Waldorf Technik GmbH & Co. KG, based at Engen, Germany, is a specialized high-end design, engineering and manufacturing company of downstream automation for injection moulding solutions and systems. Markets primarily include the medical-technical, laboratory and clean-room sector, as well as the packaging industry, i.e. for the production of rigid thin-wall plastics packaging in very large quantities in the food and health care industries. The company prides itself in innovative state-of-the-art production of, for example, fast de-moulding systems with extremely short grip times, optimised solutions for single-face and stack moulds, decoration modules (IML), and integrated quality control systems. Waldorf Technik is committed to ‘safety first’ when it comes to their customers, a philosophy that goes hand in hand with their strong commitment to satisfy the individual requirements of every one of its customers worldwide.
Wolfgang Czizegg, CEO of Waldorf Technik: “For the medical-technical branch, we design and manufacture equipment for the handling of consumer articles such as contact lenses, laboratory items such as pipettes, receptacles, insulin injection pens, and Petri dishes – almost any plastics part required in large quantities. In the packaging industry, we have opened new markets with pioneering design and engineering solutions, whereby glass and tin can containers are substituted with new precision plastics solutions.”
Compared with the more conventional and widely accepted rigid packaging materials of glass and tin cans – both have been an accepted part of every day life across the world for the last 200 years – plastics are still regarded as relatively ‘new kids on the block’, especially by more conservative packaging manufacturers, among others.
The utilisation of polymers as an imaginative, durable, and reliable alternative to the ‘classics’, such as glass (jars and bottles), metal and other substances (tin cans), particularly in the medical-technical and food packaging industries, is here to stay, because of the considerable benefits and advantages the wide variety of plastics raw materials and their production opportunities offer: the use of injection molded plastics offers a myriad of imaginative and attractively designed packaging alternatives (different shapes, sizes, thicknesses), tailor-made to suit each individual product perfectly, not forgetting the attraction to the consumers attention; plastic containers are much lighter than glass and, compared with tin cans, the contents are fully visible and can be stored safely in the container for longer periods; weight and bulk in transportation and storage – due to reliable high-volume stackability – are beneficial to carbon emission and the protection of our environment; safety in handling is a major issue, no injury through breakage or being injured by glass or tin and edges; and practically most common plastics are easily recyclable.
Most importantly however, great strides have been and continue to be made in finding solutions for biodegradable plastic containers, helping to solve the already massive and fast growing problem of the disposal of waste materials worldwide.
