When Lohmann Specialty Coatings, a division of Lohmann Group, saw a marketing opportunity in the US, and made the decision to create a coating operation in Orange, VA, it's quite an understatement to say the converter wasted no time in establishing that operation.

Ground was broken on the building on April 1, 2003. Coating trials on the brand-new line took place the week before Christmas 2003. What took place in between the two dates provided the excitement of the collaboration between Lohmann and coating-equipment supplier Herbert Olbrich GmbH & Co. Olbrich is represented in North America by Zima Corp., Spartanburg, SC.

A successful manufacturer of specialty tapes in Europe, Lohmann was seeking expansion in the US market by coating plastic films for the pharmaceutical and consumer-packaging markets, specializing particularly in heat-seal coatings.

"Our management in Europe had a close and good relationship with Olbrich," says LSC's director of operations Glenn Sering. "The attributes that were most important to us were stability and consistent coating thickness."

After contracting for the 1.65-meter-wide gravure-coating system, it was agreed that the equipment would be built by Olbrich in Germany and shipped to the port in Norfolk, VA, to arrive by July 2003. The complete coating line, measuring 35 m long, 8 m high, and 6 m wide, was assembled at Olbrich's headquarters facility in Bocholt and approved by officials from Lohmann. It was then packed for the ocean voyage in 72 crates and containers weighing more than 450,000 lbs.

At the plant site, meanwhile, the final auxiliary systems were still being installed in August, including fire extinguishers, air conditioning, etc. Since the coating system had been prepared for JIT delivery, it could be delivered to the job site in the right order for installation. Assembly crews working under the direction of experienced Olbrich supervisors worked in two shifts, seven days a week to install the equipment coming in from the intermediate storage at the seaport in Norfolk to the construction site in Orange, where storage was limited. The trucks came in fully synchronized with the on-site workflow.

Olbrich supervisor Friedhelm Koller says, "Right from the start, we were facing a very tight time schedule, combined with the typical challenges of working at an industrial construction site. Crates containing the individual machines were unloaded with auto-cranes and fork-trucks ordered just-in-time to meet delivery sequences. Dryers were placed on top of the machine frame with a mobile A-frame. Thanks to thoughtful engineering and to the skilled and highly motivated teams of our local sub-contractors, we kept that pace through the entire equipment installation."

The final commissioning of the coating line, including the first coating trials, took place the week before Christmas 2003.

Lohmann's new coating line is designed to apply dry coating weights of 5-30 gsm onto various substrates (LDPE, HDPE, PP, PET, and paper) and to laminate films, paper, nonwovens and foams, and consists of the following main elements:

• Turret unwinder with automatic cutting/splicing system for roll changes at production speeds of up to 150 m/min. Olbrich's cutting technology reduces the wrinkle-free splicing tail to a minimum. Spring-loaded knives provide more cutting force and speed than conventional systems.
• First application unit offers backside coating of the substrate with either direct or indirect offset methods. Doctor chamber system features gravure roll for low coating weights and reduces the amount of solution to a minimum, as well as operator exposure to the solvents. Rotation of application roll in both directions is possible. The machine is designed as a modular quick-change system, both for easy-set-up and cartridge cleaning, and to accept additional coating heads in the future, if desired. It can also apply a backside primer.
• Pre-dryer: Convectional hot-air dryer with special nozzle design for better heat transfer. Heating system is indirect via thermal oil. System features independent control of air velocity and temperature for each dryer zone. The dryer is equipped with electrical spindles to lift the upper part for easy cleaning of dryer interior and for easy threading.
• Roll coater for direct coating methods: The entire coating area is enclosed with a glass/aluminum frame including fresh air ventilation and exhaust-air handling.
• Second application unit: Offers backside coating of the substrate with either direct or indirect offset.
• Main oven
• Cooling/laminating station
• Turret rewinder

"This unique, custom manufactured coating line reflects the latest technologies of both Lohmann and Olbrich," says Frank Redetzky, Olbrich project manager. "Know-how and competent engineering led to a highly versatile coating line that, due to its adaptability, is the best possible basis for future market demands."

The Lohmann line is already designed for a possible future upgrade by two additional automatic turret winders to further increase the versatility of handling laminated products and multi-pass coating applications for the film industry.

"Growth in heat-seal packaging could be big here in the US," says Sering. "We want to be ready for it." Thus far, LSC has certainly shown they can move fast when they spot an opportunity.