May 2017

High-Tech
Blow Molder
Agri-Industrial Plastics
Masters Coex Gas Tanks
With Computer Simulation
50 How Many Arms Should Your

Robot Have?
56 Keep Molding with Blocked

Cavities
62 Tips on Drying Specialty Nylons
A property of Gardner Business Media MAY 2017 No- 05 VOL 63

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On-Site
High-Tech Blow Molding
At Agri-Industrial Plastics
This family-owned custom molder
stands out in its use of advanced
computer and automation tools to
claim a niche in large, complex,
and multi-layer parts.
By Matt Naitove,
Executive Editor
44
Tips and Techniques 50 If Two Arms Are Better Than 6 FROM THE EDITOR
One, Are Four Better Than Two?
Robots with two main arms have 8 STARTING UP
proven useful in applications ranging
from stack molds to IML to insert CLOSE-UP
molding and performing a variety of 14 Injection Molding
post-mold operations. The concept has
18 Industry 4.0
evolved to the point that a single robot
chassis can have two kick assemblies 22 Chillers
with one or two arms apiece.
By Ronald Bryant, Yushin America KNOW HOW
26 Materials
Tips and Techniques 56 Block Cavities 30 Injection Molding
And Keep on Molding 34 Extrusion
It goes against conventional wisdom, 39 Tooling
but molding with blocked cavities
can be done while maintaining KEEPING UP WITH TECHNOLOGY
quality with the help of appropriate
in-cavity sensors and process- 65 Injection Molding
control software. 65 Extrusion
By Marcel Fenner,
66 Blow Molding
Priamus System Technologies
66 Materials Handling
68 Materials
Tips and Techniques 62 What You Need to Know 68 Tooling
About Drying Specialty Nylons
PPA is being used more frequently YOUR BUSINESS
by molders for demanding high-
70 Resin Pricing Analysis
heat applications in automotive and
other markets. While in the nylon 72 Plastics Business Index
family, it does not dry quite like 74 Market Watch
nylon. Follow these tips.
75 Marketplace
By William Hamm & Edgar Benjamin,
Solvay Specialty Polymers 80 Processors Edge
PTonline.com Plastics Technology 1

Web Exclusives
Theres more on the web at PTonline.com

Tour RenyMeds Medical Molding Plant
Plastics Technology sat down with
RenyMeds Steve Raiken to discuss
his companys medical molding and
moldmaking business, and we gowned
up to take a video tour of its Class
8 clean room. Check it out on (and PT Live: What Went Down
subscribe to) PTs YouTube channel
At Molding 2017
short.ptonline.com/yfZBD0uY.
Molding 2017 wrapped up April 6; if you
couldnt make it to Charlotte, head to
Plastics Technologys YouTube channel
BLOG: Materials Pricing for multiple video reports, including
Plastics Technology Senior Editor daily reports and video from the pre-
Lilli Sherman has authored multiple conference John Bozzelli workshop and
blog posts on resin pricings turbu- post-conference RocTool tour.
lent start to 2017. Head to her blog
page to get updates on changes to
pricing of polyolefins, engineering
materials, and additives.
short.gardnerweb.com/Lilli
Stay up on our video reports by subscribing to

Plastics Technologys YouTube channel: short.ptonline.com/yfZBD0uY
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2 Plastics Technology MAY 2017 PTonline.com

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From The Editor
Check Out the New PTonline.com

Weve moved to a responsive design platform
and are adding more videos and other features
to help enrich your experience on our website.
If youve checked out our website lately, perhaps youve we have to offer in the digital world not just on our website
noticed a few things. For one thing, we freshened up the but on our various social media outlets as well. At Plastics
design in an effort to make our content Technology, our objective is to
easier to access and read. For another, be your go-to source of content
and perhaps more importantly, our site in whatever manner you choose Our web stats
has been rejiggered to accommodate the to consume it: in print, on-line, strongly suggest
skyrocketing use of smart phones and and in person. that articles that
tablets to surf the net, a trend we have On the latter, last month we are accompanied
noticed on our site as well as the sites of wrapped up the most successful by a video presen-
our sister publications in Gardner injection molding conference in tation go over
Business Media. the 27-year history of the event: very well with you.
Jim Callari We did this with an approach called Molding 2017 was held in
Editorial Director responsive design, which allows Charlotte, N.C. and attracted
desktop web pages to be displayed differ- nearly 300 attendees. And coming up later this year is our
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Dig a bit deeper on
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reporting. Were moving in
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T ECHNOLOG Y A ND INDUS T RY NE W S
Star ting Up
RJG Introduces Low-Cost Part Design Analysis

Danone & Nestl Waters to
RJG Inc., Traverse City, Mich., introduced a new Part Design Analysis
Accelerate Development of
service in March. It provides design and product engineers with a low-
All-Biobased PET Bottle
cost option to quickly analyze how their part design will perform in The worlds two largest bottled-water compa-
processing. RJGs team works together with the customer to make recom- nies, Frances Danone (U.S. office in White
mendations based on product requirements, such as its intended usage Plains, N.Y.; danone.com) and Nestl Waters,
Stamford, Conn. (nestle-waters.com), have
and function. At a cost of $1500, RJG offers design consultation through joined forces with startup Origin Materials of
use of Moldex 3D, Sigmasoft, or Autodesk Moldflow simulation software. Sacramento, Calif., to accelerate commercial-
scale development of 100% biobased PET
This is followed by detailed reports and recommendations and a 1-hr
bottles made from sustainable and renew-
web-meeting able resources. The NaturALL Bottle Alliance
consultation. project will use biomass feedstocksinitially,
cardboard, sawdust, and wood chips, but will
Our hope is
also explore rice hulls, straw, and agricultural
to offer an residuethus not diverting resources or land
affordable from food production for humans or animals.
Current PET bottles are at most 30%
solution to biobased. Coca-Cola Co. has been working
help our toward all-biobased bottles by 2020 (see Aug.
customer 15 Starting Up). Danone and Nestl Waters
are providing expertise and teams, as well
make as financial support, to help Origin Materi-
educated als make its technology widely available to
the entire food and beverage industry, and in
decisions
record time. Origin Materials has produced
and prevent samples of 80% biobased PET in its pilot
the need plant in Sacramento, and construction of a
pioneer plant is underway this year.
to spend
Production of the first samples of 60+%
time and biobased PET will start in 2018. The initial
money reworking designs, says Doug Espinoza, RJGs TZero manager. The volume goal for the first step is to bring 11
million lb/yr of biobased PET to the market.
idea is to provide value up front before a complete simulation analysis The Alliance aims to develop the process for
is required. Part Design Analysis is part of RJGs TZero program, which producing at least 75% biobased PET plastic
works with engineering and manufacturing departments to coordinate bottles at commercial scale as early as in 2020,
scaling up to 95% in 2022. The Alliance will
and optimize the mold-development process. continue its research to raise the biobased
231-947-3111 rjginc.com content level to the objective of 100%.
New Hard-Coating Technology for Large, Curved Auto Glazing

Teijin Ltd. of Japan recently announced that it had developed a curved surfaces. So this technology also does not offer a practical
new hard-coating technology that can be applied evenly on large solution under the new Japanese standards, Teijin says.
or complex-shaped polycarbonate automotive windows. The new Teijin collaborated with Tsukishima Kikai Co., Ltd. to develop
coating method reportedly achieves abrasion resistance compa- a plasma CVD pilot plant that can treat large, 3D molded plastic
rable to glass, satisfying new Japanese standards and also those windows with a uniform coating. Glazing exceeding 1 m2 in size,
of the U.S. and EU. including ones with complex curves for rear windows, are being
A common method today of protecting PC glazing from abra- coated at a pilot plant in Japan. Teijin says the plasma CVD layer
sion and UV-induced yellowing is to apply a wet hard-coat layer doubles the UV discoloration resistance obtained with the wet
over the plastic. According to Teijin, this method does not meet coat alone. Teijin continues to verify the new methods potential
new Japanese auto safety standards that take effect this July. for mass production of a wide range of car windows, aiming at
There is another technology that applies a second hard coating early launch of full-scale commercial manufacturing. Teijin Kasei
via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) over the America, Peachtree Corners, Ga., is the U.S. branch for sale of PC
wet hard-coat layer, but the size of the window is restricted to resin, sheet, and film.
around 0.3 m2, and it is also hard to apply plasma CVD to complex 770-346-8949 teijin.com

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Star ting Up
Conference Explores Creating

