Reifenhäuser Group acquires air ring cooling specialist Kdesign

As of April 2021, Reifenhäuser has acquired a majority stake in Kdesign GmbH, a global leader in the manufacture of air cooling rings and measuring systems for blown film extrusion lines. With this purchase Reifenhäuser Group, a specialist in extrusion technologies, expands its in-house expertise in cooling, controlling, measuring and calibrating blown film and will give its customers in this segment an even clearer competitive edge in the future.

Kdesign remains an independent company within the Reifenhäuser Group and its business and customer relationships will continue unchanged. Joachim Lange and Richard Zimmermann continue to head the company as managing directors.

This will give customers in North America the opportunity to not only get the latest in cooling technology for their new lines but for all manufacturers lines they may have that may be in need for an upgrade. In conjunction with our Reiloy division for screws and barrels and now with cooling rings to auto-profile control systems and bubble stabilizing cage upgrades, Reifenhauser is now your one stop shop to upgrade your existing lines.

Reifenhäuser CEO Bernd Reifenhäuser looks forward to the value opportunities for both companies and the customer benefits resulting from the close association of the two specialists: “In the blown film production process, cooling and controlling have a decisive impact on the quality of the end product. Our colleagues at Kdesign already offer the best technology on the market for this, which we are now bringing together with our extrusion technology. Customers will benefit from the ideal pairing of cooling expertise and specialist knowledge in hot parts. From now on, we can perfectly harmonize our products for optimum performance and together we can develop technologies more quickly.”

Current Kdesign customers will also benefit. As a member of the Reifenhäuser Group, Kdesign now has access to a large international service network and the world’s largest privately run research and development center for plastics extrusion. Richard Zimmermann, managing director of Kdesign, says: “We will be able to be closer to our customers in the future and have better development opportunities. Our location is just 20 minutes away from Reifenhäuser’s headquarters. We are looking forward to working together and having a close personal exchange.“