DORNIER at Chinaplas 2026: New film service centre in Huzhou, local clip overhaul and customised line retrofits

At Chinaplas, the leading exhibition for the plastics industry, DORNIER is underlining its long-term commitment to the Chinese film market – the world’s most important location to produce biaxially oriented films such as BOPP and BOPET. To provide even more targeted support to its customers in China in future, the German family-owned company opened a new service centre for film stretching lines in Anji (Huzhou) at the end of September 2025. “The site is located just around 150 kilometres west of Shanghai, close to numerous international film manufacturers and many of our customers,” says Robert Heger, Head of the Film Stretching Lines product line at DORNIER in Shanghai. With the new service centre, the machine and plant manufacturer is significantly reducing travel distances and ensuring faster maintenance, repairs, commissioning and the supply of original spare parts for film manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Clip overhaul directly on site in China
The centrepiece of the new service centre in Huzhou is the specialist workshop for overhauling DORNIER’s patented roller clips. Previously, these had to be sent to the company’s headquarters in Lindau for maintenance, cleaning, repair and optimisation work. “This logistical effort is now completely eliminated,” says Heger. “The shorter transport distances significantly speed up processing and noticeably reduce costs.” To enable DORNIER’s comprehensive roller clip service to be offered locally, the on-site team was trained by experienced DORNIER service engineers from Lindau and Esseratsweiler. “This means that the Huzhou site will in future offer roller clips overhauls to the usual DORNIER standard,” says Heger. DORNIER’s film customers pursue a clear “zero downtime” strategy, as every stoppage costs money. With the new service centre, DORNIER enables film manufacturers in China to integrate overhauls more predictably into their production processes and reduce downtime.

Retrofits for greater energy efficiency and productivity
As DORNIER film stretching lines operate for decades, the modernisation of existing plants is a key competitive factor. At Chinaplas, DORNIER is presenting both tried-and-tested and new retrofit options to boost the energy efficiency and productivity of older plant generations. This also includes modifications to adapt to changing market requirements. Although the focus in China is primarily on packaging films for food and pharmaceutical products, demand for technical films is also growing rapidly. This comes as no surprise: China is a world-leading production hub for e-mobility, electronic components and display panels – and demand for capacitor films and optical films, which are manufactured on DORNIER film stretching lines among other equipment, is correspondingly high. “With tailor-made retrofit solutions, we support our customers in further developing their existing systems technologically and converting them for high-growth application areas,” says Heger.

Composite Systems: New 3D weaving technology TRITOS® FLEX
Alongside its film business, DORNIER is presenting the latest developments in its system solutions for the cost-effective series production of composites at Chinaplas. A key focus is on the new 3D weaving technology TRITOS® FLEX, a further development of the TRITOS® 3D weaving machine (Textile Roving Into Three-dimensionally Oriented Structure). Dr. Josef Klingele, Head of the Composite Systems product line at DORNIER, explains: “This enables companies requiring particular flexibility in the manufacture of 3D structures to make a cost-effective entry into the production of complex 3D fabrics.” Whilst the proven TRITOS® 3D weaving machine is designed for large series and thicknesses of up to 100 millimetres, TRITOS® FLEX allows the production of small and medium-sized series up to 50 millimetres thick. In addition, the machine and plant manufacturer is presenting the latest developments in its PROTOS® (Polymer and Roving to Sheet) production system: From tape production (PROTOS® TP) to the processing of these tapes into fabrics using the tape weaving machine (PROTOS® TW), DORNIER offers end-to-end processes for the manufacture of thermoplastic composites with short cycle times and high recyclability. To pave the way for customers to move into series production of composites, DORNIER has further expanded its technical centre in Esseratsweiler. There, customers can test all the systems from the Composite Systems product line and validate matrix materials and process parameters prior to system specification.