Reliable Recycling Supply Chain
More than 1600 members of the plastics recycling industry Another conference session featured brand owners discussing
headed to New Orleans for the Plastics Recycling 2016 conference the strong demand for PCR. For skin-care products maker Burts
in March. While at this event last year the focus was on the Bees, Durham, N.C., sustainability is part of its advertising to
difficulties of the market and competition from virgin prices, consumersfrom the product itself to the packaging. Its primary
this year there was more optimism all around. As one sign, package contains on average 34% PCR content; its plastic bottles
Houston-based plastics recycler Avangard Innovative (avaicg.com) average 71% PCR; and its secondary packaging averages 36% PCR.
announced it will invest $10 million to build a new 35,000 ft2 plant Robert Combs, sr. packaging design engineer, said the company
that will convert post-consumer LDPE packaging film into PCR that has a goal to increase PCR content by 40% and is working to get
will be used to produce more film. there by increasing PCR in new prod-
It reportedly will be one of the first uct launches and making improve-
recycling facilities to utilize optical ments to existing packaging.
sorting to prepare the film blend The company recently produced
for extrusion. The plant will be fully a mostly brown PP package with 60%
operational by October with a total PCR. The beauty industry typically
capacity of 48 million lb/yr. shies away from packages of that
Also speaking at the conference color, but Combs said the product is
was Nina Goodrich, dir. of Green Blue a sales success and the package has
(greenblue.org) and the Sustainable won several awards. Getting PCR in
Packaging Coalition (SPC; sustain- a flagship product is a big deal. Its
ablepackaging.org) in Charlottesville been running for six months now with
Va. She discussed a new initiative no issues, he noted. This will help
between SPC and The Recycling Part- drive use of more PCR.
nership, Falls Church, Va. (recycling- Derrick Lawrence, dir. of packag-
partnership.org), that seeks to map ing development at Seventh Genera-
Derrick Lawrence, dir. of packaging
barriers and opportunities within the development at Seventh Generation, tion, Burlington, Vt., a producer of
recycling landscape, then identify Burlington, Vt., said that the companys 2020 household, baby-care, and feminine-
tactics to advance the industry and goal is for all its products and packaging to care products, said that companys
deliver more high-quality recyclables be made of bio-based or recycled materials. 2020 goal is for all its products and
to the supply chain. The initiative, packaging to be made of bio-based
called Applying Systems Thinking to Recycling (ASTRX), will focus or recycled materials. At present, the company has achieved
on how packaging flows through each of the five elements of 80% of that goal. We want to create a source component to be
recycling: end markets, reprocessing, sortation, collection, and recycled or composted, and in every study weve done, PCR beats
consumer engagement. Goodrich also discussed SPCs How2Re- them all across the board, he stated. Were trying to create a
cycle Label program, which just launched a new online, automated market for PCR material, as we dont want that material to go into
platform (see blog at short.ptonline.com/label). the landfill. If PCR doesnt work then we look at bio-based.
Ube Acquires Mitsubishis Sidel Opens Cap Molding

Plant in Arizona
Molding Machine Division
Sidel Group of France (U.S. office in Norcross, Ga.; sidel.com)
Japans Ube Machinery (U.S. office in Anne Arbor, Mich.) has
opened a plant last year in Peoria, Ariz., for injection mold-
bought the injection molding machine division of Mitsubishi
ing mainly beverage-bottle caps. The plant is the third facil-
Heavy Industries (MHI). The move was spurred by the world-
ity for Novembal, the cap and closure molding unit of Sidel
wide growth in large injection machine sales for automotive,
Group. Sidel is known in the plastics industry as a producer
where both machine builders are significant suppliers, Ube
of machinery systems for stretch-blow molding, filling,
said. MHIs U.S. plastics operation has been renamed U-MHI
capping, and labeling PET bottles.
Platech America. It will remain in Itasca, Ill., where it will
How Sidel now comes to be injection molding bottle caps
furnish service and parts for the former Mitsubishi Injection
results from a recent move by its parent company, Tetra
Molding Machines.
Laval Group of Switzerland. In 2015, Tetra Laval transferred
The addition of manufacturing facilities, machine models,
the Novembal business unit, which has molded bottle caps
Mitsubishis global service, and parts distribution will facili-
for 50 years, from its Sweden-based Tetra Pak liquid-packag-
tate the continued growth and expansion of both machine
ing group to the Sidel machinery group. At the time, Novem-
lines, Ube said. This acquisition reportedly will also enable
bal (novembal.com) had just two plants in Edison, N.J., and
reduced lead times and gains in manufacturing efficiencies.
Rawdon, Que. The Peoria plant opened with 50 employees.
734-741-7000 ubemachinery.com

Star ting Up
New Additive Compatibilizes PE/PP Alloys

Researchers believe they have found a solution to meld PE
and PP to create new polymer alloys. Geoffrey Coates, profes-
sor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University,
and his team have collaborated with a group from the Univ. of News in
Minnesota to develop a multiblock polymer that, when added
in small amounts to a mix of the two otherwise incompat- TP Composites
ible polyolefins, creates a mechanically tough blend. The two
groups work is detailed in a paper, Combining polyethylene
At JEC 2017 Show
and polypropylene: Enhanced performance with PE/PP multi- Here are some highlights in thermoplastic composites
block polymers, published online Feb. 23 in Science. from the JEC World 2017 exhibition in Paris this March.
By adding a miniscule amount of their tetrablock (four-block) SABIC, Houston (sabic.com), has expanded its Udmax
polymerwhich contains alternating polyethylene and polypro- range of continuous-fiber thermoplastic tapes. The new
pylene segmentsthe resultant blend reportedly has strength materials are Udmax GPE (glass-fiber-reinforced PE) and
superior to diblock (two-block) polymers the authors tested. Udmax CPA (carbon-fiber-reinforced nylon), the latter
People have done things like this before, Coates says, but being SABICs first entry in continuous carbon-fiber tape.
theyll typically put in 10% of a soft material, so you dont get These can be used in applications including pipe, pressure
the nice plastic properties, you get something thats not quite vessels, and sporting goods.
as good as the original material. Whats exciting about this is we Dieffenbacher (U.S. office in Alpharetta, Ga.; dieffen-
can go to as low as 1% of our additive, and you get a plastic alloy bacher.de) announced that its new Fiberforge tape-laying
that really has super-great properties. system will be used by TxV Aero Compositesa joint
James Eagan, a postdoctoral researcher in Coates group and venture of Victrex (U.S. office in Conshohocken, Pa.;
lead author of the paper, believes this tetrablock polymer shows victrex.com) and Tri-Mack Plastics Manufacturing Corp.,
promise for improving recycling and could also spawn a whole Bristol, R.I. (trimack.com). The two partners recently
new class of tough polymer blends. formed this venture in order to deliver PAEK composites
for commercial aerospace applications like loaded clips
and brackets, interiors, and seating.
The Fiberforge system is reportedly
the worlds fastest tape-laying system. It
requires less than 1 sec per course inte-
grated with downstream systems such as
the handling robot and forming press. More
than 1 million parts can be manufactured
Granulator per year on just one line, says Markus
Geier, Dieffenbacher sales director.
Granulator,Shredder,Pulverizer and
Recycling Wash Equipment
Xenia of Italy (xeniamaterials.com)

introduced a new family of thermo-
plastic materials reinforced with
GW80 Series Super Heavy Duty Wet Granulator
Advanced Technologies, Improved Capacity, Born for Recyclers! mixtures of carbon and glass fibers.
The Xebrid family includes variable
AVIAN (USA) MACHINERY, LLC. percentages of reinforcements in
different polymer matrices; initial
1901 Powis Court, West Chicago, IL. 60185
TEL: 630.687.9876 FAX: 866.755.9258 materials are based on nylons 66 and
WEB: www.aviangranulator.us E-MAIL: sales@avianusa.com 12. While its main market is Europe,
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INJEC T ION MOLDING
Close-Up On Technolog y
Advances in Molding, 3D Printing

At Arburg Technology Days
Over 6700 visitors saw more than 50 working
machinery exhibits highlighting automation,
connectivity, and sophisticated processing.
The first metal-powder injection molded smartphone frame, manufacturing (3D printing), and the companys ability to
PP-IML containers molded in under 2 sec, a new additive-manu- supply complete turnkey cells.
facturing development center, and several hints A number of working exhibits reprised demonstrations seen
By Matt Naitove
Executive Editor of innovations yet to come were just some of the at the K 2016 and Fakuma 2015 shows. A prominent example was
attractions at the annual Technology Days exhi- Arburgs new Allrounder 1120 H hybrid pressits largest everwith
bition hosted by Arburg at its headquarters in Lossburg, Germany. 650-metric-ton clamp and brand-new Gestica controller, assisted
Arburg (U.S. office in Rocky Hill, Conn.; arburg.com) has by a new Multilift V 40 linear robot with payload capacity of 40 kg
hosted these events each year since 1999. What it called the (88 lb). Three or four of these presses are in beta testing at
biggest in-house event in the industry attracted more than customers, and Arburg anticipates full commercialization in 2018.
6700 guests from 53 countries, including around 170 from The company also plans to gradually extend the new gesture-
North America and 125 from China. Displays throughout the enabled Gestica controller to additional machine models, starting
companys 1.84 million ft2 manufacturing plant included at the Fakuma show this October. Meanwhile, the company will
more than 50 machinery exhibits in action, highlighting continue offering its Selogica control to meet market demand, but
themes such as medical, packaging, electronics, and automo- will give it an update and facelift in the foreseeable future.
tive molding, lightweight structural solutions, LSR, robotics, Among the novelties presented at this years Technology Days
Industry 4.0 connectivity, individualized production, additive were the following:
Powder injection molding (PIM):

