cnx_vinyl/docs/equipment/pressing-line.md

Pressing Line: Equipment Plan

Current plan: an all-Newbilt fleet of five presses (October 2026)

Two Newbilt Duplex systems, each with two HRP 12 presses fed by an EX 50 main extruder with an EX 35 auxiliary extruder beside it for a second colour, plus one Newbilt Classic fully automatic press. The whole fleet runs from one shared hydraulic supply and one shared compressed-air supply (October 2026):

	Presses	Extruders	Hydraulics and air
Duplex system 1	2 semi-automatic	EX 50 main + EX 35 colour	shared central supply
Duplex system 2	2 semi-automatic	EX 50 main + EX 35 colour	shared central supply
Classic	1 fully automatic	built in	shared central supply (to confirm with Newbilt)
Fleet	5: 4 semi-automatic, 1 automatic	2 EX 50, 2 EX 35, 1 built in	one hydraulic plant, one air plant

This replaces the earlier target of a 50/50 split between automated and semi-automatic presses (two of each, with the Pheenix AD12 as the automated candidate). What it means:

• The semi-automatic side carries most of the volume. Splatter and other colour effects, special editions and small runs are where an operator working the mould is an advantage rather than a cost, and Newbilt itself recommends the Duplex for splatter, and the EX 35 on each system adds the second colour strand for splatter, marble and half-and-half work, which is what the flyer offers it for. The Classic takes the long standard runs.

• One vendor, one mould family. Classic and Duplex share insert sets (below), so the whole fleet runs one family of moulds and spares and one service relationship. The single-vendor risk is the same one the Pheenix path would have carried.

• Phasing. The Newbilt Single 2.1 system of the 2024 quote (one press, one extruder) is the launch configuration and the first half of Duplex system 1: its hydraulic aggregate is already sized for the second press. The second press and the EX 35 complete system 1; system 2 and the Classic complete the fleet (scale capacity table, roadmap item 24). The press fleet calculator works out the mix of Duplex systems and Classics for a target output and specials share, with the utilities from Newbilt's site requirements; the Classic counts there as one HRP 12 press plus one extruder until Newbilt states its figures.

• One shared hydraulic and air supply. A central hydraulic plant (pumps, tank, accumulators) and one compressed-air plant feed every press through ring mains, instead of a hydraulic unit per system. It means one plant room to maintain and one place for noise and heat, and it makes adding presses a matter of tapping the ring main. In the Payap scenario model it is a plant room at the west end of the press hall, with a service trench along the press rows. Open for the re-quote (below): whether the Single 2.1's own aggregate becomes part of the central plant or a standby, and whether the Classic can run from it.

• Cell layout (October 2026). Each Duplex system is one operator's cell, as sketched in duplex-cell-layout-sketch.png (arrangement only, not to scale):

  • the operator stands in the middle, with the two presses either side turned 45° towards him;
  • the EX 50 and the EX 35 stand side by side behind him, between the presses;
  • one trimmer per cell stands in front of him on the left.

  At Newbilt's sizes (site requirements p. 10: press footprint about 0.9 m², extruder about 0.5 m², room to walk around every machine, at least 60 cm to walls) the cell is about 5 × 3 m, with 0.6 to 0.8 m between machines. The EX 35 and trimmer footprints are not published, so those are estimates. The Payap scenario model draws both systems this way.

• Room to grow: possibly ten more Classics. The plant may add up to ten more Newbilt Classics at some point. This is an option, not part of the plan or the investment: the layout keeps floor for it (ten Classic positions in the Payap scenario model), and the central hydraulic and air plant should be sized or extendable for it. At Newbilt's per-press figures, fifteen presses would draw ~2.3 to 2.7 t/h of steam and up to ~1.9 MW of cooling, so boiler, chiller and grid connection would be a phase of their own (scale).

• Capacity at maturity stays at ~1.0 to 1.5 million records a year on two shifts, the range the revenue model uses: four semi-automatic presses at 60 to 80 records an hour (estimate) and the Classic at ~128 an hour (28 s cycle, vendor figure).

