On September 23 and 24, 2015 American Starlinger-Sahm, Inc. celebrated the official opening of the new US headquarters in Fountain Inn in the Greenville Metropolitan Area, South Carolina, during a two-day Open House with an Austrian touch. The inauguration ceremony of the new 23,000 sq.ft. facility was held on the evening of September 23 and attended by the mayor of Fountain Inn, Gary Long, as well as the Director of Fountain Inn Administration Eddie Case, Garry Smith, member of the South Carolina State House of Representatives, and important players in the US plastics and recycling industries. Chantal Fryer, who is Director of Recycling Market Development with the South Carolina Department of Commerce, spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony and during the open house. In total, around 140 customers from more than 65 companies from the US, Canada, Mexico, and South America were in attendance and celebrated with American Starlinger-Sahm.
North America: A market with great potential
Angelika Huemer, Managing Partner of the parent company Starlinger & Co. GmbH., emphasized the importance of the North American market for the Austrian-based supplier of woven packaging production equipment and plastics recycling and refining equipment. “In the past years we witnessed a continuous rise in the demand of our machinery on the North American market”, she said. “Our subsidiary Sahm already has a long established presence as a supplier of winding technology to the American textile sector, and with the growing plastics recycling industry Starlinger recycling lines are experiencing strong demand.” Angelika Huemer also sees great potential in the woven plastic packaging sector, especially with the new technology for PET tape fabric the company recently developed. “For Starlinger, the opening of our new headquarters in Fountain Inn is one further step into a promising future on the American market”, she concludes.
Technology trials in the US
Jimmy Cranford, President of American Starlinger-Sahm, Inc., considers the new technical center and show room an important investment. “We can now present the newest technology from Starlinger and Sahm in the United States to our existing and potential customers. This includes the latest innovations in food grade PET sheet production from recycled products, as well as recycling, textile packaging, and Sahm winding technology. During the Open House we already sold a recoSTAR PET 125 HC recycling line as well as a viscoSHEET PET sheet production line that can process up to 100 % rPET; also, a number of trial runs have been booked in the Technical Center.”
The program for the Open House included presentations of the newest technological developments by Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG and the textile packaging, recycling technology and viscotec divisions of Starlinger. In the new showroom visitors could see the latest Sahm winder models, a recoSTAR universal recycling line, and a viscoSHEET PET sheet line in operation.
“This is an unmatchable event and it sends a strong message to not only the American market but to the global market”, said Mark McNeill, president of technology and business development at UNIFI, the fiber and yarn manufacturer based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and producer of the Repreve® recycled yarn. “Though we already have Press Release Page 2/2
four recycling plants from Starlinger we are taking this as an opportunity to explore new technology of the company. The new showroom provides a great possibility to test new technology here in America”.
Deborah Becher, Operations Manager at Becher Plastics, a plastics recycling company located in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley, added, “It is a pleasure to see Starlinger’s expansion and strong presence in America. The customers now have the opportunity to come here to see the demonstration of the machines without travelling every time to Europe, which is really convenient for American customers.” Becher Plastics produces high-quality regranulate from various types of plastic scrap on two Starlinger recycling lines.
“It will positively impact the American market when the potential clients have a chance to see the live demonstration of the technology”, confirmed Mike Hill, Extrusion Engineer at Phifer Incorporated. Phifer is a producer of insect screens, solar control fabrics, drawn wire, engineered products and designed fabrics and uses Sahm winders in the manufacturing of many of its products.
Note: Repreve® is a registered trademark of Unifi, Inc.