Whats said to be the first metal-
powder injection molded (MIM)
smartphone frame/housing was
demonstrated on a hydraulic
Allrounder 470 C Golden Edition
press (150 m.t.). A green smart-
phone back was hot-runner molded
with a thickness of around 1 mm
and length of 136 mm in a cycle
time around 55 sec. The material
was flow-optimized Catamold 17-4
PH Plus compound from BASF
(U.S. office in Budd Lake, N.J.;
More than 50 working machinery exhibits greeted over 6700
visitors from 53 countries at Arburgs 19th annual Technology Days. performance-materials.basf.us).
The booming international
smartphone market offers huge
QUESTIONS ABOUT INJECTION MOLDING OR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING? potential for powder injection
molding, says Hartmut Walcher,
Visit the Injection Molding Zone or the Additive Manufacturing Zone. PIM expert at Arburgreferring

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U T: 860.627.5110 | E: sales@dri-air.com www.dri-air.com The Drying and Blending Experts
Using tooling and automation from

Brink B.V., Arburg molded four PP ice
Metal-powder injection molded (MIM) cellphone frames are a cream cups in as little as 1.8 sec.
brand-new application with huge potential, according to Arburg.
also to ceramic powder molding, examples of which were on relatively new Profoam process for impregnating pellets with
display. This process enables the use of materials such as stain- nitrogen gas in a pressurized hopper. The latter used the new
less steel, titanium, and zirconium oxide, and is significantly 5-liter hopper, suitable for larger parts, which was introduced
more cost-effective than machining. at K 2016. Arburg said one advantage for Profoam over MuCell
is that it utilizes a standard screw with no gas-mixing section,
High-speed in-mold labeling (IML): Four PP ice-cream cups which results in less breakage of reinforcing fibers.
were molded with IML in 1.8-1.95 sec on a Hidrive P (packaging Arburg also demonstrated its Fiber Direct Compounding (FDC)
version) 570 H hybrid press with accumulator-assisted injec- process of introducing continuous glass rovings into the melt in
tion. The tubs were only 0.35 mm thick, which is about the the injection barrel. Cable-drive housings for electric car window
lower limit of practicality, according to a lifters were molded in this fashion using
representative of Brink B.V. of the 30% long glass (around 11 mm starting
Netherlands (brinkbv.com), which sup- length) in PP. Arburg claims these parts
Metal-powder injection
plied the mold, side-entry robot, and have impact resistance, strength, and
molding (MIM) is seen to
gripper technology. rigidity similar to the original housings
hold large potential in
Interestingly, Brink also supplied the made of more expensive PBT with
smartphone frames and
mold and automation for a four-cavity PP long glass, but are up to 30% lighter.
housings.
cup molding demo at K 2016 by Sumitomo The manufacturer switched processes
(SHI) DemagU.S. office in Strongsville, because Profoam is less expensive, more
Ohiowhich claimed a 1.75-sec cycle time on an El-Exis SP 200 amenable to global operations, and offers greater flexibility in
hybrid press (sumitomo-shi-demag.us). glass length and concentration.
Liquid silicone rubber (LSR): Arburg showed two examples of Smart Service: As part of its emphasis on Industry 4.0 (see
LSR-on-LSR two-component molding that were seen at K 2016. more below), Arburg presented its new remote-maintenance
Also, in cooperation with the University of Kassel, Germany, tool for online support. The injection machine is equipped
Arburg demonstrated for the first time how UV activation can with a router and integrated firewall that permits an encrypted
improve adhesion of LSR to PC. An electric Allrounder 370 over- data connection once enabled by the machine operator.
molded PC inserts, which were UV activated directly in the gripper,
and then overmolded with LSR to produce specimens for adhesion- Additive manufacturing: Arburg presented eight exhibits of
strength testing. its Freeformer 3D printer. Five of them were housed in the new
Arburg Prototyping Center, available for customer trials. Each
Lightweight structural parts: Technology Days included machine there is dedicated to a particular material in order to
three lightweight molding exhibits. Two involved microcel- avoid several hours of cleaning for changeovers. Parts made at
lular foam molding, with either the MuCell process from the Technology Days included medical-grade PLA surgical
Trexel Inc., Wilmington, Mass. (trexel.com), or Arburgs own implants that are customized for each patient and resorbed by

INJEC T ION MOLDING
Arburg showcased its ability to supply turnkey Arburgs new Prototyping Center has five Freeformer 3D
systems, such as this cell for molding and printers available for customer trials. Technology Days
assembling two-color LSR/LSR watches. featured a total of eight Freeformers in operation..
the body after a defined period of time. There was also a func- Then, the tag was passed to a pair of Arburg Freeformer 3D
tional part made from a PC approved for aerospace injection printers, which applied the selected graphic motif in two
molding; electrical connectors of flame-retardant PC/ABS; and a colors. Finally, visitors learned how they could use the smart
mobile-phone cover of nylon that showed how optimizing pro- luggage tag to execute data-supported actions like online
cess parameters can improve surface quality. ordering of brochures using the integrated NFC chip. Also, the
News in this technology included a new support material that user contact info can be read out using the QR code or NFC
will become available in May. Supplementing the current water- chip via smartphone. This includes the individual URL address
soluble Armat 11 support material, new Armat 21, which is soluble of the website for the tag, enabling all process and quality data
in sodium hydroxide, reportedly is to be accessed from the Arburg
thermally stable, processes with ease, host computer (ALS) for 100%
and offers excellent edge definition A number of customers are product traceability.
in relation to the build material. exploring the commercial poten- This wasnt the only product
tial of individualized production individualization/Industry 4.0
Individualized production: in batch sizes of one. demo at the Arburg event. In the
Another example from K 2016 was exhibit area dedicated to turnkey
Arburgs most elaborate example yet cells, one cell produced custom-
of individualized production with a batch size of one, showing ized hand-strengthening devices. A visitors hand strength was
off its Industry 4.0 capabilities for linking multiple machines, first measured and assigned to one of three gripping-force levels.
a remote central-computer database, and cloud-based Each level corresponded to a pre-molded acetal spring element
internet communications. An integrated cell injection molded containing 5%, 12.5%, or 20% fiberglass for different degrees
two ABS half-shells of a smart luggage tag. A robot then of stiffness. The visitor was given a QR code to initiate his/her
inserted an NFC (near-field communications) chip into one of molding order. A robot removed two acetal spring elements with
the shells, so that the part itself became a data carrier, identi- the appropriate stiffness level from a drawer system and inserted
fying itself at the various stations and controlling its produc- them in the two-cavity mold. After overmolding with a TPU grip
tion process. Each luggage tag was also assigned its own web- pad, the two pieces were assembled manually.
site in the cloud. At an input terminal an individual user Arburg officials report that customers are actively investi-
entered personal information and selected a graphic motif gating the real-world commercial potential of the concept of indi-
from a menu of choices for the design of the tag. This informa- vidualized production. Household appliances is one particular
tion was programmed into the NFC chip in the luggage tag. At a area of interest. Another is personalized medical implants. Other
laser-marking station, user information (name, address, phone industry examples (not involving Arburg) include personalized
number) were imprinted on the tag in plain text and a QR code. Coca-Cola bottles and Kellogg cereal spoons.
@plastechmag Plastics Technology 17

