— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

Irish agricultural films producer Samco (Adare; www.samco.ie) said a recent upgrade of its blown-film machinery systems had resulted in a 30% rise in output, along with improving reliability across its manufacturing process.

The firm has worked for a number of years with Italian machinery components specialist Syncro (Varese; www.syncro-group.com) to improve line performance, film quality, and process reliability.

The latest upgrade saw the installation of Syncro’s Typhoon Y2-048 Automatic Air Ring, a piece of equipment its manufacturer said improves air flow, ensures greater precision during the production process, and was specifically designed for biodegradable materials.

Improvements to Samco’s lines also saw installation of the Skymex non-contact capacitive measurement system, which Syncro said provided real-time monitoring of film thickness without physically touching the material, preventing any contamination or damage.

Related: Ireland’s progress on building a circular economy lags its EU neighbours

The Skymex equipment also enhanced accuracy with a precision of +/- 0.4 µm at 2-sigma accuracy – effectively around 95% – consistently producing 8 µm biodegradable films.

The third component of the upgrade was the Syntrol Infinity Line Supervisory System, which automates profile control and enhances process monitoring. Syncro said the system reduced manual intervention, improving overall line reliability and operational efficiency.

The Italian specialist, which operates nine production plants worldwide and has subsidiaries in the US, Brazil, China, Japan, and India, said that in addition to the 30% productivity increase, the upgrade meant that the line could now maintain a speed of 110 m/min, with a throughput of 180 kg/h, versus a pre-upgrade average line speed of 80 m/min (throughput 125 kg/h).