Systems integration for resin pellet reprocessing line optimizes production
A plastic film manufacturer works with one equipment supplier to integrate pneumatic conveying, feeding, and blending equipment into a production process.
Tex-Trude LP, Channelview, Tex., produces a full line of polyethylene and PVC blown-film products, including construction film, various bags, polywrap and sheeting, and other products. The company produces the films from plastic pellets it both purchases and makes from reclaimed plastic scrap. In November 2008, a five-alarm fire destroyed the company’s buildings that housed the plastic scrap reprocessing, wash-and-dry, in-line blending, storage, and shipping and receiving departments along with 2 million pounds of reprocessed resin and 4.5 million pounds of finished polyethylene products. Shortly after assessing the fire damage, the company began preparations for rebuilding, and it broke ground in March 2009 for a 185,000-square-foot manufacturing and shipping and receiving facility. When specifying the material handling equipment for the new facility’s reprocessing lines and in-line blending process, the company wanted to work with a single-source equipment supplier that could manage the project from design to startup.