New packaging machine expands capabilities for reyclable packaging paper at Koehler Group Innovation Campus

Packaging Solutions

Koehler Innovation & Technology recently put its first packaging machine into operation at the group’s Oberkirch site. The move was accompanied by a small celebration and represents a systematic expansion of the company’s development and testing capabilities for packaging paper. The new unit, a Rovema BVC 260 vertical form fill and seal machine, will make it possible to test packaging solutions under accurate real life conditions and get valuable insights for product development.

The packaging machine is a valuable addition to the company’s existing pilot systems, which include a test coating machine, and is accordingly helping lay the ideal foundation for continuous end to end development. With it, new paper solutions can be produced at pilot scale and can also be evaluated directly in terms of their processing properties on packaging machines before being adopted for large scale production. ‘With this system, we are taking a strategically important step: our material development and application efforts are becoming more closely interlinked, not to mention that we are systematically expanding our packaging know how further. Ultimately, our goal is to make development times shorter and reduce market launch risks,’ said Dr Christian Kölmel, corporate director of technology at Koehler Innovation & Technology.

The new packaging machine is part of the technological equipment used by Koehler Innovation & Technology in Oberkirch, where experts work on the paper based solutions of tomorrow. With a combination of basic research, applied research, and disruptive development approaches, the team is creating new technology platforms for sustainable products designed for circular economies. ‘We want to take our findings from pilot tests and squeeze every last bit of usefulness out of them, improve quality and safety, and make innovation faster,’ explained Fritz Brümmer, Head of the specialty paper/process development department.

‘With this investment, we are keeping our promise of being there for our customers as development partners along the entire product lifecycle. Our goal is to create solutions that meet the needs of brand name manufacturers and are perfectly matched to modern packaging machines,’ added Alexander Rauer, head of business development for flexible packaging paper at Koehler Paper.

With this step, the company is reinforcing its role as a leader of innovation in the field of sustainable packaging paper development while also charting a clear course for the future of paper based packaging solutions.