Trotec Provides Consistent Engraving Quality for VDL Wientjes
VDL Wientjes is one of the largest plastics processors in the Netherlands and operate multiple Trotec laser machines to engrave codes, dates and traceability information onto its plastic products.
Trotec Laser regularly visits customers, and the next visit was to VDL Wientjes, where the Trotec team was warmly welcomed. VDL Wientjes is one of the largest plastic processors in the Netherlands, located in Roden, around 10 miles southwest of Groningen.
Reinier Aukema, Engineer at VDL Wientjes in Roden (pictured), made time for a tour of the VDL site and told Trotec about their business and processes for which they use the various Trotec laser machines. This was a unique look behind the scenes at a high-tech company where the sober ‘north’ mentality prevails.
One of the Netherlands largest plastics processors
VDL Wientjes was founded in 1909 and since 2005 has been an independent company within the VDL Group. The company now consists of a team of more than 60 people. VDL Wientjes develops, produces and assembles various plastic products from PE, PP, POM to PMMA and polycarbonate. The operations are carried out with various systems within their machine park, from vacuum forming, CNC milling and turning, to welding and laser engraving.
The core of the activities of VDL Wientjes in Roden is the development and production of plastic products, especially for customers in the medical industry or automotive industry.
“We have many European customers, but we see our products all over the world,” says Reinier Aukema, Engineer at VDL Wientjes Roden.
The Challenge
During the guided tour, Reinier showed three different Trotec laser machines in operation, two Speedy 400 laser machines and one Speedy 100 of no less than 16 years old.
Reinier explains why VDL Wientjes chose laser technology: “We chose laser technology because we were considered due to traceability requirements to laser engrave codes on the plastic parts that we produce. So we mainly use the laser machines for engraving tasks. It includes both textual codes and dates as well as matting plastics.”
The Trotec Solution
Reinier continues: “During the purchasing decision, we chose as the first laser for a Trotec laser machine because we demand consistent engraving quality at high speed. This can be offered by the Trotec laser system.”
VDL Wientjes purchased its first laser engraver from Trotec, and after many years of operation, the same machine continues to operate to a consistently high quality. When VDL looked at expanding the line, they contacted Trotec once again.
“When purchasing the other lasers, the choice became even simpler because we wanted a copy of the first laser in the event of a failure so that the workflow did not have to be adjusted, as we had written our own software for the laser machines. We have an automatic program for every application that the laser user can use.”
“In total, about ten different people work with the laser machines, but through our automated software, the end result is always the same. We hope to be able to run production for a long time with our Trotec laser systems,” says Reinier Aukema.
Check out the ‘Speedy series’ laser engraver and cutter, for formats up to 1016mm x 610mm. For full product details, visit the Trotec website.
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