THE NEW INDEPENDENCE OF THE GERMAN CORRUGATOR

building of large-sized corrugators. Last PE and PVC to specifically engineered ones

After a successful transition following a management buy-out, this leading German supplier of year, the sale of their 30th large corrugating such as nylons or high temperature mate-
corrugated pipe equipment and fittings is relying on the technical reliability and innovativeness of machine was celebrated. Today, with more rials like PFA. The company holds patents in
than 600 UNICOR corrugator lines running the field of corrugator and die head tech-
its products to strengthen its presence in markets east and west. Oscar Del Santo reports. worldwide, the company claims to have nology. “Our machines have set new interna-

“N
ot only are we now in a better posi-
tion to react to the fast-changing
market in which we operate, but it
also feels as if we were running our own
business. We are enjoying our newly gained
autonomy.” This is how Ralf Mittermüller,
UNICOR’s general sales manager and
member of the board, describes the positive
impact that the recent management buy-out
(MBO) from its parent, the Finnish pipe
processor Uponor – an operation financially
backed by the investment group NORD
Holding – has had on this leading German
supplier of high quality corrugators. Based in
the town of Hassfurt, UNICOR has a work-
force of 120 employees and generates
annual sales revenue of about €25 million.
“The MBO has not meant a change of focus,
since we intend to continue concentrating
on the production and design of pipe corru-
gators,” Mr Mittermüller clarifies.
As a leading supplier of high quality cor-
rugators and a leader in water-cooled cor-
rugator technology, UNICOR (which is short
for ‘Universal Corrugator’) designs, builds
and sells corrugators and downstream
equipment internationally to clients in the
automotive, civil engineering and medical
fields. More than 80 per cent of sales are
accounted for by exports. UNICOR initially
grew quickly thanks to their patent for
shuttle technology, which greatly facilitated
the production of large-sized corrugated
pipes, and the building of their own machine
shop in 1989. Their facilities in Hassfurt
were later to be extended to allow the
evolved “from a mechanical engineer to a
technology supplier”.
Corrugators are technically complex
machines that produce corrugated plastic
pipes. UNICOR’s machines are capable of
producing single -, double – or triple-wall
pipes for a variety of applications with diam-
eters ranging from 3mm to 2.4 m. In its 21
year history the company has accumulated
unprecedented know-how and technical
expertise in many of the extrusion materials
used in corrugated piping, from standard PP,
tional standards,” Mr Mittermüller confirms.
UNICOR has also developed the Unidrip
lay-flat type production unit. Unidrip is an
efficient water-saving agricultural irrigation
system with constant drip performance that,
thanks to its technical features, can be utilised
even with water of low quality. It stands out
as an easy-to-lay and reliable irrigation system
that is far superior to the more traditional
sprinkler systems and it can be used in a
variety of settings, from the open field to
the greenhouse.

