Tropic has meanwhile developed into one of the most important producers of PE films and also as the leading supplier of converted and printed bags in South Africa. In order to comply with customer requirements, only the best materials are used. “We have furthermore acquired only the most modern extrusion technology“, said Mohamed Timol, Operations Director, to express, “in order to ensure that we can continuously produce films of the highest quality.” So the company, that has already been a customer of Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion since the 1980s, has recently invested again in KIRION® technology from Worms. The investment involved two fully automated 3-layer coextrusion lines. Production of high-grade films has started at the end of 2008 with the most recently acquired KIRION® 70/100/10 with its net working width of 2,200 mm.

According to Timol, the decision for the Reifenhäuser Kiefel lines was not difficult: the South African company had been convinced of the line technology from Worms, the quality, easy and clear handling and appealing design, but also of convincing support, from consultancy right up to after-sales service. The management finds daily performance of the equipment particularly impressive: “we obtain throughput of 700 kg/h on the latest line with a 500-mm blown film diehead and a standard cooling ring, while constantly maintaining highest precision; all of that due, among others, to the KIRION® C2 profile control system!”

Tropic produces not only the films, but also processes them further into bags, that are characterized by high transparency and best optical appearance, as well as excellent penetration strength. Indispensable quality features, if taking the sensitive contents of the bags into consideration: it involves packaging for bread. Peak throughput performance without blockage is also the order of the day during this further processing stage. The newer KIRION® lines have additionally helped the bread packaging specialist to gain further business. This includes high-quality laminated films, that can only be dealt with, as is well known, by sophisticated processing technology, such as that offered by Reifenhäuser Kiefel.

Tropic has committed itself to strengthen and expand its leading market position during the next ten years. Fazel Bhabha states: “We are sure of reaching these aims with Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion standing alongside us as partner, on account of high efficiency and best film quality.”