Once again, the K 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, lived up to its claim to be the leading trade show for plastics technology. At least in the field of injection molding, there were exciting global innovations to see – if you looked closely.

Fig. 1. Smart Operation – the machine is operated with only four buttons (© KraussMaffei)

Injection Molding Trends at K 2019

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Schaumspritzgießen

Smart Factory

Energieeffizienz

Mikrospritzgießen

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Spritzgießmaschinen, allgemein

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Spritzgießmaschinen

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Fließpressen

Handling, Handhabungstechnik für die spanende Fertigung

Automatisierungstechnik

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Spritzgießsimulation

Software

Simulation

Elastomer-Spritzgießen

Linearroboter für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrieroboter

Montagetechnik

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrie 4.0

Montage-Spritzgießen

Knickarmroboter

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Hybrid-Spritzgießen (Metall / Kunststoff)

Ressourcenmanagement

Produktion

Technical Excellence thanks  to Digital Assistance

After a year’s forced break of Fakuma, Wittmann Battenfeld is announcing the new servohydraulic SmartPlus machine as the highlight of this year’s trade show. It is claimed to be characterized by high economic and energy efficiency and repeat accuracy.

The new SmartPlus machine is equipped with the HiQ Flow software and the CMS Light condition monitoring system

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

Spritzprägen

Injection Molding Innovations In-House, Live and in Color

Over past months, many in-house workflows and development processes have slowed down and also changed. Nevertheless, time has not stood still, also not in injection molding technology. The debate and development have been shaped by two themes: digitalization and the circular economy. Below are some examples of developments and projects that underpin this trend.

Two displays are seamlessly integrated into the continuously 3D-formed instrument panel

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Steuern, Regeln

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Lasermarkieren

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Inline- / Online-Messsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Kreislaufwirtschaft

There Is More beyond the Horizon

Guido Frohnhaus has been Managing Director Technology & Engineering at Arburg for a good two years now. The pandemic restrictions meant that he has made very few appearances outside the company so far, but, as he says himself, he spent the time getting to know the in-house processes at all levels and in great detail. In this interview with Kunststoffe, the 52-year-old talks about the course he plans to set and how crucial the high level of in-house manufacturing and programming expertise is for the company’s independence.

16:9

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

“Gestica Will Be the Fixed Star in the Customer’s Universe”

In the second part of the series, calculations were carried out on the throughput behaviour, pressure build-up capacity and the melting process on the basis of an exemplary geometry. These results are now to be examined in more detail and subsequently optimized.

Through empirical tests and simulation-supported test series, a screw can be designed in a tailor-made manner for the respective application 

Part 3 of the Series Deals with the Tests to Optimize the Screw Geometry

All about Plasticizing Screws

A year to forget is nearing its completion. To brighten up this dreary fall season without a major event like Fakuma, injection molding machine builders have concocted various strategies.

Fig. 1. Ingrinder system solution: the sprue picker guides the removed sprue via vacuum conveyance to the integrated granulator

Injection Molding Machine Builders Are Discovering New Ways to Reach Their Customers

Vernetzung / Cloudlösung für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Schneidmühlen

Silikonkautschuk

Kautschuk / Elastomere

What Can You Do at Fall Fairtime,  When There Aren’t Any?

The central control unit of the injection-molding machine is used by the machine operator for control, regulation and optimization of the entire production process. In order to directly integrate external systems as well as proprietary solutions that do not have a standardized interface, Engel uses a technology that is already widespread in day-to-day routine. Via a browser, the new Webviewer can be reliably integrated into the CC300 control panel of the injection-molding machines.

The Webviewer in the machine control system integrates not only ancillary equipment  with web interfaces, but also data from internal and external systems that are accessible via browsers. 

New Webviewer Merges Web and Control Applications

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Bedienterminals

Computer Hardware

Central Control Unit Makes Use  of Web Technology

Emilio López has been appointed as the new managing director of Engel de Mexico SA de CV. He succeeds Peter Auinger, who retired on 1st September 2021.

Emilio López is the new managing director of Engel de Mexico SA de CV

New Managing Director in Mexico

Which injection molding machine is the right one for which application? Below we will demonstrate why performance is not always performance, but physics is always physics.

Direct drives such as planetary roller screw drives are very precise and durable

How Feed Rate, Injection Volume and Filling Time Correlate with Injection Unit Performance

Kugelgewindetriebe

Maschinenelemente

Getriebe

Elektrische Antriebe für Spritzgießmaschinen

Antriebe

Elektrische Antriebe

Elektromechanische Maschinen

A Question of Class

The ninth broadcast by arburgXvision was about strategies for significantly increasing the utilization rate of injection molding machines.

