Plastica Alfa

MISSION & VISION Faced with a changing world that rediscovers the value of quality and sustainability in consumption, we have a primary goal: always keep a high level of innovation on materials, products and processes, always giving more space to eco-friendly products that help to achieve energy savings in our areas of application. Thinking Innovation, therefore, constantly seeking the protection of a fundamental resource with water. Intensified efforts in the constant improvement of life and environment, well summed up by our motto "Enjoying innovation": ie the ability to offer our customers the benefits of products designed and built to better tap into the possibilities of smart materials and cross applications of many innovative products of ours. All in the context of a flexible, open, innovative, projected global markets. HOW WE WORK We have been offering high-quality products for 30 years: the Quality and Environment Certificate allowed us to implement a Management System consistent with our philosophy: customer service, constant monitoring of the market requirements, research and development activity, all directed to design and manufacture new products, respecting the environment.. Marketing e project management A careful marketing policy oriented to the global market supports the new products development and the innovation in the traditional segments of our production, while the project management assures a scrupulous division of labour among the technical offices and the production department. Design & Prototipyng It is the most important moment of our production iter. The first phase is the planning: the Technical and the Sales Staff work out the most suitable solutions to answer the market trend. This is made possible through a continuous exchange of information and a deep analysis of the prospects of the market growth in order to supply products in line with the customers' needs and demands. The second phase of the process, the design itself, consists in designing the piece and then simulating its functioning. In order to do this, the company make use of its staff's skill and experience supported by technological resources such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE). Great attention is paid to the European Standards to comply with and the end user is granted a total conformity with them. The third phase is of fundamental importance since it consists in designing and manufacturing the moulds: Plastica Alfa products are all made with moulds designed by our Technical Staff and manufactured in our Workshop where the personal skills are supported by the Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) system. The last phase is related to prototyping: during this phase the technicians verify the conformity of the prototype with the design and the right functioning of the piece through various performance tests. Moulds workshop and production departments Our workshop covers a 1000 m2 area and it is equipped with CNC machining centres, 3 spark erosion machines, 4 automatic and semiautomatic lathes, 3 milling machines, 2 horizontal spindle grinding machines, 2 metal-cutting belt sawing machines. Production In our production departments plastics are transformed using injection moulding machines and extruders. The injection moulding area covers a 4000 m2 area and it is equipped with 34 injection moulding presses of different tonnage, from 90 up to 830 tons continuously processing more than 2400 ton/year raw material. The production cycle can be divided into 4 phases: the first consists in placing the mould on the machine which is fed by the granular raw material; during the second phase, the injection, the raw material becomes fluid and is injected into the mould at high pressure; the third phase is the injection moulding whose duration depends on the structure and typology of the workpiece; the cooling is the last phase: the mould is connected to a cooling system which allows the piece to be cooled before ejection. Finally the knockouts make the mould open and eject the piece. EXtrusion Area The extrusion area covers a 6000 m2 area and consists of different production lines: 6 extrusion lines for polyethylene and polypropylene pipes, 2 lines for corrugated pipes (Bauku) and 1 line for Multilayer pipes (PEX-AL-PEX). The extrusion cycle starts with the feeding process: the raw material is pushed into the extruder at high temperature and pressure. During the extrusion, the raw material takes shape passing through the pipe die; at this stage it needs to be gauged, that is sized within precise tolerance limits. After gauging, the pipe undergoes the cooling and marking phases and finally is cut and stocked Material Testing Laboratory The laboratory is provided with the most up-to-date equipment to test raw materials and finished products: dynamometer - pressurization system including 2 tanks, one thermostatic, and 1 oven - computerized system for the determination of capacity and pressure drop -manual press for test pieces - differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) - pendulum - plastometer (MFI) - analytical balance - fume hood - microscope - Vicat machine The tests carried out in our laboratory are: Tests on raw material: Determination of melt flow index - Determination of density - Determination of melting heat and temperature - Determination of oxidation - induction time (OIT) - Determination of resistance to tensile stress and compression - Determination of resistance to Izod and Charpy impact strength Tests on finished products: Determination of resistance to internal pressure - Determination of resistance to internal under pressure - Determination of pressure drop - Determination of resistance to tensile stress and compression - Determination of Izod and Charpy impact strength - Determination of melt flow index - Determination of density - Determination of melting heat and temperature - Determination of oxidation induction time Assembly and packaging department The assembly and packaging dept. covers a 1.000 m2 area and it is equipped with 3 packaging machines ensuring the correct packaging and storage of our products. The warehouse covers a 10.000 m2 area indoor and 20.000 m2 area outdoor. It is the area intended for the storage of components, finished and semi finished products, including an area for the storage of the goods ready to be dispatched. The computerized management of the warehouse allow us to know immediately the products availability and intervene promptly to keep the minimum stock. Customer care and after-sales service The company places at the customers' disposal the experience of its high-qualified staff able to solve any possible problem occurring during the use of its products, by providing all the technical and commercial information, in the view that the client is a partner of ours. Moreover, our products for hydraulics and thermo-hydraulics are covered by an insurance certificate to protect the end user.