Braun reorganizes itself and presents its new B-Tec development

»1 A die fabricated in B-Tec design…

»2 …and the brick extruded with it

After a period of restruc-turing under its own management, Ziegelmundstückbau Braun GmbH has reorganized itself. The business is now managed by Christian Rank and the restructuring expert, Christian Kunz. Horst Rank, the managing shareholder for many years, has retired from the operating side of the business. The organizational realignment has given Braun the financial headroom to create developments for the future and optimize its operating procedures. In the process, the management has paid attention to retaining its enormous expertise in designing and manufacturing dies and retaining the level of service that its customers in the ceramics industry have become used to.

As a leading European manufacturer of extrusion dies, the name of Braun continues to stand for service, technical innovations and high product quality. Braun would like to take these skills one step further and develop innovations for the future in cooperation with its customers.

B-Tec

One example of such a successful innovation is the new development B-Tec. This design was first presented at the 2012 Würzburg Brick and Tile Course (“Würzburger Ziegellehrgang 2012”) by Robert Hussenether. In this design, all the components of the core bar and the die fixing plate are fabricated with automatic CNC machines and all parts can be replaced individually. This allows the precision manufacture of complex and delicate perforations and extrusion geometries.

Since the launch of B-Tec, 21 complete dies of this design with a very wide range of perforation patterns and extrusion geometries have been successfully put into operation by leading brickmakers. Readjustments and fine-tuning that sometimes need to be carried out in line with the specific conditions of the extrusion process can be performed quickly and efficiently on site. By allowing replacement of individual core holders, it is possible to adjust the push at any point of the form which ensures constant compaction of the clay during extrusion. For the core bar design with individual core bridges it is possible to change or install different core bridges for the same hole pattern and different wall thicknesses. Simultaneously, the cores have been optimized in order to improve the flow properties. This system also allows the use of new kinds of materials.

Existing dies can be modified to work with B-Tec technology. However, the long-standing and reliable design of using welded core bars and liners will remain still an important part of Braun‘s product portfolio and will be developed further in future.

A team of experienced technical consultants is on hand to assist customers with any queries.