IN D U S T R Y 4 .0
IoT Strategy Cuts

Human Error at Teel
Controlling up to 20
parameters from a single web
interface has slashed setup Teel operators can now send a pre-saved recipe with
more than 20 parameters from a web interface to the
time and increased output at a IoT Gateway, which then distributes the instructions to
the machines on the companys lines in Wisconsin.
leading profile processor.
In a true demonstration of the Internet of Things (IoT)aka Industry In Wisconsin, Teel Plastics (teel.com) has 27 extrusion lines
4.0in action, leading profile processor Teel Plastics Inc. recently that produce different products at various times throughout the
added new software technology that allows oper- day. Each line requires a recipe for every product, a common
By Jim Callari
Editorial Director ators to control all process parameters from one scenario in custom plastics processing. These recipes include
place to reduce the possibility of human error. different material inputs, equipment, heating components, and
The Baraboo, Wis.-based processor, whose products are used in a other variables. Recipes can change several times in one day, and
wide range of applications (see Aug. 14 cover story), teamed up with ones that havent been used in months can resurface when new
Kepware (kepware.com), Portland, Me., on a software package that orders come in.
allows Teel to control up to 20 process parameters and line compo- All these variables caused instances where human error led to
nents through a single web interface. This includes factors like deviations in the recipes. These deviations inspired Teel to find a
temperatures, line speeds, and the addition of any line components. solution that would allow operators to control all pieces electroni-
There are many cally and reduce errors.
variables that go into a Recognizing the need for connectivity, data access, and scal-
single recipe, and our ability, Teel Plastics worked to develop a competitive strategy that
employees are inter- would also enable the firm to capitalize on the benefits of IoT. After
acting with, and having evaluating several IoT offerings, they found that many solutions
to memorize and apply, could address one component of their needssuch as a business
multiple recipes during aspect, protocol, or standardbut not everything. Further compli-
a single shift, says Owen cating the process, many of Teels machines are custom built, so the
Gwynne, Teels senior firm needed a solution capable of communicating with a range of
programmer. There are PLCs from vendors including Allen-Bradley and Siemens.
a lot of different reasons Though at first Teel considered developing an in-house
for errorsemployees are solution, the company ultimately found that Kepwares IoT
moving too quickly; its a Gateway for KEPServerEX provided the most seamless, reliable,
recipe they are unfamiliar and scalable way to control all essential components.
with; or theyve entered Now, a Teel Plastics line operator can send a pre-saved recipe
in the middle of produc- with more than 20 parameters from a web interface to the IoT
tionbut what seems Gateway, which then distributes the instructions to the machines
like a miniscule issue on the line. Teel says this has proven to be a much more efficient
Owen Gwynne, senior can lead to our products and effective method than the previous manual process; and
programmer at Teel Plastics,
having flaws or manu- by providing device connectivity to multiple PLCs, it drastically
says the processors move to
a Kepware software package facturing downtime. We reduces risk of human error. With these new processes, Teel
has helped to reduce the knew there had to be a reduced its setup times by 30%.
incidences of human error in
way to minimize some of By incorporating the IoT throughout our shop floor, weve
its manufacturing process.
this error. been able to take something that previously required memori-

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IN D U S T R Y 4 .0
zation and 30 to 40 clicks and bring it
do you need Continuous down to a single click of a button, states

Gwynne. Working with the IoT Gateway
Melt Filtration? is seamless. Were able to trust that as our

recipes evolve, KEPServerEX will be able
FIMIC.IT! to take on anything and everything that

we throw at it.
Since implementing the IoT Gateway,
Teel has also gained increased visibility
into some of the more granular details of
its manufacturing process. This in-depth
plant-floor data has enabled Teel to test
different variables, which has decreased
downtime. By monitoring different
aspects of production (for example, room
NET RAS+REF ERA temperature) and making slight adjust-
ments, Teel has also made its recipes
the originals and patented by:
much more efficient. In addition, seam-
lessly aggregating data on indicators such
as humidity or wear on parts into a central
ITALIAN MELT FILTER database enables operators to monitor
the melt filter specialist equipment for predictive maintenance,

and enables management to make more
w w w . f i m i c . i t
What seems like a miniscule

issue can lead to our products
having flaws or manufac-
turing downtime. We knew
there had to be a way to
minimize some of this error.
informed decisions on recipes. This has

resulted in higher output and quality, says
Gwynne. For example, prior to the IoT
Gateway implementation, one line was
running at a rate of 18 parts/min. Now,
output is 35 parts/min.
The IoT Gateway also gives Teel
Plastics employees ease of mind, Gwynne
adds. Operators no longer have to
memorize recipes, which allows them to
complete tasks with greater confidence.
Additionally, switching between shifts
has never been smoother, as incoming
operators can easily pick up right where
the previous operator left off.
At the moment, Teel has specific
extrusion lines connected to Kepware
but is moving toward having the entire
plant linked.

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CHILLER S
Chiller Sets New Benchmarks

For Energy Efficiency, Tight Control
Coming in July, a new chiller line
boasts up to 50% energy savings
and 0.5F temperature control.
A new line of small portable

Here are more details on what is heralded as the most efficient
chillers is crammed with
industrial process chiller on the market, first discussed briefly in last standard features usually seen
months Keeping Up section. Jochen Naujokat, only on central models and
By Matt Naitove often as expensive options.
Executive Editor president of Delta T Systems, Richfield, Wis., and
Rick Holzhauer, the firms chief mechanical engi-
neer, previewed this development exclusively for Plastics Technology. machines. Like a conventional fixed-speed hydraulic pump, a fixed-
These units are loaded with features that are either firsts in the field speed compressor runs at 100% of the rated load regardless of the
of process chilling, or are still quite rare for smaller chillers, or are process needs. A more advanced option is the hot-gas bypass valve,
standard capabilities that are usually expensive options. which vents the hot, compressed refrigerant gas to the evaporator if
To be launched in July, the new line will start with small no cooling load is needed. This is wasteful in the same sense that a
portable chillers of 1 to 15 tons, with larger portable models up to conventional fixed-speed hydraulic system dumps excess oil over a
30 tons and central models to follow thereafter. Initial models will relief valve when not required by the process.
be air cooled, though water-cooled units will not be far behind. According to Naujokat, variable-speed compressors have
historically been designed for HVAC use, and only recently have
SAVING ENERGY, BIG TIME models tailored for industrial
Perhaps the most important innovation in these new chillers is chilling become available. A
Applying proven
variable-speed compressor technology, which has been used for key requirement for industrial
technology from
20 years in the HVAC industry but rarely before in process chilling. versions is a wider operating
the HVAC market to
(The only other known example is the NQV series of 10- and envelope, Holzhauer explains.
industrial process
20-ton portable chillers introduced by Thermal Care, Niles, Ill., at Another element critical
chillers.
NPE2015. See June 15 Keeping Up or thermalcare.com.) to the development of the
The new Delta T system monitors the process temperature new chillers was that Delta T
and signals the drive to speed up or slow down the compressor. It Systems (deltatsys.com) worked with controls manufacturers to
eliminates the wear and tear of on/off cycling of the compressor or create a system specifically for use with these compressors.
energy-wasting hot-gas bypass valves. Compared with conventional The controller continuously monitors the suction and discharge
fixed-speed compressors with hot-gas bypass, the new technology pressures to ensure the compressor stays within its operating
uses up to 50% less energy, according to Delta T Systems, or 30-50% envelope. However, that operating envelope is now between 10% and
of the initial investment, and thereby pays for itself in two to three 100% of rated capacity, which means that a 10-ton chiller can operate
years. Naujokat says these estimated savings are conservative efficiently at loads of 1 to 10 tons. That compares with a 30% to 100%
because Most chillers are selected based on the peak-usage time of operating range for conventional chillers, says Naujokat.
the year, which means the chiller is oversized for the average use. Another new energy-saving feature is an electronic expansion
The savings are analogous to the savings from variable-speed valve, which works with the variable-speed compressor to tune
hydraulic pump drives vs. standard fixed-speed pumps in molding the valve to the system needs based on data from temperature and
pressure sensors. The valve is driven by a DC stepper motor, which
QUESTIONS ABOUT MOLD TEMPERATURE CONTROL? moves a pin up or down to allow more or less refrigerant to flow
through the valve. Up to now, this technology has been available
Visit the Heating & Cooling Zone. mainly on larger chillers of 20 tons or more capacity. (It is also used

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on Thermal Cares NQV portable chillers.) Annual Cost-Saving Comparison

The new chillers also use variable-speed condenser fans, 10-ton Air-Cooled Chiller, 5 Day, 2 Shift Operation
which use onboard sensors to monitor the refrigeration system 8,000
Energy Cost Per Yr, $

to keep the fan operating at the most efficient point. Whats more, Cost Savings: $4690/Yr
monitoring the refrigerant discharge pressure also protects the 6,000 At 58% Average Load
compressor by helping to keep it within its operating envelope. ROI: 3 Yr
4,000
The variable-speed condenser uses a permanent-magnet,
electronic computated motor (ECM), described by Delta T Systems 2,000
as the latest development for condenser-fan motors and the Based on 14/kWh
0
quietest, most efficient, and most reliable motor technology in 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
the industry. It eliminates the small copper refrigerant capillary Chiller Load, %
tubes from a mechanical expansion valve or mechanical pressure

Annual Cost-Saving Comparison
controls that can fail over time due to vibration, Holzhauer
10-ton Air-Cooled Chiller, 24-7-365 Operation
explains. ECM is another feature adopted from the HVAC industry,
and variable-speed fans have until now been relatively rare in 16,000
Energy Cost Per Yr, $

