Cloeren invests in making wider dies. (In Brief).

Cloeren Incorporated of Orange, Texas, is investing $5 million to up its manufacturing capacity for extrusion dies. It's buying three new five-axis CNC machining centers, including one with a capacity of 15 meters or 590 in. "This new machining center provides Cloeren with the largest in-house width capacity in the global extrusion-die market," says president Peter Cloeren, Jr. "We have seen a trend toward wider dies, particularly for cast film. We have delivered multiple dies more than 5 meters wide and one 6-meter die over the past 12 months. We have had inquiries for dies up to 7.5 meters wide."

A new dual spindle machine will address growing demand for internally deckled dies. "It gives us the capacity to manufacture internal deckle blades to unprecedented accuracy," says Cloeren.