Leading sports goods manufacturer selects Krauss Maffei Extruder
for their product development

Krauss Maffei Extrusion of Munich Germany, a world leader in plastics machinery has supplied Framas Kunststofftechnik GmbH, with a ZE 2.5 A UTXi twin screw extruder which will assist with their product development in their sports shoes range, such as weight reduction and enhancing stability and improving damping properties.

Framas are among the leading suppliers of plastics components for the sports footwear industry worldwide. They use plastic components to produce lasts, soles and bootlegs for sport shoe manufacturers such as Adidas, Nike, Puma and Reebok. Framas realised there is a correlation between the use of plastic within sports shoes and the maximum level of comfort and functionality that the sports shoes could supply the user, as opposed to the traditional use of wood for shoe production. They have around 400 single component and multi-component injection moulding machines in their manufacturing facilities throughout the world.

The Framas Product Development Group chose a Krauss Maffei ZE A series extruder for the development of these special compounds. The special UTX version supplied achieves screw speeds of up to 1,200 rpm, which is the ideal solution for compounding and with a processing section length of 42 D, additives can be injected at any position along the barrel and the melt can be optionally degassed, offering maximum flexibility. The extruder is equipped with a drive unit in Ultra-Glide, which allows for the screws to be removed, even during the melt process, so that the melt quality can be evaluated.

With this investment Framas continue to lead in the development of specialized sports footwear components ensuring their customers can provide the correct customized product solution for each unique sports requirement.