Cost Savings: $9852/Yr
process chilling, where they have been offered as expensive 12,000 At 58% Average Load
optionsbut are standard on the new units from Delta T Systems. ROI: 1.4 Yr
8,000
Also contributing to efficiency are oversized, stainless-steel,
brazed-plate evaporators with a larger heat-transfer surface than 4,000
competitive units, which reduces compressor demand and energy Based on 14/kWh
0
consumption. And microchannel aluminum condenser coils 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
eliminate the galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals seen in Chiller Load, %
copper-tube coils with aluminum fins. Microchannel aluminum Fixed-Speed Compressor with Hot-Gas Bypass
coils are the latest technology in the industry, according to Delta T Systems Variable-Speed Compressor
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C H IL L ER S
Naujokat, and have appeared so far on only a few industrial chillers. The controls feature a compressor
In addition, cleanable condenser air-inlet filters to protect the soft start, which adds to longevity, The new
condensers from dust and debris are standard features on the new along with the fact that repeated chillers report-
chillers but not on all competitive models. Delta T Systems also compressor on/off cycles are elimi- edly can pay
added a cleanable evaporator strainer to protect the evaporator nated by the variable-speed motor. for themselves
channels from clogging; unlike similar features on other chillers, The new control system collects a with energy
it employs a new method of straining and a quick-disconnect on large amount of data through digital savings in two
the water side that eliminates threads and hose clamps. Like other sensorsincluding suction and or three years.
state-of-the-art chillers, the new units also have a refrigerant filter/ discharge pressures and temperatures,
drier and all nonferrous chilled-water piping that wont rust. water in/out temperatures, tank level,
pump pressure, drive and fan outputs, pump status, compressor
ENHANCED CONTROL & CONNECTIVITY amps/volts/phase monitoring, and alarms. Such extensive data
Besides energy savings, the number-one benefit from the combi- collection is usually offered on central chillers and is not typical
nation of variable-speed compressor and condenser fan, plus of smaller portable units, Naujokat notes.
electronic expansion valve, is better temperature controlwithin He adds that his new chillers remote communication
0.5 F vs. a more typical claim of 1 F or C, and Naujokat says a optioneither through Modbus to a plant management computer
real-world practical value today is often more like 2-3 F or PLC, or via the internet (cloud) to a remote PC, tablet, or
He notes that the new chillers use adaptive control, whereby phoneis also unusual for smaller chillers. This Industry 4.0
the compressor speed is adjusted to prevent a shutdown if it capability is standard in the new units, not an expensive option.
approaches an alarm conditioncaused, for example, by increased Pricing has not been set for the new VS chiller line, but
refrigerant discharge pressure due to dirty condenser coils. The Naujokat says it will not be premium priced, though the units
issue would be indicated on the control display with a short trou- may cost slightly more than standard models of the same size, a
bleshooting message, and an email or text message could be sent difference he says will be made up for quickly by energy savings, as
automatically to notify maintenance personnel. shown in the two charts opposite..
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Know How
MATERIALS
PART 4 The Need for Generalists
Solving problems generally requires distinguishing good
samples from bad ones. But that can become clumsy when
one person runs the test while another analyzes the data.
When I started my first test lab in 1986, I was the first and only I was stunned. The idea that an engineer responsible for reviewing
employee. This was an invaluable experience because it meant that and reporting on results from an instrument could not, essentially,
I fulfilled all the functions required in the turn on the machine, was foreign to me and at the same time a bit trou-
lab. Setting up the equipment, learning the bling. But as I have worked with a larger number of established facilities
software, establishing the test methods, over the years, I have come to realize that this is typical. The functions
making samples, running the tests, ana- in the lab have been compartmentalized. The technicians operate
lyzing the data, writing the reports, and the equipment and provide the raw results to a project engineer.
maintaining the equipment were all part of The test methods may be developed by highly skilled chemists or
the job description. It never occurred to me mechanical engineers before they are handed off to the technicians
that it could be any other way. for execution of the tests, but the actual sample preparation and
By Mike Sepe Then one day I was working with an running of the instruments is the responsibility of the technicians.
outside facility that had performed some Sometimes these functions can be parceled out in a remark-
tests that I could not do. I had noticed an anomaly in the raw data ably narrow fashion. I visited a lab in the early 1990s where one
and had contacted the project engineer about calling up the files to technician ran the DSC, one ran the TGA, one ran the FT-IR, etc.
review the anomaly. It was late in the afternoon, and the engineer That is all each person did. Not only was it very inefficient, it was
explained to me that to access the data he needed to get into the mind-numbingly boring for the people doing the work. That lab
software program for the instrument and this would have to wait has since closed, for obvious reasons.
until the next morning, when the technician responsible for oper- In a typical lab today, the project engineer receives the raw data
ating that piece of equipment came in. from the technician or technicians and organizes it into a report that
FIG 1 FIG 2
DSC for a Good PE Tube DSC for a Locally Brittle Polyethylene Tube
0.0 125.75C 0.0 125.13C
123.8 J/g 128.1 J/g
-0.5 -0.5
Heat Flow, W/g
Heat Flow, W/g
-1.0 -1.0
-1.5 -1.5
-2.0 -2.0
135.11 C 135.59 C
-2.5 -2.5
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Temperature, %/C Temperature, %/C
Shown here are DSC scans for samples taken from two tubes, KNOW HOW MATERIALS
one considered to be good and the other exhibiting localized Learn more at PTonline.com
brittle behavior. The results for both samples show a sharp
melting event with a peak near 135C (275F) and heat of fusion Get more insights on Materials from our expert author:
values that are comparable, between 124 and 128 J/g. short.ptonline.com/materialsKH

WEBINAR a feature of PTonline.com
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For Free
Wednesday, May 31st Register for this webinar at:

short.ptonline.com/WittBat531
2:00 PM EST
PRESENTER
Smart Factories: 4.0 Connectivity Jim Mitchell
& Condition Monitoring System (CMS) National Sales Manager

Injection Molding Machines
Smart Factories are now a real possibility. Many innovations

have been realized over the years, but perhaps none as
interesting and valuable as Industry 4.0 and Condition Moni-
Jim Mitchell is the National Sales Manager,
toring Systems (CMS). The ability to achieve complete connec-
Injection Machinery Division for Wittmann
tivity along with the need to stay in touch have driven innova- Battenfeld, Inc. in Torrington, Conn. He has 30+
tion, and now nearly all equipment speak to each other. The years of Plastics Industry experience in
capability to have full internal communication of equipment Manufacturing, Global Sales and Executive
Management. Jim is a graduate of the College of
coupled to the Injection Molding Machine with nearly instant
Southern Idaho and a US Navy veteran. His
access to streaming data through the internet may have truly career in plastics began with Tupperware in 1984
created the next generation of Smart Factories. and includes 12 years of injection molding
process engineering with captive and custom
PRIMARY TOPICS: molders. Jim operated a representative
> Integration of all injection molding components using organization for 3 years prior to his 15 year career
with Sumitomo-Demag. He joined Wittmann
4.0 connectivity. Battenfeld in 2015, serving as Regional Sales
> Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS) and how they Manager prior to assuming his current position.
will affect the future of plastics production.
M AT ER I A L S
Know How
FIG 3 TGA Result for a Good Tube Sample FIG 4 TGA Result for a Brittle Tube Sample
120 2.0 105 0.1698% Volatiles 0.8
0.4150% Volatiles 487.01C 488.34C
(0.07473 mg)
(0.06947 mg) 100 x
1.5 0.6
x
Deriv. Weight, %/C
Deriv. Weight, %/C

