enEN
EN
Home | About us | News | A Configured Solution in the Marine Industry

A Configured Solution in the Marine Industry

Earlier this year, we were approached by CLE Plastics Machinery to support Rodger Johnson from Plextrusions Inc. in optimizing the production process of their popular Marine Boat Flooring—a premium synthetic decking solution for yachts. In this blog, you’ll read all about this collaboration, the challenges we tackled, and how we implemented a dosing solution that transformed their production line.
Book a consultation!
Marine Industry

The Initial Inquiry

At the AMI plastics show, Carl and Rodger got to talking about the production setting at Plextrusions. A conversation quickly turned into an opportunity to optimize another production process.

With a commitment to product excellence, Plextrusions sought an automated solution to eliminate the physical strain of manual processes and to ensure precise control over the flow of additives. The goal was clear: the production process needed to be easier, quicker, and more cost-effective without compromising the high quality of the Marine Boat Flooring.

“Movacolor’s unit has changed the way we produce forever. Throughout my career, Movacolor was by far the best company I’ve worked with.” Rodger Johnson, Plextrusions Inc.

CLE Plastics Machinery & Carl Krysiak

CLE Plastics Machinery is a trusted partner of Movacolor and supplier of plastics auxiliary equipment, serving manufacturers with machinery sales and technical support. Carl Krysiak and his team are involved in sales and customer relations, bringing years of expertise to guide clients in selecting and integrating equipment.

Throughout the process of this implementation, CLE Plastics Machinery played an integral role in making sure our unit would be a success in the field and provided support in the integration of the MCS Continuous Feeder on the extrusion line for alternative decking.

Plextrusions Inc. & Rodger Johnson

Plextrusions Inc. is renowned for manufacturing a wide array of high-quality extrusion products, with its Marine Boat Flooring—a stylish synthetic decking solution for yachts—being particularly celebrated for its authentic look and feel.

Rodger Johnson is the plant manager, responsible for overseeing daily operations, production efficiency, and team leadership at the manufacturing facility.

Even with its excellent product quality, the traditional manufacturing process left room for improvement in efficiency, operator safety, and consistency. With Movacolor’s dosing technology.

A Modular Solution

Historically, Plextrusions’ process involved manual compounding on the extrusion line. Engineers would hand-fill batches with a compounded mix of three additives and one primary material using buckets. While this labor-intensive method could yield superb-quality output, it came with several drawbacks: 

  • Safety Risks: Manual handling posed risks for operators.
  • Inconsistent Production: Variations in the compounded mix led to inconsistent bulk density. 
  • Inefficiencies: Labor-intensive steps increased both time and cost. 

During the integration process, Plextrusions’ production line was enhanced by the incorporation of a 40L MMS Weight unit coupled with three MDS Balances for the additives as a replacement for their compounding alternative.

By combining the MMS Weight with our MDS Balance, the MCS Continuous Feeder can measure both main material and additives, resulting in the most cost-effective dosing accuracy possible in your production. The technology behind measuring your main material ensures that your gravimetric dosing units automatically adjust the feed rate to bulk density changes, material consumption, and capacity variation of the extruder. 

The Result

During our phone call, Rodger explained the following benefits:

  • The new system significantly minimizes the risks associated with handling additives.
  • Tasks that previously took several hours to complete, can now be done in just minutes.
  • Line speed has increased from 4.9 feet per second to an impressive 7 feet per second.

All of these point resulted in higher efficiency, combined with lower material and labor costs. To Rodger, this is vital at a time when skilled workers are increasingly difficult and expensive to find.

“This was for us the best of both worlds in terms of automation—a real slam dunk for our needs. Even though internal resistance initially provided hurdles, a trial phase demonstrated that the solution was a critical advancement. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.”

In terms of sustainability, the precise dosing of additives has led to a significant reduction in material waste and scrap. Even better, any scrap that is produced can be reintegrated into the production process, helping to close the loop.

Johan Froentjes
Go back

Latest news