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.

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

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.

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

Vernetzung / Cloudlösung für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Schneidmühlen

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Silikonkautschuk

Kautschuk / Elastomere

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

Munich-based mechanical engineering group KraussMaffei is repositioning itself and uniting all divisions under a single brand. At a time of accelerated technological change, the company is increasing its efforts to develop new products for digital solutions and new business models – and that includes plastics recycling.

KraussMaffei Consolidates Three Divisions and the Previous Group Brands under a Single Brand

Extrusion

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Kunststoff-Recycling

Compoundieren

Moving with the Times

Since 2007, one major construction project has followed another at Arburg in Lossburg, Germany: customer center, assembly hall, tradeshow logistics hall, training center and currently the next assembly hall. While environmentally friendly construction and production methods have long been established at the site, the company is now announcing an eco-efficiency program for the injection molding world, bearing the name “Arburg Green World.”

Arburg Is Pursuing a Closed Value Chain for Plastics

Green Wave

Haitian International, the Chinese manufacturer of injection molding machines, is consolidating its growth of the last ten years while its European business flourishes. New locations and additional investments will support its foreign activities. On the program for the K 2019 is the introduction of what is now their third generation technology.

Haitian’s Success Story Continues with Big Plans

Elektrische Antriebe für Spritzgießmaschinen

Antriebe

Elektrische Antriebe

Plans for Further Expansion

The Circular Economy is not only the theme topic at the K 2019. It is also the “green” thread running through the fair exhibit by Engel, the provider of injection molding machines and integrated system solutions. Industry 4.0 is turning out to be a driving force for recycling. This is a most timely insight, since the branch is in for several economically cool years.

Engel Supports Strong Involvement by the Plastics Industry in a Circular Economy

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

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

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

A Second Life for Plastics

The quality of injection molded parts and the process stability are still heavily dependent on the knowledge and experience of the process technician. However, the ever increasing degree of freedom creates complex interrelationships between part quality and process parameters. At K 2019, IKV and an industrial consortium will demonstrate how algorithms based on artificial intelligence can support machine operators during the process setup by using machine data and quality data.

Model-Based Process Setup by Fully Interconnected Production in Injection Molding

Beyond Human Capabilities

Mold breathing provides useful information about the processes that occur in the mold and the cavity. Mold-maker Schneider Form and injection molding machine-maker Engel have recognized the potential which this process variable offers and have worked intensively on it for several years, albeit by adopting different approaches. They recently carried out joint tests on bumper molds using a two-platen injection molding machine with a clamping force of 40,000 kN and then swapped experiences.

Comparative Methods for Determining Mold Breathing

Energiemanagement / Smart Home

Installationstechnik

Druck- / Kraftsensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Using Breathing Signals for  Process Optimization

Whether it is the cycle time, energy consumption or process stability: the levers for greater efficiency and quality in the injection molding process are many and varied. With the new performance.boost Engel offer its customers an expertise as a service for process analysis and optimization.

Instandhaltung

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Dienstleistungen

Lohnfertigung

Instandhaltungssoftware

Optimize Processes Efficiently with Engel performance.boost

Paint bucket or A-pillar finisher? In our thoughts and attribution of value, packaging items and high-tech components often represent opposites. Yet the two can complement one another – when you look at used packaging as a valuable raw material. At the fair, KraussMaffei will be showing the concept for a closed material cycle and is making plastics processing sustainable through this.

At the K, KraussMaffei Will Be Showing the Cycle from Product to Upcycling  to a New Product

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe-international.com

Steuern, Regeln

Laserbeschriftung

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Rückverfolgbarkeit, Traceability

Qualitätsmanagement

Zerkleinerungsmaschinen

Greifer für die Kunststofftechnik

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Today Packaging,  Tomorrow Raw Material

HiQ Flow is Wittmann Battenfeld’s answer to the challenge of fluctuating shot weights in injection-molded parts. The assistant system modifies the process parameters in the course of the same shot to counteract viscosity fluctuations caused by batch fluctuations in the material or by the use of regrind.

Dynamic Adjustment of Switchover Pressure and Holding Pressure to Achieve a Constant Part Weight

No More Weight Problems

To be able to carry out the practical test in a resource-saving manner, the designers use simulation tools to assess the screw geometry. What is important here is explained using a 3-zone screw as an example.

Part 2 of the Series Deals with Basic Methods for Evaluating a Screw Geometry

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

All about Plasticizing Screws

What kind of packaging do consumers evaluate as environmentally friendly? A study conducted in seven countries shows that consumers pay particular attention to the last stage of the packaging life cycle, e. g. compostability or recyclability. There are important differences between individual countries. 

Results of an International Comparative Study on Consumer Preferences 

Simulation Verpackung

Verpackungsmaterial

How Consumers Evaluate  Environmental Friendliness 

Founded in 1960, Chem-Trend is a leading global manufacturer of process chemical specialties with a main focus on high-performance mold release agents. Chem-Trend develops mold release agents used for the production of molded components made of composites, rubber, thermoplastics, or polyurethane, die lubricants for application in the die casting industry, as well as purging compounds and inside and outside tyre paints. In addition, Chem-Trend manufactures specialized ancillary products, such as mold maintenance products, mold cleaners and mold sealers for the individual industries.