100 415.00C
415.00C 95
56.34% Polymer 1
Weight, %
Weight, %
1.0 0.4
(9.430 mg) 21.74% Polymer 1
80 90
(9.569 mg)
0.5 0.2
85
60 Residue: 78.09%
Residue: 43.26% 0.0 0.0
80 (34.38 mg)
(7.241 mg)
40 -0.5 75 -0.2
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000
Temperature, C Temperature, C
These show the weight loss and weight-loss rate as a function of temperature. In the good sample the PE
decomposes leaving a non-combustible ash of just over 43%. This is reasonably close to the nominal filler
specification. However, the result for the brittle tube shows a filler content of over 78%.
is supposed to provide a solution to whatever problem has been of the polymer and also quantify the inorganic content in the
posed by the client. And here is where it gets interesting. Solving a material. Both of these tests provide information that has a direct
client problem involves identifying characteristics that distinguish bearing on the properties of the parts made from the material.
good samples from bad samples. Consequently, the person Figures 1 and 2 show DSC scans for samples taken from two
reviewing the raw data should be looking for differences between tubes, one considered to be good and the other exhibiting localized
samples that can then be correlated to the reported differences in brittle behavior. The results for both samples show a sharp melting
function or performance observed by the client. When the task event with a peak near 135C (275F) and heat of fusion values that
of preparing the samples and running the tests is given to one set are comparable, between 124 and 128 J/g. The higher heat of fusion is
of people and the analysis is performed by a separate group, the associated with the brittle sample. It might be tempting to point to
chances increase that important clues will be missed. this as a key data point, since a higher heat of fusion can be associ-
Here is an example. Various PE tubes were provided for an ated with a higher degree of crystallinity. This, in turn, can result
evaluation of compo- in a material that is
sition in an effort to stronger and stiffer,
account for localized When the task of preparing the samples and but less ductile. But an
brittle behavior in running the tests is given to one set of people and analyst with experi-
some of the tubes. the analysis is performed by a separate group, the ence knows that these
The PE was filled to chances increase that important clues will be missed. values are much lower
a reported nominal than normal for HDPE,
level of 40%, and and the reason for this
the density of the specified PE was 0.964 g/cm3. Two tests that reduction is the presence of the filler. This filler is inorganic and
come under the general heading of thermal analysis are essential therefore does not undergo a phase change the way the polymer does.
in characterizing a filled semi-crystalline polymer. Differential But since the heat of fusion is given as an energy per unit mass
scanning calorimetry (DSC) is used to evaluate the composition of the whole sample, the presence of the filler dilutes this value in
and crystallinity of the polymer by measuring the temperature proportion to the amount of filler that is in the compound. Since the
range over which the polymer melts and the energy associated stated nominal filler content is 40%, we can readily calculate that
with that melting process. The other technique is thermo- the heat of fusion of the HDPE itself is slightly above 200 J/g, a value
gravimetric analysis (TGA), a method that heats a sample at a much more in keeping with the specified density of the polymer. In
controlled rate and monitors the manner in which the material addition, since the amount of filler influences the heat of fusion,
decomposes and loses mass. The temperature and rate at which the small difference between the two samples may be attributable
this occurs and the material that remains at the conclusion of to small fluctuations in the filler content. So the picture cannot be
the test provide additional information about the condition complete until we have the TGA results.

These are provided in Figs. 3 and 4. so that these tests are ordered and the
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mike Sepe is an inde-
These show the weight loss and weight- project can be complete. Unfortunately, in pendent, global materials and processing
loss rate as a function of temperature. many cases the results are simply reported consultant whose company, Michael P. Sepe,
In the good sample the PE decomposes, without highlighting the anomalies and LLC, is based in Sedona, Ariz. He has more
than 40 years of experience in the plastics
leaving a non-combustible ash content of their potential significance to the problem. industry and assists clients with material
just over 43%. This is reasonably close to If the client does not have a background in selection, designing for manufacturability,
the nominal specification of 40% inorganic analytical testing, which is usually the case, process optimization, troubleshooting, and
failure analysis. Contact: (928) 203-0408
filler. However, the result for the brittle the answer to the problem will go unnoticed
mike@thematerialanalyst.com.
tube shows a filler content of over 78%! even though it is in plain sight in the data.
This should immediately get the atten-
tion of someone involved in the analysis. I
maintain that the impact of this finding is
best understood when the person running
Complete Blown Film
the test is also the person evaluating the
X-DIE
data. But too often the initial result is
THE
simply passed along and the appropriate
attention is not given to the finding. The
dots are not connected.
& High Performance
Too often the initial result
is simply passed along and
the appropriate attention is
not given to the finding. The
V-RING
dots are not connected.
First, a filler content that is nearly

double that of the nominal specification
has a potentially important connection to
the observed brittle behavior. In addition,
the high filler content finding by TGA does
not correlate well to the DSC result. If the
DSC sample also contained this elevated
level of filler, the heat of fusion would
have been much lower because there
would have been much less polyethylene
in the sample. The fact that the DSC results
agree well between the samples and the
TGA samples do not suggests that the high
filler content is a local condition within
the tube and not a deviation in the compo-
sition of the entire batch or even the entire
individual part from which the sample
was taken. It potentially represents poor
homogeneity within the compound.
Verification of the result demands THE BLOWN FILM EXPERT S
more testsat minimum a second TGA,
and ideally an ash test that allows for an ALPINE AMERICAN
evaluation of a larger sample. But first the
www.halpine.com T: (508) 655-1123 F: (508) 655-9337
results must be understood well enough

Know How
INJECTION MOLDING
How to Duplicate a Process
From Press to Press
To adopt the right approach you must distinguish
between machine and plastic parameters.
One of the more frustrating practices in injection molding is It is critical to duplicate the plastic parameters as you
duplicating a process from one machine to another. I am not move a mold from one press to another. My practice is to use a
saying it is easy. Ive stated repeatedly that Universal Setup Sheet that allows you have one setup sheet per
there are hundreds of variables in pro- moldnot per machine. It logs the impor-
cessing, and dealing with them all is a tant plastic parameters so you can repro-
It is critical
challenge for everybody. Im not going to duce them on any other press. Duplicating
to duplicate
list them all in this article. Instead, I will the plastic parameters allows you to
the plastic
try to help you establish a strategy to suc- transfer a mold from one machine to
parameters
cessfully transfer a process from one another and get the same part. To clarify,
as you move
machine to another. You need to have the I will distinguish between the injection
a mold from
right strategy. So what is it? velocity vs. fill time parameters that
By John Bozzelli one press to
Simply stated, the strategy is differ- are common to all injection molding
another.
entiating plastic from machine parametersi.e., what the processes. One is a machine parameter,
machine sees vs. what the plastic seesand duplicating only the other is a plastic parameter.
the plastic conditions. Yet I see a majority of setup sheets and Lets start with the viscosity curve, as shown in the accompa-
people documenting and chasing machine rather than plastic nying graph. You have seen it before. Maybe youre tired of it. But
parameters. The difference? Basically its between what you tell the for some reason, its primary message seems to get lost. And that
machine to do and what the machine actually does to the plastic. message is to provide data to convince molders that if you change fill
time, you change the viscosity
Typical Plastic Flow of the resin. If you change the
150,000 The message of the viscosity, you change the flow
10
Stiff viscosity curve is pattern of filling the part, which
120,000 this: Melt viscosity
in turn changes the part.
Plastic Viscosity, cp
changes with shear

Fill Time, sec rate. If you change If you want identical parts
90,000 fill time you change from shot to shot, run to run,
the viscosity of the winter to summer, machine to
60,000 resin. And if you
2 machine, you have to duplicate
change the viscosity
1 you change the flow the first-stage fill time, not the
30,000
0.5 pattern in filling the setpoint for injection velocity.
Easy Slow Fast part, which in turn
0 There is a difference. To be
changes the part.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 clear, what I mean by fill time
Flow/Shear Rate, 1/sec is the actual time it takes the
injection screw to travel from
KNOW HOW INJECTION MOLDING the starting position for shot size and decompression (if any), to
Learn more at PTonline.com the screw cutoff position for transfer from first stage to second
Get more insights on Injection Molding from our expert stage (or fill to pack), also known as V to P. First stage should make
authors: short.ptonline.com/moldingKH a consistent, slightly short shot by volume, not weight.

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INJ EC T I O N M O L D IN G
Know How
You can enter in the The difference between fill time and velocity is that Due to both electrical and mechanical
exact same number for fill time is a measured number on every shot. Velocity, aspects of an injection molding machine,
injection velocity every however, is a setpoint the operator inputs to the machine. you may not get the same resultant fill time
time you mount the You can enter in the exact same number for velocity every day to day, run to run, year to year. Voltages
mold, but that will not time you mount the mold, but that will not guarantee may vary, a new amplifier card may have been
guarantee you get the you get the same fill time. The machine takes the input of installed, valves wear, varnish may build up on
same fill time. velocity in inches or millimeters per second, or cubic a valve, oil may be at a different temperature,
inches or millimeters per second, and converts it to some etc. All this means that duplicating the input
type of electronic signal to control a flow valve or drive motor to push the screw at a velocity. number for velocity on the controller does not
guarantee you get the exact same resulting fill
time on first stage. Velocity is a machine param-
eter. Fill time, however, is a measured number,
not a setpoint. So instruct your operators to
use whatever number (velocity) they need to
AUTOMATE Measuring PLASTIC Parts? reproduce the plastic parameter of fill time.
To fully document this correctly you
MICRO-VUS FAMILY of MEASURING MACHINES need the actual fill time, a picture of what
is a FAST, ACCURATE, and EASY solution. a first-stage part looks like (even better is
an actual short shot), and part weight for
this fill time. All these are measured results,
not setpoints. These are relatively easy
for an operator to duplicate. Adjustments
are made to shot size, cutoff position, and
velocity to duplicate the look, weight, and
fill time for a first-stage short shot.
Some may argue that they calibrate
their machines so setpoints will reproduce
results. Further, they have a signed and
dated document stating such. I hate to be
the bearer of bad news, but many of the
calibrations are based on voltages, not actual
gallons per minute of oil flow, actual or
resultant velocities, etc. Ask yourself these
questions: How long does the machine stay
calibrated? An entire year? When did mainte-
nance last work on it? Did you have a power
VERTEX 251 EXCEL 501 SOL 161 interruption? And the last straw, how worn is
Automated Machine Automated Machine Manual Machine the non-return valve? Ignorance is bliss?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Bozzelli is the founder
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in Midland, Mich., a provider of training and
consulting services to injection molders,
including LIMS, and other specialties. Contact
john@scientificmolding.com; scientificmolding.com.

