Arburg USA celebrates company’s 100th anniversary

Rocky Hill, CT – A capacity crowd was on hand on 15 June 2023 as Arburg USA hosted a regional celebration of 100 years of the Hehl family company. A range of equipment and applications showcased, including fully integrated digital manufacturing technology to help increase molder productivity and efficiency. Outgoing President Friedrich Kanz received special recognition for his years of dedicated service to Arburg.

A full complement of over 100 customers and suppliers attended the celebration at the Arburg US headquarters in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. About 30 such events are being held this year around the world to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the company that would become Arburg – a name synonymous with high-performance, high-precision injection-molding machines. Attendees were treated to presentations on the arburgXworld customer portal to digital manufacturing solutions, turnkey solutions for enhanced OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency), and Gestica control system.

A highlight of the day was the presentation of the all new Allrounder 470 H, which was developed to mark the 100th anniversary year. Juergen Giesow, Vice President Technology and After Sale Service, told the assembled guests that the anniversary 470 H is a completely new machine. More energy- and resource-saving, production-efficient, user-friendly, and reliable than anything Arburg has built before, the machine represents the perfect combination of electric clamping unit and hydraulic injection unit.

The machine was demonstrated in Rocky Hill in production of a garden shovel made from bio-compostable, corn-based non-crystalline PLA (polylactic acid). Other machines shown in operation in the Technical Center included:
Allrounder 720 H that demonstrated high-speed molding of blood-sample tubes, with hot-runner control linked to a Gestica controller via Euromap 82.2 interface 82.2 and OPC UA.
An Allrounder 470 A was molding medical caps with HolyGrail barcode markings. The application featured “aXw Control Fillassist” modeling and automatic fill control.
Allrounder 470 Golden Electric and an Allrounder 1200 T machines were operating as part of turnkey automated work cells that also included an integrated 6-axis robot and part assembly.

The 100th anniversary open house coincided with significant management changes at Arburg Inc. as Friedrich Kanz retires after 23 years as President of the subsidiary. Martin Baumann succeeded him on 1 July 2023.
Juliane Hehl, Managing Partner of the Arburg parent company and granddaughter of founder Arthur Hehl, told the gathering how Friedrich Kanz joined Arburg on 1 July 1993, as a team manager in Eastern European Sales. He was named Director of Overseas Sales on 1 April 1999 but, just seven months later, he assumed management of the U.S. subsidiary, which had opened in 1990.
“With his hands-on style, he quickly put the subsidiary and the U.S. market in order,” she noted. “During his years of service to the company, Friedrich Kanz progressively transformed the subsidiary in the USA into one of Arburg’s most important and biggest support bases worldwide. We owe him a great debt of gratitude,” Juliane Hehl concluded.