Short setup times contribute substantially to the high competitiveness of Krona in Brazil. In view of the company’s product range, not a matter of course. This group of companies ranks among Latin America’s leading manufacturers of pipes, pipe sections and fittings. With particularly large and bulky molds, however, the MacroPower injection molding machines from Wittmann fully prove their worth. For 23 years now, Wittmann Battenfeld do Brasil has not only been a supplier, but also an important development partner for Krona.
Founded in 1994, Krona stands for a continuous success story. Today, the Krona Pipes and Fittings Group comprises Krona Joinville, Krona Northeast, Krona Central East, Krona Ultra-Therm, Krona Acessórias, Viqua as well as the Linear Group of companies and remains on course for further growth. “We are growing faster than our competitors”, says Valdicir Kortmann, Sales and Marketing Manager and member of the company’s Management Board, proudly during our visit in Joinville, Southern Brazil - the location of the corporate headquarters and production plant for both injection molding and extrusion.
In the sanitary equipment sector, the Krona Group is one of the top 3 brands in Latin America, currently producing 2,500 different products. These include pipe segments and molded parts for cold water, hot water and sewage systems, as well as fittings and drainage systems. Additional business segments are irrigation technology and electrical installations. “The electrical sector is growing particularly fast”, says Kortmann, and Krona has prepared for it accordingly. During the Fakuma in Germany last October, Krona ordered three additional MacroPower injection molding machines from Wittmann for the production of covers and housings of fuse boxes.
The Fakuma is a regular fixed date for the Krona managers. “We are always on the lookout for new technologies to become more efficient”, says José Armecides Gonçalves, Production Director of the company and also a member of the Board. “If we are targeting higher competitivity, we must boost our efficiency.” Here, the large MacroPower machines make a substantial contribution. At the production facility in Joinville alone, Krona is operating 75 injection molding machines from Wittmann or Wittmann Battenfeld, as Wittmann’s machine division was called until recently. MacroPower machines are taking the lion’s share of this equipment.
Fast setup in spite of many core pulls
Price pressure is high, and the product portfolio is extremely demanding. Fitting production requires elaborate molds with many core pulls and other mechanical features for injection molding production. The core pulls often protrude laterally far out of the steel block. Accordingly, the molds take up a lot of space. Of course, the core pulls can be removed for clamping the mold, but that takes additional time, which reduces the machine’s availability.
This is where the MacroPower machines prove their strengths. Even large, mechanically complex molds can be clamped efficiently without being taken apart. "The MacroPower machines offer a particularly large distance between tie-bars”, emphas Cássio Luís Saltori, Managing Director of Wittmann Battenfeld do Brasil, to explain one of their advantages. “The very large dimensions of the mold clamping platens were the decisive reason for Krona to invest in Wittmann machines from the very beginning.“
Another aspect is that the clamping system permits a large distance between the ends of the tiebars and the moving platen, thanks to the short length of the tiebars and a large platen stroke. This enables mold insertion and mold clamping laterally from the rear end of the machine, using a crane.
