Kraiburg investing in extruder, process upgrades

Kraiburg Austria reports that it will continue investing in machinery, facilities and processes at its Geretsberg site this year in order to provide its retreading partners the best possible quality and service. The company has earmarked a budget of three million euros for several projects, with a major chunk of this amount expected to be directed towards Kraiburg’s extruders. These will be upgraded to enable their meeting of potential future requirements, such as an extension of the tyre label to retreaded tyres. The Austrian retreading specialist also intends to provide its research and development department with an additional laboratory mixer. Last but not least, the company will invest in numerous process operations in order to improve production and administrative efficiency.

The first fruits of these measures were witnessed in October 2012 with the installation of a thermal power station in Geretsberg. The unit’s thermal discharge provides heat for the presses used in K_base, K_plus and K_tech tread production and also provides the entire production site with process heat. The construction of this facility, together with heat recovery measures, has reduced the Geretsberg plant’s CO2 emissions by approximately 1,000 tonnes per annum.