Extrusion is a technique which is used to manufacture plastic products: strips, rails, seals, etc.

An extruder transports and melts plastic through a moulding tool, a nozzle, which determines the shape and thickness of the product. Immediately after this, the product is cooled in water or by air cooling and cut into pre-programmed lengths.

Extrusion is usually a fully automatic process with continuous dimension checks and automatic machine adjustment, which enables the manufacture of products from simple tubes and rods to extremely complex window profiles. Extrusion enables very large products to be manufactured, e.g. pipes with a diameter of up to 150cm.

Most types of plastic can be extruded and it is possible to manufacture using several plastic types in the same production process. This is known as co-extrusion. This technique is for example used to manufacture glazing strips with integrated sealing strips.

The plastic can be extruded around other products, e.g. conducting or stabilising materials. This technique is used to manufacture PRIMO ExtruSwitch.

As an extension of the extrusion process, PRIMO can undertake a variety of forms of finishing work on the plastic products. In-line machining, i.e. machining in connection with extrusion could for example be used for the application of film, the printing of barcodes, bending, etc. Finishing work can also include folding, welding, gluing, etc. See under the menu item 'Finishing work' for more information.