Customised technical solutions from Blema Kircheis

Customised machines or automatic machines in various performance ranges are the strength of packaging machine manufacturer Blema Kircheis. The company's expertise has been expanded once again over the past two years: The company can now offer interested parties complete production systems for the manufacture of composite cardboard cans.

The roots of the company „Gebrüder Leonhardt GmbH & Co. KG Blema Kircheis“, based in Aue (Saxony), lie in the development and manufacture of complete systems for the production of tinplate packaging. In 1993, the company began to develop a further business segment focussing on Machines for the production of cardboard composite cans to build up. In the last two years, the company has taken the step towards supplying complete systems for the production of composite cardboard cans plus the integration of other product areas of packaging machine construction.

As is certainly the case in many other areas of economic life, „Blema Kircheis“ also began to develop the new business area of composite cardboard cans on a rather small scale. At the beginning of the 1990s, the company had built up a good reputation for non-circular closing machines for tinplate cans and also for closing cardboard cans using a tinplate base. This was ultimately the technical starting point for a renowned European manufacturer of composite cardboard cans to approach the machine builders in Saxony with the need for processes and machines to seal the cans. Closure of the cardboard composite can with a cardboard base and the associated substitution of the tinplate floor.

Development according to customer requirements

With the subsequent development of automatic carton bottom sealing machines with up to twelve tools arranged in parallel on a carousel, it was possible to achieve adequate output rates compared to sealing the filled composite carton can using a tinplate bottom. Machines and automatic machines specially customised to customer requirements in different service areas were developed in the following years based on the technology launch with the aim of further expanding the new business area.

At the end of 2015, a Wide range of machines for composite carton cans available. The development of each machine was based on a specific customer requirement. All developments were realised in close cooperation with the respective packaging manufacturer. In this way, it was possible to ensure that the requirements of the packaging manufacturer were implemented 100 per cent.

Irrespective of this approach, all process developments and machine developments based on them were carried out in such a way that they are Economic advantages in its immediate competitive situation.

Examples of this are

• the Reduction in material costs by reducing the wall thickness of the cardboard composite box while maintaining sufficient rigidity,
• the Increase in unit output as a result of process innovations and machine enhancements,
• the reduction of investment costs thanks to the combination of different processes in one machine, including the production of deep-drawn aluminium membranes and the sealing of these in the cardboard box,
• the Reduction of the reject rate through real-time quality monitoring, the avoidance of operating errors and the assurance of the highest hygiene standards based on the simplest operating and cleaning concepts,
• the Reduction of the disposal fee through the technological underpinning of sustainable packaging solutions and
• the Development of new processes and machines with the aim of producing packaging solutions with a high recognition value, high counterfeit protection and the best possible practicality in terms of opening behaviour, residual emptying options and much more.

Wide range of machines from a single source

At the end of 2015, the company had the opportunity to take over the Packaging Solutions division - formerly Christian MAJER GmbH & Co. KG - from Manz AG. On the one hand, this completed the range of machines for the production of composite cardboard cans and, on the other, integrated additional machine technology for the production of other packaging materials such as bottle capsules, cheese boxes, spiral-wound ice cream lids, baking moulds, tubes and cores into the company's product range.

„At the end of 2015, the opportunity arose to take over the Packaging Solutions division - formerly Christian MAJER GmbH & Co. KG - from Manz AG at the end of 2015. As a result, our company is now in a position to supply complete systems for the production of composite cardboard cans,„ emphasises the owner and Managing Director of Gebrüder Leonhardt GmbH & Co. KG Blema Kircheis, Aue, emphasises, Uwe Leonhardt.

The advantages for the customer are Full-service provider The benefits are obvious: one contact person for service, desired performance increases and optimisation as well as support for product changeovers, for example to a new can size. In addition, customers receive customised solutions tailored to their specific application.

The company's more far-reaching aspiration is to continue the technical expertise that has been practised successfully for years and decades in all of the technology areas listed, without exception. Modular construction concept to realise. The highest quality, functionality and cost-effectiveness are the determining restrictions.

The VUSM 160 automatic carton bottom sealer is representative of the product range of around 50 different machine types for the production of composite carton cans. The fully automatic machine is designed to seal mainly filled carton cans with a carton bottom. A gas-tight closure is guaranteed by means of heat contact sealing.