ADOPTING BEST PRACTICES IN BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION PROCESS: NEED OF THE HOUR TO CONTROL ENVIRONMENTAL BURDENS

摘要

Blown film extrusion is complex process. The practices are varying industry wide. This results in varied consumption of raw material / energy, different throughput and product quality. Succinct analysis of blown film extrusion process using 'fishbone diagram' reveals that, apart technology, production process is the main factor for variability in process outcomes. Hence, benchmarking of extrusion process on global scale can be used for improving the performance. Thus, best performance is set as benchmark for the performance of Indian plastic film manufacturing firms. Best practices pertaining to blown film extrusion process are identified from the literature to achieve the benchmark targets. The best practices are general in nature and while adopting naive process should be considered by the adopting unit. Company level best practices could be developed and practiced to achieve benchmark targets in future. The paper highlights these best practices for comparison with existing practices and suitable changes to have definite improvements in the performance of the unit.