16 B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
Industrial Packaging
November/December 2018
Greif opens new
Russia plant
G
reif recently welcomed more than 200
guests to the official opening of its new
state-of-the-art Russian steel drum
production plant in Vorsino Industrial Park,
Kaluga.
The Kaluga facility is situated 80km southwest of
Moscow and becomes the ninth production facility
in Russia.
Steel drum production has already started with an
IBC line to be launched in 2019.
Greif CEO Pete Watson emphasised the expertise
of the Greif team in Russia and the results achieved
L-r: Michael Cronin, senior vice president & group president, Greif Rigid
Industrial Packaging & Services-EMEA; and Iliya Veselov, Minister of
Economy, Kaluga region
during the past 25 years to attendees, including
Iliya Veselov, Minister of Economy for the Kaluga
region.
Also in attendance were Dmitry Orlov, CEO of
Gazprom Neft-Bitumen Materials, and Nikita
Mikhin, deputy director of Obninskorgsintez, who
represent long-standing partners advocating Greif’s
product quality and customer service excellence.
The new 6,000 sqm facility employs a team of 50
and features an automatic steel drum line with an
annual capacity of two million units. The location
places the plant within the Moscow transport hub
and in close proximity to several key customers
including Gazprom Neft and Obninskorgsintez.
Konstantine Savinov, general manager of Greif
Russia, explained: “We are delighted to open this
latest Greif facility to serve our local customer base
better.
“Delivering greater flexibility, reduced lead times
and lower transport costs is central to our ongoing
continuous improvement plans. The Kaluga plant
will enable us to achieve all of this with existing
partners and build on our position through
introducing new customers.”
Greif is also celebrating 90 years of production at
its Hamburg, Germany facility.
Founded in 1928 by Dutch entrepreneur Bernard
van Leer, the Hamburg plant started out as a
manufacturer of steel drums for the oil industry
and asphalt drums for tar products.
Today it is a specialist producer of large steel
drums and tight head intermediate steel drums for
Greif’s new steel drum production plant in Kaluga
the global oil and lubricants industry,
manufacturing more than one million large steel
drums and 700,000 intermediate steel drums each
year.
The Hamburg plant continues to lead the way in
new product development, designing and
producing steel drums to exacting standards with a
range of specialist features and accreditations.
Ongoing investment in innovation, aligned to a
strong focus on customer service, has enabled the
Hamburg plant to excel during its 90 year history.
Commenting on reaching the milestone, business
unit manager Patrick Mullaney said: “We are
immensely proud to have reached such a
significant achievement. Over the years the
business has risen to the challenges and thanks to
ongoing investment from the group and the
expertise of our talented team, we have become
the successful business we are today. The business
has a really strong team spirit and is committed to
attracting and retaining talented individuals. We
have employees that have been with us for 40
years and I am delighted to add that we continue
to attract the very best people and talent.”
www.greif.com
Greif Hamburg is celebrating 90 years of operations
dǁŝŶŇĞdžŝďůĞƐĐƌĞǁĐŽŶǀĞLJŽƌ
N
7DSHOLQHV /RRPV
\HDUVRIH[FHOOHQFH
ew from Flexicon is a Twin BEV-CON
Flexible Screw Conveyor system with a
common hopper and mobile base constructed
and finished to sanitary standards.
Ready to plug-in and run, the self-contained
system can fill two vessels with the same material
simultaneously. Mounted on a frame with locking
castors for in-plant mobility, it can be used in
multiple locations, and rolled to a wash-down
booth.
The hopper is equipped with dual discharge
adapters, each of which charges a BEV-CON
flexible screw engineered to move free- and non-
free-flowing bulk materials that pack, cake, smear,
fluidise, compress, or are otherwise problematic to
convey.
As material is conveyed, rotation of the screws
causes them to self-centre in the polymer
conveyor tubes, eliminating or minimising contact
with the tube wall, preserving material integrity.
The rolling action of material also prevents the
separation of blended products comprised of
disparate sizes, shapes and bulk densities.
The screws are the only moving parts contacting
material, and are driven beyond the point at
which material is discharged, eliminating wear
and contamination related to product contacting
seals and bearings.
Discharge housings of the conveyors are
supported by dual booms cantilevered from the
mobile base, allowing discharge of material into
processing equipment or storage vessels up to
3.5m above the plant floor.
The hopper has a capacity of 550 litres, and is
designed with a steep back wall and diametrically
opposed side walls skewed to form a trapezoidal
area, the divergent angles causing non-free-
flowing material to topple into the conveyor
charging adapters.
The unit is constructed of 316 stainless steel,
and features sanitary quick-release clean out caps,
quick-disconnect discharge box access covers,
wash-down motors, and a stainless control panel
with stainless conduit and liquid-tight
compression fittings that permit wash down
during changeovers and/or when conveying of
corrosive materials. HMI controls allow manual
and automatic start/stop and speed adjustment.
www.flexicon.co.uk
Flexicon’s Twin BEV-CON Flexible Screw Conveyor system with common
hopper and mobile base transfers difficult-to-convey materials and
blends at multiple plant locations