• Utilities, re-based for this fleet (October 2026). At Newbilt's per-machine figures (steam 150 to 180 kg/h, cooling up to 125 kW per press) the five presses draw ~750 to 900 kg/h of steam and up to ~650 kW of cooling with extruders and hydraulics, against the ~400 kg/h steam generator and ~250 kW cooling system that the 2024 quote's exclusions describe for one Duplex. The proposal is a bank of two 500 kg/h boilers and three 250 kW chillers, one module per press stage; the layout, the operating cases and the open RFQ questions are in steam and cooling, the electrical consequences in scale and the costs in the utilities CSV.

• Investment: the fleet change is carried in the added-scope table of total investment until the next re-base.

• For the re-quote (roadmap item 4): the Duplex with an EX 50 and an EX 35 as an upgrade of the Single 2.1 and as a second complete system, and whether the EX 50 is the VEX 50 of the 2024 quote; whether one EX 50 keeps both presses of a system at full rate (the flyer's Duplex main configuration runs two presses on one extruder); the Classic's price, weight, power, steam and cooling figures; and the central hydraulic supply (an option the flyer offers) for the whole fleet, extendable to ten more Classics, including whether the Classic can run from it.

The Pheenix AD12 leaves the plan; it stays in the vendor landscape as the comparison if the Classic re-quote disappoints, and Pheenix stays a galvanics candidate (galvanics and stamper prep).

Semi-automatic line: Newbilt

The core semi-automatic machinery under evaluation comes from Newbilt machinery GmbH (Alsdorf, Germany):

• Newbilt Single 2.1 system: one VEX 50 extruder feeding one HRP 12 hydraulic press (~150 t press force), pressing 12" records at 140 or 180 g with a Newbilt book mold set. A Vario trimmer handles 12" cuttings, with a 7"/10" upgrade path.
• Duplex upgrade path: the hydraulic aggregate is already sized for a second press, and an additional press and extruder are quoted options, so the plant can scale from Single to Duplex without replacing infrastructure.
• Supporting equipment: label dry oven, shrink wrapper, PVC grinder (scrap feeds back as the ~20% recycled share of the feedstock), 7" center label punch, buffer spindles and separator plates.

The June 2024 Newbilt quotation totals EUR 200,500 (about USD 232k / 7.7M THB at August 2026 rates), including freight from Alsdorf to Thailand and seaworthy packaging. Two major utility systems are deliberately excluded and will be sourced and installed locally in Thailand: a ~400 kg/h steam generator (with water treatment) and a ~250 kW cooling water system. The quotation has passed its validity date and will need re-confirmation before ordering.

Newbilt range: Making Vinyl Europe 2026 flyers

Collected at the Newbilt booth in Haarlem (30 September to 2 October 2026); the PDFs are in newbilt/flyers-2026/. Figures are vendor-published, not quoted.

Machine	What it is	Flyer figures
Classic	Fully automatic press: hydraulic 3-column frame based on the Toolex Alpha, built-in extruder, automatic cake loading, label feed, record loading and unloading, cooling-plate handling and spindle stacking	12" at 110, 140, 160 and 180 g, 7" in development; 28 s cycle at 180 g, claimed ≥95 % yield and ≥95 % uptime (2024 flyer); steam temperature, cooling-water temperature and flow monitored; cooling by time or by delivered water volume, adjusted automatically as the cooling water warms up; Siemens safety PLC, cycle and trend recording, SCADA interface with OPC UA (2024 flyer)
Duplex	Semi-automatic system in three configurations: Single (1 press, 1 extruder), Duplex main (2 presses, 1 extruder), Duplex with two extruders (2 presses, 2 extruders run as one system with shared control and one hydraulic unit)	12", 10" and 7"; solid colours, splatter, marble, half and half, picture discs; hydraulic unit normally supplied, or an external central supply shared by several systems
EX 35	Auxiliary extruder beside the main one, for a second or third colour	35 mm PVC screw, 3 heating zones, 2 fans, frequency-controlled screw speed, PVC strand output, touchscreen HMI, prepared for Newbilt online support
Edge Trimmer	Trims the pressed record to its final diameter	Hardened heated blade with adjustable temperature; 7", 10" and 12" with one trimming plate per size (sold separately); standalone, or wired and piped to the Newbilt extruder and then part of the Duplex/Single emergency-stop circuit
Granulator 400	Grinds edge trim and label-free records into regrind	200 to 250 kg/h, 7.5 kW, crushing chamber 410 × 270 mm, 12 rotor knives, 8 mm screen, 800 kg; cyclone collection with stainless contact surfaces, dust bags and outlet magnet, about 100 kg storage
Label Punch	Removes the label area so rejected records can be granulated	106 mm punch for 7", 10" and 12"; manual loading, then automatic transport, punching and collection; optional dinker for 7"

