August Koehler to Install New Specialty Packaging Machine at Kehl Mill

Papierfabrik August Koehler SE, Germany, announced this week that it will invest more than EUR 300 million to install a new specialty paper machine with a yankee cylinder at its Kehl production facility, creating more than 100 new jobs during the next two years. Altogether, the company will have invested approximately half a billion euro in growth by 2020.

The off-machine coater for the new machine will be equipped with multiple cutting-edge coating application technologies to help shape attractive market segments in the sector of flexible packaging. The total capacity will be well more than 100,000 metric tpy. "That represents a clear commitment to paper and board," said CEO Kai Furler, as well as the largest individual investment in the company’s 210-year history.

The Koehler Paper Group is a global market leader in thermal paper as well as a leader in special applications such as playing cards and beer coasters. "Our portfolio is profitable, diverse, and focused on further growth," said CEO Kai Furler, explaining that the company’s new investments are intended to ensure it stays that way. He added that they also went in search of extremely sustainable and high-volume growth, which is precisely what they found in the future market of flexible packaging.

 

 

Whether it’s a chocolate bar, pudding mix, or muesli, the packaging it comes in tends to be made of plastic these days, Koehler notes. Barrier characteristics are necessary to ensure food safety or, for instance, provide moisture protection. Koehler will place its focus on flexible paper-based packaging solutions, offering alternatives to brand manufacturers, converters, and printers with its future FlexPack range. This will also help to significantly reduce the use of unsustainable materials that are harmful to the environment.

According to the Koehler Paper Group, flexible packaging in the form of paper-based packaging solutions is sustainable and eco-friendly, as demanded by more and more consumers, for example when it comes to food packaging at the supermarket.

"In this segment, it’s customer requirements that shape the market," said Dr. Stefan Karrer, CTO, describing the current situation. "The trend is moving toward sustainable packaging made from renewable raw materials. Koehler has accepted this challenge and, with its technology, will assume a clear pioneering role that will be hard to beat internationally."

Through the extensive preparations, a Koehler team of experts has already been established. Much of the machine construction planning and even the initial planning with brand manufacturers and converters has already been completed. "In the weeks and months to come, we’ll expand these meetings with brand manufacturers, trading companies, and converters, and together develop new, eco-friendlier packaging," Dr. Karrer added.

Koehler FlexPack will hit the market in less than two years. What makes the new system so unique is that it will allow Koehler to produce, with exceptional flexibility, a variety of functional surfaces based on customers’ requirements. The new machine technology is also suitable for thermal paper, making it possible to satisfy growing demand in this segment too and operate the machinery at high capacity from the first day.