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Know How
EXTRUSION
Sizing the Barrier Gap
Heres a less complex way to properly size the barrier gap for barrier screws.
Ive come across a variety of barrier gaps on barrier screws that Trouble is, some of these values are constantly changing and are
are seemingly unrelated to the melting-section design. If done difficult to obtain over the entire length of the melting area, such as
properly, the barrier length automati- () the viscosity at the interface of the film and the solid; (Ts) the
cally becomes a function of the design- temperature of the solid under the film; and (TM) the temperature of
ers choice for the melting area and its the melt in the film. Additionally, the surface area over the solids in
resulting length. the channel (X), the rate of compression, and the flight pitch can
The melt flow over the barrier gap change, affecting the melt-film formation. Its difficult to make even
is controlled by the melting rate, which an average estimate of some of
is a complex calculation. In general, the the values because of their
barrier clearance should be greater than constantly changing nature. In general, the
the thickness of the melt film, so that all The other values in the melt- barrier clearance
By Jim Frankland
the melt can pass over the barrier flight film calculation are all known should be greater
with the natural drag flow. A gap thats too restrictive will cause or can be calculated from the than the thickness
accumulation of melt in the solids channel and end up decreasing screw geometry, screw rpm, of the melt film so
the melting rate. Conversely, a gap thats too large could allow and barrel temperatures. that all the melt can
passage of unmelted polymer to pass into the melt channel, where So from an expeditious pass over the barrier
its more difficult to melt. point of view, what can be flight with the
The barrier clearance is typically measured from the O.D. of the done to size the barrier gap natural drag flow.
screw flights, as the film between the main flight and barrel wall is without having to deal with
assumed to remain static. According to the 1970 textbook published the complex calculations for
by Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., Engineering Principles of Plasticating the thickness of the melt film? Well, if you can calculate the output
Extrusion, by Zehev Tadmor and Imrich Klein, the film thickness of the screw and how much of that amount is designed to go over
during melting in the solids channel can be represented by: the barrier, you can use drag flow between parallel plates to approx-
imate barrier-gap size. (Keep in mind that many barrier screws
={[2K(Tb-Ts)+Vj2]x / Vbx [Cs(TM-TB) + ]X }1/2 allow a portion of the polymer to pass through the solids channel
without going over the barrier.) The calculation is:
FIG 1
QD=(WHV)/2, where:
Triangular Flow Velocity
VB
Moving QD= The portion of the polymer to pass over the barrier (in./sec)
V=O
W= Axial length of barrier (in.)
H= Barrier gap from barrel I.D. (in.)
V= Peripheral velocity of screw (in./sec)
Stationary
That makes the equation for sizing the barrier gap as:
Drag-flow velocity with a moving plate (barrel) against a
stationary plate (screw flight) is triangular. The polymer at
the stationary plate represents zero and the moving plate VB
H=2QD/WV
KNOW HOW EXTRUSION The expression in the first equation is divided by two because the
Learn more at PTonline.com drag-flow velocity with a moving plate (barrel) against a stationary
plate (screw flight) is triangular in shape, with the polymer at the
Get more insights on Extrusion from our expert authors.
short.ptonline.com/extrudeKH stationary plate being zero and the moving plate VB (see Fig. 1).

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Know How
FIG 2 Approximating the Barrier Gap Several factors can affect the flow over the barrier flight in addition to drag
flow. First is the pressure difference between the solids and melt channels, but
Barrier
that is generally positive and assists the flow. Also to consider: radial movement
Gap
of the screw in the barrel and non-uniformity of melt-film formation due to
If you can the screw design. Consequently its a good idea to allow for those possibilities
calculate the
output of the Rotation by oversizing the gap. The width of the barrier flight has minimal effect on the
screw and how flow of polymer over the barrier. Experience has shown that twice the calculated
much of that is value is a good choice, and further increases do not show an improvement.
Solids Melt
designed to go
over the barrier,
This is not a rigorous solution but works well for barrier screw design
you can use drag and saves a lot of time.
flow between
parallel plates ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jim Frankland is a mechanical engineer who has been
to approximate involved in all types of extrusion processing for more than 40 years. He is now
the length of the Drag Flow president of Frankland Plastics Consulting, LLC.
barrier gap. Contact jim.frankland@comcast.net or (724)651-9196.
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Know How
TOOLING
Locating Rings, Platen Damage,
PART 3
and the Center of Gravity

Selecting the right locating ring and putting
it to good use takes careful consideration.
Parts 1 and 2 of this column in March and April reviewed the var- But most setup men prefer a mold that has a slight tilt
ious types of locating rings available and their physical character- backwards, or counter-clockwise as viewed from the operator
istics. This month I will explain how the side of the machine. This small angle puts the bottom edge of
type of locating ring and the mold design the locating ring up against the platen. As the mold is lowered
can help reduce damage to the platens slowly into the
and provide a number of other benefits. machine, the locating
Reducing the amount
How far should a locating ring ring will automatically
of time it takes to set
extend beyond the face of a mold in slip into the hole in the
up a mold is always on
order to make setups easier and reduce platen. Unfortunately,
managements radar.
potential damage to the platen? That if the mold is heavy, or
By Jim Fattori depends on how long and how level if the lowering speed
the mold is when suspended by the is somewhat fast, there is a strong likelihood of damaging the
crane. The longer the mold and the more it is tilted, the more bottom edge of the platen alignment hole (Fig. 2).
lead-in is required to prevent the top or bottom edges of the Some molders understand this and prefer that the mold has a
mold from hitting the platen before the locating ring does (see slight tilt forward. In this case, the top edge of the locating ring is
Fig.1). The accompanying table shows it doesnt take much of an up against the platen and it too will slip into the alignment hole.
angle for potential damage to occur. The problem with this configuration is that if the mold doesnt
have a safety strap, theres a chance the A-plate will
Angle When Edge
Hits Platen slide out of the B-plate and fall to the ground.
Actually, a tilt in either direction can be a safety
Type of Locating Ring:
hazard. When you open the safety gate to install the
Locating Insulator Insulator
Ring mold clamps, if the moving platen on a hydraulic
with with Extended
Height Standard machine is not under pressure, it can be pushed open
1/2-in. 1/4-in. Lead-In
(# 6501)
Edge- sheet sheet (# 6521) by either the top or bottom edge of an unbalanced mold.
to- (# 6541) (# 6541) From a design standpoint, there isnt much you
Edge
Locating Ring Height, in. canor would want todo about the length of the
0.313 0.406 0.656 0.781 mold. The obvious solution is to have an eyebolt hole
FIG 1 at the molds center of gravity to ensure the mold is
Edge to
This Angle When Edge of the Mold Touches, level when lifted into the machine. First check with
Edge, in.
illustration the molder to verify what he or she considers the
and the 4 4.5 5.8 9.3 11.0
accompanying
top of the mold should be. The orientation may vary
table show the 8 2.2 2.9 4.7 5.6 depending on whether the plan is to use top-entry
angle when 12 1.5 1.9 3.1 3.7 robotics, or manual part removal from the side.
the edge of a
14 1.3 1.7 2.7 3.2 Obviously, the best scenario is to have eyebolt holes
mold will hit
the platen for at the molds center of gravity on all four sides. It is also
16 1.1 1.5 2.3 2.8
various types advantageous to put an eyebolt hole at the center of
of locating 18 1.0 1.3 2.1 2.5
gravity on each mold half. This is especially important
rings. 20 0.9 1.2 1.9 2.2 with large molds. Assembling a large mold on the bench

