By Bruce Geiselman
CPM’s new Global eXtruder Technology (GXT) line of twin-screw extruders will reduce delivery times for new machines and replacement parts, compared with the company’s existing series of CXE twin-screw extruders.
With its GXT line, CPM is introducing a standardized platform that will ensure uniformity in extruder design and technology regardless of a customer’s location in the world or where an extruder is manufactured. They are appropriate for nearly all compounding applications, according to the company.
“The GXT is a global extruder technology initiative,” said Karl-Heinz Tietz, director of extrusion systems at CPM. “It’s a machine that we can build anywhere in the world. We can build it here in the U.S. and in Europe and China, and it will have the same standards, have the same look, have the same design specifications. It is estimated to be around 15 to 30 percent less expensive than what we offer on our CXE models.”
The GXT platform consists of pre-designed or pre-engineered machines that allow customers to choose from among a few options that can be added, he said. However, a pre-engineered design means machines can be built ahead of sale and delivered quickly.
“We’re planning on stocking parts for it and having shorter lead times,” Tietz said. “Customers can get the machines faster.”
The aim also is to have global support, which means that even if customers buy a machine manufactured in another part of the world, CPM technicians closest to the customers can service it easily because they will know details about the extruders regardless of which factory produced them.
“If we run out of technicians in China, we can send somebody from the U.S. to go out or from Europe, and it’s the same machine,” Tietz said. “Big global customers that have plants all over the world will have the same machine in all their plants. The control systems look the same. Operators can use it the same. The integration can work the same. You don’t have to retrain operators. You don’t have to have different safety specifications. It’s all on one platform.”
By contrast, the CXE extruders are highly customizable, but that benefit makes them more expensive.
“A GXT is going to give you the same performance and the same look, but it’s going to be more cost-competitive,” Tietz said.
GXT extruders are available with screw diameters ranging from 32mm to 133mm, torque densities of 13 nanometers per cubic centimeter (Nm/cm3)and L/D ratios of between 40 and 48, with screw speed options of 600, 900 and 1,200 rpm at maximum power output.
Customers needing a higher torque density, of up to 18 Nm/cm3, or with custom metallurgies on the shafts would be directed to the customizable CXE line of extruders.
CPM, Traverse City, Mich., 231-947-6400,www.cpmextrusiongroup.com