Moderator Guido Marschall and Arburg experts Christian Homp and Christoph Blöchle (from right) discussed how the right mold strategy pays off for injection molding companies

“Mold Strategy 2.0 – New Ideas for Reducing Costs”

Arburg will be showing the hybrid high-performance Hidrive series on its stand no. 21B25 in Hall 2, with an Allrounder 520 H producing 32 pipette tips in around 6 s cycle time.

The hybrid Allrounder 520 H on show at Interplastica is equipped with a 32-cavity mold and produces pipette tips in a cycle time of around 6 s.

High-Tech for Medical Technology

From 25 to 28 January, the OOO Engel team presents its booth in Moscow again. The injection molding machine manufacturer and system solution provider headquartered in Austria is making the huge potential of digital solutions tangible by producing technical parts live on a tie-bar-less victory injection molding machine.

Engel victory injection molding machines with tie-bar-less clamping units.

The Benefits of Tie-Bar-Less Technology

Paul Caprio has left Engel North America effective January 31st, 2022. Now the company presents the new management board.

Engel North America Management Board (left to right): Johann Dastl (CFO), Vanessa Malena (COO), Benjamin Lettner (CSO), Mark Sankovitch (CEO).

New Management Board at Engel North America

The digital shadow is the core concept of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen University. It represents the data trace of an asset to describe its real behavior. In the Plastics Innovation Center 4.0 (PIC 4.0), digital shadows, e.g. the data trace of a sensor, are used to optimize processes taking into account real behavior and to determine simulation quality.

The construction of the PIC 4.0 proceeds and throws its shadow on the Campus Melaten.

Part 7 of the Series: How the Digital Shadow Enlightens Real Processes in the PIC 4.0

Sensorik für Kunststoff-Verarbeitungsmaschinen

Digitaler Zwilling

Out of the Shadow into the Light

In production and research, process data and previously defined quality values are tracked to determine optimization models and pursue consistent quality management. In contrast, data that is not relevant to the specific application is rarely recorded.

Structure and interconnection along the information-pyramid subsequently generate knowledge from sensorsignals.

Part 9: Consistent Data Structures for Sustainable Access to Secure Knowledge

Messdatenerfassung und -verarbeitung

Qualitätsmanagement

Machine Learning

Datenanalyse

Datenbanken

Big Data für die Qualitätssicherung

IoT-Plattformen für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Complete Data without Ifs and Buts

An Eye on the Process –  a Handle on Quality

A Process Monitoring Platform Monitors Several Hundred Parameters Simultaneously

iQ process observer, the new process monitoring platform from Engel monitors hundreds of parameters from the injection molding cell in the background and presents deviations in such a way that the injection molder can easily identify them and their cause. In many cases, the new assistance system from the iQ product family even suggests a solution itself. In this way, the data analytics solution helps to reduce rejects and downtime.

iQ process observer, the new process monitoring platform from Engel monitors hundreds of parameters from the injection molding cell in the background.

The injection molder knows how varying environmental conditions, sudden changes in the material properties and increasing wear on the mold and machine result in continually new boundary conditions. In addition not infrequent problems with material feed and automation lead to short production interruptions. They disturb the thermal equilibrium in the melt cylinder and mold. On the other hand, newer injection-molding machines feature control of many parameters, e. g. axial movements, temperatures and pressures. In addition, water manifolds are increasingly used in mold temperature control to ensure controlled conditions <a href="http://[1]">[1]</a>. Recently, process controllers such as iQ weight control are even ensuring that the injection volume remains constant <a href="http://[2]">[2]</a>.

The fact is that they can correct many, but not all, changes. When “non-controllable” process changes occur, they are often recognized too late, or not at all – the production of rejects is predestined. The search for the causes is time-consuming and requires experts. But experts with process knowledge and experience are in short supply.

One hundred percent quality control is expensive and therefore only appropriate for special applications. In general, it is thus advisable to monitor the process instead. A stable process that does not vary is not a guarantee, but an indication of and prerequisite for uniform part quality. But when is the process stable? Until now it was normal to choose particular process parameters, provide them with tolerances and monitor them. But it is not so simple: while there are clearly defined specifications and tolerances for the quality of parts, in process monitoring the choice of parameters and specification of tolerances is usually performed subjectively based on individual experience. Once again, this requires the expert and time, though different experts usually reach different results.

