Ginegar Plastics, a manufacturer of horticultural plastic films, recently installed a new machine in their factory in Israel. The new machine is already producing Ginegar's five-layer film, but it's able to do so at a faster rate than Ginegar's existing machines. “This is a machine that's top of the line,” said Ginegar's Rottem Cohen. “It has a capacity of 2.3 tons per hour, and it can make film that's up to 17 meters wide.” The machine was installed in October of last year, and though it's producing the same five-layer film that Ginegar pioneered, it can churn out a higher volume of product and is more accurate than their existing machines.
“The new machine has better capacity, so the volume it can produce is much higher,” said Rottem. “It's also faster and the quality is better – it's just wonderful.” Rottem noted that five-layer film is typically stronger and has more benefits than film with fewer layers, and the new machine is an upgrade because, in addition to more output, it's more accurate in the way it infuses film with additives requested by growers.
The capital upgrade was made necessary because of the strong demand for Ginegar's film. Rottem noted that Ginegar produces 100,000 tons of film a year, and it's become an almost annual thing for them to install a new machine to keep up with consumer requests. They also purchased a manufacturer of netting in order to provide more of what their customers want.
“We have to install a new machine almost every year,” said Rottem. “Demand is so high, so we just have to follow the market.”