Founded in 1976 in Austria, the Wittmann Group is the leading manufacturer of robots and peripheral equipment for the plastics industry.
WITTMANN BATTENFELD is one of the biggest names in the plastics industry around the world. Which elements have enabled it to gain a firm foothold in the industry?
Since its foundation, the Wittmann Group has always stood at the forefront of development in the plastics market, with the aim of providing the very best solutions for the benefit of plastic transformers.
With this aim in mind, throughout its history Wittmann has expanded its catalogue by incorporating the different devices involved in the injection process into its portfolio.
In 2008 a key milestone was reached in this process with the acquisition of Battenfeld, a leading manufacturer of injection machines. This merger enabled Wittmann to begin offering complete injection cells under a single brand name, thus fulfilling founder Dr Werner Wittmann’s vision of offering a comprehensive solution with a single supplier.
The group’s range of products currently includes injection machines, temperature controllers, refrigerators, flow regulators, robots, automation systems, transport systems, material dehumidifiers and dosing devices and mills.
How is your company coping with the current uncertain situation at home and abroad?
Despite the current economic, geo-political and climatic uncertainty, we’re facing the future with optimism and a firm environmental commitment.
This is why we’re developing our technologies in accordance with the principles of environmental protection, resource conservation and the circular economy, focusing on achieving the best energy ratios for each of our products.
Wittmann is firmly committed to reducing its carbon footprint, taking care of every detail of its manufacturing processes to achieve optimal results in terms of quality and efficiency.
In this regard, WITTMANN arrived in Spain in 1992, a legendary year for the country. What’s the balance of your operations in the domestic market?
Wittmann has undergone constant growth within the Group and in the domestic market. We’ve accommodated an increasingly large range of products and taken on projects together with all the customers who’ve formed part of this development. In fact, without all our colleagues and partners, Wittmann wouldn’t have the size and recognition it enjoys today, and we therefore appreciate their trust.
The balance is definitely highly positive; we currently have an excellent structure as a national subsidiary made up of a human team with outstanding experts, as well as Wittmann’s multinational support, which enables us to deal with a wide array of applications with all our customers.
WITTMANN is historically one of the major exhibitors at Equiplast. What do you expect to achieve at the 2023 fair?
As we saw at K22, normality has been completely restored at trade fairs, with results more in keeping with those recorded before the pandemic. The Equiplast fair is therefore very important for us. After several years, it’s become the perfect setting to showcase the innovations and trends in the industry, our latest developments and the quality of our entire portfolio to our customers.
This year Wittmann will attend under the new motto and corporate design “It’s all WITTMANN”, which will reinforce the comprehensive vision of our range of products as a production cell and sole supplier.
We’re looking forward to your visit during the fair, with the occasional surprise that’s sure to impress you.
What innovations do you plan to showcase at the fair?
In recent times Wittmann has remained faithful to its innovative nature with a series of developments for its products and processes and continuous improvements of its current ranges.
First of all, there’s the new series of R9 and WX robots that will definitively replace the well-known R8 range this year. This restyling of the control of the robot and the design of some of its elements embarked on its journey on the market in recent years with excellent results. The launch of the new SONIC high-speed robot, capable of working with highly demanding cycle times, has also been very positive.
As for Wittmann’s peripherals, there are numerous innovations, including the new M8 central control to manage all the components forming part of its centralised material transport and drying facilities with a high degree of versatility and amplitude, the CARD range of compressed-air dehumidifiers for low consumption attached to the machine, the new temperature controllers such as the Tempro Plus D120, the WFC 120 flow regulator and the new 9 and 13 mills to complement the Gmax range.
Lastly, with respect to the machines, the new corporate design of Wittmann’s machine ranges will be presented for the first time this year at Equiplast. This change in the exterior design, which aligns them with Wittmann’s corporate colour, falls within the new comprehensive vision of the group’s products, brought together u”der the motto “It’s all WITTMANN”.
Of course, we’ll come loaded with technology, such as multi-component machines, LSR liquid silicone injection, the circular economy, Xpress machines and lots more equipment.