Data Analysis – Replacement or Aid for the Experts?

A solid data-analysis approach, which at first sight looks a little paranoid, now provides a remedy. It works like this: you take all the relevant parameters, which can be captured and monitor them. It is better to monitor everything than overlook something. This gives you a holistic view of the process, a kind of fingerprint. However, “all the relevant parameters” can mean very, very many, and this approach therefore poses two problems:

<ul><li>The effort for setting monitoring limits increases with the number of monitored parameters.</li><li>The effort for interpreting the results increases as well.</li></ul>

iQ process observer, a new product from Engel Austria GmbH, Schwertberg, Austria, eliminates these problems in an impressive way: although hundreds of parameters are monitored, the effort for adjustment approaches zero:

<ul><li>The available parameters are factory preconfigured. The actually installed plant equipment is already taken into account.</li><li>At run time, the software recognizes which zones of the cylinder or mold heating, or how many points of a velocity profile, are actually being used and are therefore worth monitoring.</li><li>Tolerance limits are learned automatically based on the current process. However, the learning process is monitored by the “built-in expert knowledge,” and corrected if necessary so that impracticably narrow or very wide tolerances do not arise as a result of very small or very large scatterings.</li></ul>

Now to the interpretation of the results: let us assume that 40 parameters changed simultaneously. How should the user best be notified of this? Should he receive 40 messages on his smartphone or only a list with the names of the 40 changed parameters? Should he be shown the profiles of the 40 parameters over time as curves, so that he has all the information at his fingertips immediately?

Neither one nor the other, since with too much detail, you risk losing sight of what is essential. The iQ process observer provides the injection molder with the results of the monitoring in the form of a bird’s eye view first, a kind of executive summary (Fig. 1).

The four process steps plasticizing, injection, cooling and demolding are summarized as traffic light symbols. All green means everything is OK. A yellow signal means that there are currently changes or deviations from the reference state.

Traffic Light Symbols for the Four Process Steps

When the plant manager sees a yellow signal, he wants to know: what exactly is deviating? How did it occur? A click on the traffic light leads to a detailed view showing the profile of occurrence through the last cycles. However, all that is shown is what is relevant at that moment.

The degree of detail of the visual language is ideal for getting to the bottom of changes and their causes in many cases. For everyone who wants to know very precisely, it is of course possible to drill down to the individual parameters affected in order to see the curve profiles or to read the exact numerical values from them.

In the example shown here (Fig. 2), the yellow regions signal the time range of the change of actual values. In the “plasticizing” step, actual values from the group comprising backpressure, dosing time and dosing capacity have changed.

The specialist can immediately deduce that the actual value changes were a consequence of the user changing the setpoint for backpressure – as can be seen from the pencil icon. Thanks to the software, it can be seen that the backpressure change also resulted in a change of the melt viscosity.

The iQ process observer does what a process technician would do when analyzing a problem, namely preparing data so that something can be read from them. However, doing this can be very time consuming. The software does it much faster of course, and continuously after each shot. The process technician can concentrate completely on interpreting the history told to him by his reliable injection molding assistant, and concern himself with finding possible problem solutions. Recognizing the problem is more important than recognizing the solution, since the exact representation of the problem leads to the solution – that is how it Albert Einstein formulated it.

The Injection Molding Assistant Puts It in Plain Language

Manufacturers of injection-molding machines are developing ever more solutions with the aim of achieving a more constant or better adjusted process. At first glance, the question thus arises of why we need another monitoring solution like the iQ process observer. The answer is: all these assistance systems – called iQ products at Engel – complement one another and are merging with the iQ process observer. Optional sensors in the mold or in the cooling water circuits complete the picture of the process that the iQ process observer can deliver. The iQ weight control process controller and the setpoint assistant iQ clamp control, with the injection volume, the viscosity change or the mold breathing, provide valuable additional indicators for the process without the need for additional sensors (Fig. 3).

As described above, the basic principle of the monitoring assistant consists in the user visualizing the data in such a way that he can interpret them as effectively as possible and use them to deduce conclusions and actions. However, the software goes a step further and assists the user when he may not recognize possible solutions at once: in each cycle, it is checked whether known fault patterns or optimization possibilities can be identified from the current monitoring image and whether it would be advisable to employ measures. If such a state is recognized, the digital assistant comes to the aid of the user. With one click, the user obtains an indication of the cause or proposals for process optimization or eliminating the problem.