What this changes in the plan:

• Classic and Duplex share inserts. Insert sets move between the two machines, so the current all-Newbilt fleet (Duplex systems for the semi-automatic side, the Classic for the automated press) runs one mould family. Newbilt itself recommends the Duplex for splatter, which is why the semi-automatic side carries most of the fleet. The Pheenix AD12 stays the comparison for the Classic.

• Regrind loop. The granulator flyer puts edge trim at about 20 to 40 g per 12" 180 g record, 11 to 22 % of the record's mass, which brackets the ~20 % recycled share in the process schematic. Rejected records go through the Label Punch first; trim goes into the granulator directly. A Classic at 28 s makes about 128 records/h, so roughly 2.5 to 5 kg/h of trim per press (estimate): one Granulator 400 at 200 to 250 kg/h runs in short batches, not continuously.

• Compound storage (October 2026). Special designs will run in tens of colours, so the compound store is sized for them:

  • a colour store with pallet racking next to the regrind and conveying room: about 100 pallet positions on four levels in the Payap scenario model (estimate);
  • a few outdoor silos (proposed) for black and the standard colours, filled from big bags or by bulk truck and conveyed to the extruders.

  Compound is the heaviest material in the plant (~160 to 270 t a year at the mature fleet: 1.0 to 1.5 million records at roughly 160 to 180 g each with trim), so it stays on the ground floor. The compound suppliers' answer on 25 kg sacks versus big bags (Making Vinyl briefing) decides how the silos are filled.

• Hydraulics. One central hydraulic supply for several systems is an option on the flyer and is now the plan, together with one shared compressed-air supply (see "Current plan" above); it changes the machine-floor layout and the utility list in scale.md.

• Colour effects. The EX 35 is the add-on for multi-colour work on the semi-automatic side. It is not in the 2024 quote; the current plan has one per Duplex system.

• For the re-quote, where sources disagree: the Classic's operator panel (two 21" touchscreens in the 2024 flyer, one 10" on the Newbilt website); its built-in extruder power (7.5 kW, 400 V drive motor in the 2024 flyer, 15 kW in this repo's earlier notes, source not recorded); 10" on the Classic (in the 2024 flyer and on the website, not in the 2026 flyer); and whether the Edge Trimmer is the Vario trimmer of the 2024 quote.

• Stamper fit. Ask both press vendors which stamper centre hole and edge form their moulds expect: the Sibert VSP punches Ø25.4 mm as standard and the VSC coiner needs tooling per mould type (see galvanics and stamper prep).

Site requirements

Site planning for the semi-automatic line works from Newbilt's Duplex requirements: roughly 200 m² of production floor, 32 kVA connected electrical load, saturated steam at 10 bar, and compressed air and cooling water circuits, plus side rooms for materials, compressor, chiller, and finished goods. These are per Duplex system: the current fleet needs two, plus floor for the Classic (~400 m², plus ~50 to 75 m² for the Classic, estimate). The machines themselves are small: a press is about 0.9 m², an extruder about 0.5 m², and the hydraulic aggregate about 1.0 m², which Newbilt prefers outside the pressing room; the minimum room height is 2.5 m. Most of the 200 m² is walking, handling and side-room space. The layout drawing that page 11 of the site requirements refers to is not in our copy; ask for it with the re-quote.

Floor loading is a building-selection criterion: the slab must carry multiple tons per m² in the machine areas. A Newbilt press weighs 1,350 kg on a footprint under 1 m², and the boiler, chiller, hydraulic aggregate, battery stack, and stacked material storage all concentrate weight the same way. The floor must also be flat but not slippery (machine levelling pads need grip) and resistant to the solvents used in production. Dynamic loads from press cycles come on top of the static figures, so the structural engineer gets the vendor data sheets, not just the totals.

Source documents live in newbilt/: the budgetary offer, the Duplex site requirements, the process schematic, the service rate card, and the 2026 product flyers in newbilt/flyers-2026/.