Chem-Trend (Deutschland) GmbH 

https://de.chemtrend.com/

Additive

Blasfolienextrusion

Blasformen

Blasformwerkzeuge

Extrusionsblasformen

Faser- und Filamentextrusion

Flachfolien- und Plattenextrusion

Klebstoffentferner

Chemisches Fügeverfahren

Verbindungstechnik Verfahren

Lösemittel, Reinigungsmittel, Entfettungsmittel

Reinigen und Vorbehandeln

Reinigung

Betriebsausrüstung / Betriebsmittel

Reinigungsmittel für Kunststoffe

Spritzstreckblasen

Teilereinigung

Thermoplaste

Verarbeitungshilfmittel

Werkzeugreinigung, Kunststoffe

Injection molding manufacturer Engel and technology group Heraeus have succeeded in slashing cycle times in the injection molding of amorphous metals. In so doing, the two system partners have rendered these alloys, which possess special properties, amenable to large-scale production over a wide range of end uses. The K 2019 trade fair will see two-component parts made of amorphous metal and silicone being produced for the first time – inside a fully automated manufacturing cell.

Engel and Heraeus to Demo a New Processing Unit for Large-Scale Production

Hybridtechnik

Amorphous Metals Combined  with Elastomers

Wittmann Continues to See Itself Well Placed as a One-Stop Supplier

With its Industry 4.0 solution portfolio, the Wittmann Group is receiving a positive echo in the market. This virtually extends the injection-molding machine into a smart workcell. For the near future, the company is tooling up for the demands of a circular economy – and declining demand.

The Wittmann Group is currently occupied by two main issues: digitalization and sustainability. As a knowledgeable ambassador for networked production, Michael Wittmann, Managing Director of the company, has been out and about in the market for years. “With our solution package for Industry 4.0 technologies, we have our finger firmly on the pulse. For all the categories defined by VDMA – smart machine, smart production and smart services – we provide our own developments and technologies,” Wittmann tells Kunststoffe – and goes into specifics: “They comprise different HiQ optimization packages for adapting the injection process to fluctuating ambient conditions, remote web machine service, condition monitoring and other intelligent functions.”

In addition, Wittmann has defined the “Smart Workcell” category for extending the injection molding machine with connected peripheral equipment. “We are the only company on the market to provide flexible horizontal data communication that is immediately ready for use and covers the specific requirements of the plastics industry. Our customers appreciate that,” says Wittmann. The difficulty lies not in setting up communication interfaces, ideally Euromap Standards or at least OPC-UA communication protocols, in horizontal communication, but addressing the special requirements of plastics processing in detail.

As the Austrian injection molding system supplier interprets it, the solution is to allow mobile Wittmann 4.0 data servers, for example, temperature control equipment or machine-side dryers, to be taken to any Wittmann-Battenfeld machine with Wittmann 4.0 option as before, and automatically authenticate themselves with this machine. During this procedure, the corresponding communication protocol between the machine and ancillary equipment is selected and no longer accesses a physical ancillary unit, but a virtual model of the device that is currently plugged in.

Unbroken Data Communication and Automatic Parameter Setting

According to Wittmann, the advantage is that the user no longer needs to deal with IP addresses and manual assignment of equipment to machines, which of course is subject to errors. The user can operate and configure a workcell in just the same way as was possible without Industry 4.0, but “with the advantage of unbroken data communication and automatic parameter setting on all devices,” according to the managing director. “Wittmann 4.0 can also show users which devices are needed for which mold. Our motto is plug and produce without making complex settings and adjustments.”

Wittmann is very satisfied with the way the company has developed since taking over the injection molding manufacturer Battenfeld in 2008. However, after years of growth (Graph), as in many other companies, there has been a reversal in the incoming orders trend since 2018 at the latest.

Careful Management of the Entire Raw Materials Stream

Regarding the second complex of topics. a response is given by Rainer Weingraber, who succeeded Georg Tinschert as Managing Director of Wittmann Battenfeld GmbH. The machine-maker, based in Kottingbrunn, Austria, is a partner of the Blue Competence sustainability initiative of the VDMA and has already committed itself to think and act sustainably. According to Weingraber, “Sustainability is part of our corporate philosophy and strategy. This is mainly expressed in the fact that energy efficiency is our highest priority in the use of our machines and equipment, as well as in the development and ongoing optimization of all components.”

This not only involves highly efficient drive systems but also finding settings that reduce the process-relevant energy consumption, for example by utilizing the process heat in the production cell. “Moreover, we also promote sustainability by reducing material consumption, be it with reduced wall thicknesses or through process combinations. As a one-stop shop supplier, we also have full control over the material flow, from raw materials input to the finished product, and thereby also ensure careful management in the raw material stream,” says Weingraber.

Wittmann Battenfeld also attaches importance to sustainability in its own production, and, for example, generates hot water through heat recovery from compressors, cleans components in an environmentally compatible way and monitors the treatment of the media it uses while observing all regulations. In addition, with ongoing mold optimizations and the use of new manufacturing technologies in the field of machining, it pursues the goal of shortening manufacturing times and saving energy.

And what is Wittmann Battenfeld’s attitude to the principle of the circular economy? Weingraber says, “’With process-engineering developments, but also – in cooperation with material manufacturers – by developing plastication units, a machine manufacturer can find ways of enabling the processing of new materials that do not consist of traditional plastic, but meet requirements for recyclability and sustainability. In the interests of a circular economy, the materials can either be easily reused or disposed of without residues, for example, parts made from non petroleum-based materials, such as natural fibers, natural greases or bran. We must design injection molding machines accordingly.” The visitors to the K show can expect a corresponding exhibit, processing a material based purely on biogenic and mineral raw materials.

Wittmann Battenfeld GmbH  

https://www.wittmann-group.com

Wittmann Technology GmbH  

https://www.wittmann-group.com/

Ausgabenartikel

Finger on the pulse with Industry 4.0 solutions: Michael Wittmann, Managing Director of the eponymous corporate group

Business in robots and ancillary equipment tends to figure somewhat stronger in the Wittmann Group’s sales than the injection molding machine business

Injection molding machines are designed to be able to process sustainable materials: Wittmann Battenfeld Managing Director Rainer Weingraber 

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