Extrusion International 6-2020

40 Extrusion International 6/2020 SIZE REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY – INTERVIEW Mr. Vogel, how signi fi cant is the equipping of Getecha granulators with Industry 4.0 functions currently for your development engineers? Burkhard Vogel: In addition to the continuous innovation process for optimising the central performance components for the rotors, the cut- terial conditioning and granulation technology. Our engineers recogn- ised this several years ago, so that we have already been able to build up a considerable know-how in this area and are now able to equip our Roto- Schneider granulators with a range of intelligent information and communi- cation features. Are these Industry 4.0 functionalities meanwhile parts of the standard equipment of granulators? Vogel: Not in all cases. Industry 4.0 functionality only gets into the focus of a customer when he wants to in- tegrate granulation technology into “Digitisation Creates High Transparency” Getecha Managing Director Burkhard Vogel about Industry 4.0 in Granulating Technology ting chamber as well as the infeed and discharge systems, the development of useful Industry 4.0 functions for our granulators has gained enormously in importance, especially in the last three to four years. This applies to the series with the small and compact be- side the press granulator series as well as to the large central granulators and the infeed granulators. What do you think is the decisive fac- tor here? Vogel: Whether you consider the au- tomotive industry and its suppliers, the manufacture of packaging mate- rials or the large sector of the consum- er products - in all industries the desire for further automatisation is pushing the digitalisation of production pro- cesses. The realisation of structures according to the standards of Industry 4.0 does not stop at the fi elds of ma- In many plastics processing industry sectors, the production-related integration of granulation technology in injection moulding, extrusion, blow moulding and thermoforming lines is advancing rapidly. The granulator manufacturer Getecha responded to this trend at an early stage and now equips the hopper and infeed granulators of its “RotoSchneider” series with numerous intelligent functionalities according to Industry 4.0 criteria. Managing director Burkhard Vogel explains in an interview what is important Full of intelligent Industry 4.0 functions: Complex system solutions for automated granulation technology. The picture shows a schematic view of a Getecha plant for grinding PP sheets with an infeed device, a gripper, an exhaust air system and a packaging system Getecha Managing Director Burkhard Vogel Everything at a glance: Control panel with touch screen on a Getecha granulator with integrated infeed and discharge technology