The teams of developers at Engel has set itself the goal of further developing the iQ process observer. The process information is therefore continually expanded with new error images and optimization proposals, so that the product grows over time and becomes ever more powerful.

As a result, special attention was paid to the fact that the software can be easily updated. The calculations are performed in dedicated hardware, Engel’s Edge Device. This keeps the processing load for data analysis away from the machine control (Fig. 4). The calculation results are returned to the machine control, where they are visualized.

The iQ process observer uses the modern and secure IoT infrastructure of the Edge Device. After release by the user, the Edge Device automatically looks for available updates via an Internet connection. No data leave the machine or the Edge Device without special clearance.

The step toward connectivity is often not easy. In many cases the prerequisites – such as a network cable to the system – are not present. Many companies have security concerns and questions about their data autonomy. Here, Engel stands by its customers with advice and support. The benefit to be obtained from networking the plants increases year by year, and the necessary investment very quickly pays off.

Connectivity forms the basis of future products. With the iQ process observer, too, networking offers the user huge advantages, well beyond easy software updates. In the future, the software will also be available as a web version. Here, the user will not only be able to view the individual machine but all machines are clearly represented, with all the necessary information. In addition, there will be a wide range of additional useful features, which cannot exist on the machine.

Engel Austria GmbH  

https://www.engelglobal.com

Ausgabenartikel

The injection molder is truly not a friend of changes – if they occur in the running process. The iQ process observer helps him to keep an eye on the process and thus keep a handle on the quality

Fig. 1. The overview page of the iQ process observer summarizes all the information about the current process state

Fig. 2. Example of the profile of process changes in the last 20 cycles: the specialist recognizes immediately that the actual value (yellow) changes were a consequence of the user changing the setpoint for backpressure – as can be seen from the pencil icon

Fig. 3. When the process is looked at holistically, some of the machine extras offer an additional benefit alongside their actual use due to their integration into the monitoring software

Fig. 4. The algorithms of the assistant run outside the machine on the Edge Device. The external computer also supplies data to web applications if required, and thus acts as a gateway to the world of digitalization

Name - Hauptartikel

The iQ process observer opens a new chapter in intelligent assistance. Assistance systems have so far been able to optimize individual work steps of the injection molding process, but now this system optimizes several hundred process parameters across all four phases of the injection molding process – plasticizing, injection, cooling and demolding.

<ul><li>Monitoring everything: all the relevant parameters from all available sensors are assessed for a potential change or deviation from the reference state and identified with the colors green (okay) or yellow (not okay).</li><li>Start with a bird’s eye view: the parameters are logically grouped together so that the user does not always have to deal with each one individually, but is given an overview.</li><li>Telling a story: the assessment profile is represented over previous cycles in order to show the user the time sequence over which the changes occurred.</li><li>Filtering for what is essential: the user only sees what has changed in order to direct his view at what is essential.</li><li>Providing additional information: everything is shown that could serve as an explanation of changes, i.e. Including the setpoint changes or production interruptions deliberately performed by the user.</li></ul>

 DI Josef Giessauf is development engineer in the Process Engineering department at Engel Austria GmbH , Schwertberg, Austria; <a href="mailto:josef.giessauf@engel.at">josef.giessauf@engel.at</a>

<ol><li>Dr. Georg Pillwein is head of Process Technology Development at Engel;  <a href="mailto:georg.pillwein@engel.at">georg.pillwein@engel.at</a></li><li>Paul Kapeller <a href="http://M.Sc">M.Sc</a>., heads Product Management Digital Solutions at Engel; <a href="mailto:paul.kapeller@engel.at">paul.kapeller@engel.at</a></li><li>Dr. Johannes Kilian is head of Engel’s Process Technologies department;  <a href="mailto:johannes.kilian@engel.at">johannes.kilian@engel.at</a></li><li>1 Schläger, M.; Balka, C.; Giessauf, J.: Working with instead of against One Another. Kunststoffe international 107 (2017) 2, pp. 17–20</li><li>2 Pillwein, G.; Willnauer, P.; Steinbichler, G.: Opening up a Broader Range of Applications for Recyclates. Kunststoffe international 110 (2020) 4, pp. 26–30</li></ol>

Read the German version of the  article in our magazine Kunststoffe or at  <a href="https://www.kunststoffe.de/a/fachartikel/den-prozess-im-blick-die-qualitaet-im-gr-332050" target="_blank">www.kunststoffe.de</a>

“It is more important to recognize the problem than recognize the solution, since the exact representation of the problem leads to the solution.“