34 Industry Europe Industry Europe 35


The UC100: A quantum leap
The recently developed UC100 repre-
sented a technological quantum leap for
UNICOR, and it attracted unprecedented
interest and praise from technical experts
both in its in-house presentation and also at
a later display at the K 2004 technical fair.
UNICOR corrugators are renowned for the
horizontal orientation of the mould train,
allowing tight inlet radii resulting in short die
tooling, low back pressure and high output.
But the UC100 went several steps fur-
ther: “We can rightly claim that it belongs to
a new and innovative generation, and it
underpins our claim to world market leader-
ship.” Mr Mittermüller’s assertion seems
justified in the face of the many innovations
that the UC100 includes. It is designed for
the production of corrugated single- and
36 Industry Europe
double-wall pipe for diameters between 16
and 125mm. Unlike previous machines, the
production quantity can be increased by 45
per cent without losing product quality. This
represents a production speed of 22
metres per minute compared to the stan-
dard speed of 15 metres per minute.
Such performance was not achieved
before overcoming some previously
seemingly insurmountable technical
hitches: six patents were filed as a result
of the improvements brought about by
the UC100. One of the more salient fea-
tures is the 90 mould block pairs, thanks
to which a changeover of diameter in pro-
duction is now easily carried out in less
than 10 minutes. Centrifugal force is
reduced thanks to the new geometry with
which the inlet and outlet curves have
been designed.
But experts agree that the most innova-
tive feature of the UC100 is its so-called
‘pneumatic muscle’ that keeps the ten-
sion of the mould block chain constant
and compensates for the thermal expan-
sion of the mould blocks. If we add to the
mix the new corrugator curve geometry at
the opening and the end of the middle
channel that results in an accelerating
curve that avoids vibration and wear, we
can appreciate the true innovative value of
the UC100 in its own right.
International vocation
UNICOR has an international vocation, as
is shown by its active participation in fairs
all over the world. The company is espe-
cially active in South East Asia where
many developing countries are relying on
European and American exports to bol-
ster their plastic-manufacturing machinery
capabilities, since the necessary machinery
is not always available locally. “In this
respect, we are aided by the reputation
that German machinery enjoys worldwide
for its technical reliability,” Mr Mittermüller
points out. The quality of German tech-
nology, the driving force behind the
nation’s remarkable rebound after World
War II, is often one of the best calling cards
in new far-away markets. “Our corrugators
are German born and bred, and this helps
their penetration in countries where this
reputation for technical excellence has pre-
ceded us.” A case that springs to mind is
Thailand where UNICOR GmbH corruga-
tors are present alongside fellow German
Motan’s plastics material handling equip-
ment or Pallmann’s pipe shredder machines.
UNICOR is hoping to make an impact in
the challenging North American market,
where it is represented by ProfilePipe
Machinery Inc. The potential of corruga-
tors is increasingly being accepted in the
US thanks – among other factors – to the
so-called ‘vac forming’, given the benefits
of moulding separate hollow parts on a
pipe corrugator (as opposed to blow
moulding) for making precise medical and
Ralf Mittermüller, Unicor’s
general sales manager
automotive parts. Using special tooling on
a pipe corrugator, it is possible to continu-
ously extrude a chain of hollow parts to be
subsequently cut apart.
Expert trials confirm that corrugator
forming of automotive, appliance and med-
ical parts gets on average 40 per cent more
output than a blow moulder of the same
size. The process is similar to the way
corrugated pipe sections are made with a
bell moulded on one end, with the corrugator
forming of parts offering distinct advantages
over blow moulding: much faster start-up
time, almost no flash generated and much
more even wall distribution since parts are
vacuum formed and not inflated.
UNICOR dual-strand corrugators, which
can greatly increase output, are good news
for the American automotive industry, since
they can produce a family of parts of different
lengths for automotive wire harnesses.
There are also opportunities in down-
stream equipment, which explains why,
five years ago, UNICOR broke new ground
with the development of the only corru-
gator – the UC 58 – intended specifically
for technical parts (ranging from appliances
to automobiles, control and computer cables,
etc). Users can easily change the length of
the mould track to hold from 40 to 90 small
blocks and closed chain length varies
between 525 and 1900mm. As with other
European corrugators, it uses water-cooled
moulds, while North American ones are
typically air-cooled.
Gaining ground
Mr Mittermüller believes that, in spite of fierce
competition, UNICOR corrugators will slowly
but surely gain ground in the US and else-
where, thanks to the improved technology
that is “more practical, easier to learn and
easier to handle.” He is particularly encour-
aged by the inroads UNICOR is making in the
rapidly expanding Chinese market, “where
there is a huge market potential for us.”
UNICOR has participated in several spe-
cialist technical fairs in the Far East giant –
ChinaPlas being the most recent example
– and is becoming firmly established in its
sector (so much so that, as Mr Mittermüller
complains, they are being copied!).
The company headed by Klaus Kaufmann
has, according to its general sales manager,
a very promising future. This is perhaps not
surprising because, as our shrewd business
readers will know, MBOs seldom happen
unless the management believes two funda-
mental things: that they can run the com-
pany better than the existing owners and
that their investment is justified by good
commercial prospects. “After the MBO and
the regained control of our destiny, we can
envisage a future full of possibilities. We are
filing new patents and carefully considering
new openings for our products. We are very
open-minded and are trying to read the
signs from the different major world zones
where we operate. All in all we are enthused
by how things have turned out in this new
era for UNICOR.” ■
Industry Europe 37