meet them.”