TO O L IN G
Know How
or hanging it one Many solid-modeling CAD software programs can accurately

half at a time in a specify the location of a molds center of gravity with just a couple
machine can be of mouse clicks. If your CAD program cannot specify the center of
a difficult, if not gravity, a good approximation can be determined by drawing a set
dangerous, task. It of intersecting lines from the corners of the top clamp plate and the
is even worse if the B-Retainer plate (Fig. 3). Draw a horizontal line from their intersec-
mold is dangling tion point toward the ejector housing. The center of gravity will be
FIG 2 on an angle, approximately one-half the thickness of the rear clamp plate and
Note the damage to the bottom which can result ejector plates, plus one quarter of the ejector stroke, away from this
of the platen alignment hole in mold damage, intersection point. No matter what method you use to determine
due to a tilted mold.
platen damage, or the molds center of gravity, dont forget to add a safety strap to
pinched fingers. prevent the two mold halves from separating.
Its good practice to stamp all of the eyebolt holes with the If you cant install an eyebolt hole at the center of gravity due to
diameter of the bolt. Its understood that eyebolt holes are tapped an interlock, water line, or some other obstruction, you can work
with a coarse (not a fine) thread (UNC vs. UNF). With so many around the problem by adding a lifting bar. The best lifting bars are
offshore molds finding their way onto the production floor, bad parallel with the centerline of the mold and have at least two bolts
things can happen when you force a UNC eyebolt into a metric keeping the mold halves together. This configuration also vertically
threaded holeor vice-versa. aligns the two mold halves. It eliminates the unwanted stress on the
FIG 3
leader pins, interlocks, shut-offs, cam heels, etc., which is unavoid-
Approximating the Center of Gravity
able when lifting a mold up with an eyebolt in a single plate.
Actual A lifting bar mounted perpendicular to the molds centerline will
Center of
also work if the mold has a safety strap preventing the two halves from
Gravity
separating. Dont forget to engrave the mold or part number on both
Estimated
Center of the lifting bar and the safety strap. Unmarked lifting bars and safety
A B Gravity straps scattered around a molding room are more than just bad house-
keepingthey are an accident waiting to happen.
A/2
+ Reducing the amount of time it takes to set up a mold is always
B/4
on managements radar. The fastest way to lift a mold is with a single
Knockout
Stroke eyebolt, as mentioned in the previous examples. Using two eyebolts
and a chain sling is a little slower, but it is the safest. If one eyebolt
If your CAD program cannot specify the center of gravity,
fails, the other is there for protection. Two chains can also help level
you can estimate one by drawing a set of intersecting lines
from the corners of the top clamp plate and the B-Retainer the mold, especially if you can adjust the length of the individual
plate. Draw a horizontal line from their intersection point chains. The ideal scenario is to have a parallel lifting bar with two
toward the ejector housing. The center of gravity will be
eyebolt holes equidistant from the center of gravity.
approximately one-half the thickness of the rear clamp
plate and ejector plates, plus one quarter the ejector Regardless of how many eyebolts you use, you cannot allow the
stroke, away from this intersection point. mold halves to separate. Im not sure how much time it takes to
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TO O L IN G
Know How
the location of the eyebolt holes. Hopefully this three-part column

increased your awareness of their importance. After all, these
minor mold details can have important effects:
Reduce the damage to the platen face and alignment orifice.
Reduce the chance of personal injury.
Reduce the mold setup time.
Reduce the chance of blow-back.
FIG 4
Reduce damage to the heater bands.
Reduce damage to the molds parting line.
The best lifting bar is A lifting bar mounted
Reduce wear on mating mold components.
mounted parallel with perpendicular to the molds
the molds centerline centerline will also work Broaden the processing window.
and has at least two if the mold has a safety
bolts keeping the mold strap preventing the two
This three-part article is dedicated to my friend and former
halves together. halves from separating.
colleague, Miguel Pinto, who was critically injured while hanging
an injection mold.
comprehend and react to a dangerous situation, but by my calcu-
lation, it takes exactly 0.5 sec for a mold or mold halflarge or ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jim Fattori is a third-generation injection molder
smallto hit the ground from a height of 4 ft. with more than 40 years of molding experience. He is the founder of
Injection Mold Consulting LLC, and is also a project engineer for a large,
In many cases, not enough consideration is given to the selec-
multi-plant molder in New Jersey. Contact jim@injectionmoldconsulting.com;
tion of the type of locating ring, its physical characteristics, and injectionmoldconsulting.com.
On-Site Agri-Industrial Plastics Co. Fairfield, Iowa
By Matt Naitove
Executive Editor
High-Tech Blow Molding

At Agri-Industrial Plastics
AIP director of sales &
This family-owned custom molder stands marketing Mick Stielow
(right) and director of
out in its use of advanced computer and engineering Geoff Ward
show off one of their
automation tools to claim a niche in large, large, multi-layer gas
tanks and the computer
complex, and multi-layer parts. simulation software
that helps make such
challenging parts possible.
What enables a relatively small, family-owned custom molder to dominate industry heavy-
weights like Kautex Textron, ABC Group Fuel Systems (now YAPP USA Automotive Systems),
and Walbro in the specialty niche of nonautomotive barrier fuel tanks? A look at the history
of Agri-Industrial Plastics Co. (AIP) in Fairfield, Iowa, suggests three key ingredients of suc-
cess: Fearlessness in taking on challenging new technologies; a deliberate approach to evalu-
ating technical alternatives; and a readiness to investand keep on investingin state-of-
the-art technologies to optimize quality and productivity.

Agri-Industrial Plastics Co.
On-Site
To these three, Mick Stielow, AIPs
director of sales and marketing, would
add a fourth essential element: What
makes us competitive? Its our people, from
the design and engineering staff to our
machine setup and processing technicians,
and their legacy of understanding all about
blow molding. A significant number of our
employees have 25 to 30 years experience.
Adds Geoffrey Ward, director of engi-
neering, We have setup technicians that
AIP has six (soon to be seven) Kautex coex machines for barrier
I would put up against any in the industry. gas tanks, plus 18 Kautex monolayer machines for other products.
Our guys like to prove that theyre the
ones who can make a difficult part work. The automotive guys degree, and worked in the Chicago area before returning to Fairfield
cant believe the tanks were doing. Some of the crazy shapes weve in 2004 to learn the ropes in the family business.
validated appear to violate every rule of blow molding. AIPs evolution to become the leading producer of nonautomotive
Weve developed a reputation for taking on difficult projects fuel tanks started in 2004, when the U.S. EPA first issued fuel-vapor
that other custom molders have not been able to supportlarger emission standards affecting the power-sports industry. At the time,
parts with complex shapes and parting lines. AIPs machines can AIP made monolayer HDPE tanks. We asked ourselves how we were
make parts weighing over 80 lb and measuring up 44 in. wide x going to meet the new requirements. We talked with our customers
120 in. long. And our design knowledge is a big edge because blow about their plans to meet the evolving standards. Either we would stay
molding is still unfamiliar to many industrial designers out there. in fuel tanks and figure out a solution, or get out, recalls Ward.
AIP tried using a laminar blend of HDPE with
DuPonts Selar PA amorphous nylon additive but
wasnt satisfied with the results. AIP also consid-
ered fluorination and sulfonation before settling
on coextrusion as the most promising solution. It
was an expensive way to go. Each coex machine
costs $3-5 million. A publicly traded company
couldnt have made the business case for such an
investment, says Ward. We ordered the first coex
machine in 2004. The lead time was longit arrived
AIP specializes in nonautomotive coex barrier fuel tanks with in 2006 and went into production in 2007. So it was
complex shapes, like these two examples for riding lawnmowers. three years before that machine made a dime.
We were the first custom molder to order a coex
TAKING A LEAP INTO COEXTRUSION machine for nonautomotive fuel-tank production, says Ward. We
AIP (agriindustrialplastics.com) operates out of a 340,000 ft2 plant, never envisioned what it would become today.
expanded in 2015 by 105,000 ft2. The firm has 195 employees, making Fuel tanks became half of AIPs business and will grow to 55-60%
it one of the biggest employers in a community of 9500. The plant this year. Ward estimates that 80% of the tanks it molds are multi-
houses 20 accumulator-head blow molders from 5 to 100 lb shot layer and 20% are monolayer diesel-fuel tanks, which require no
capacity, two of them in the 70-100 lb range. But about half of the barrier. AIP also molds a couple of monolayer HDPE tanks that are
companys revenuein the $40-50 million ballparkis generated by sent to an outside vendor for fluorination treatment. Ward thinks
six continuous-coextrusion machines for multi-layer fuel tanks. A fluorination could have a limited future as a barrier solution in fuel
seventh coex machine is on order and due to arrive this summer. tanks. He explains, California is talking about making big changes
The company was started in 1978 with one used machine and in regulationstightening requirements for certification, which
four employees. The founder, Richard Dick Smith, had been in will require greater consistency of barrier performance. Our data
blow molding since the 1960s. Hes company chairman today, and
still actively involved. His daughter, Lori Schaefer-Weaton, took QUESTIONS ABOUT BLOW MOLDING?
over the reins as president in 2015. She had worked part-time in Learn more at PTonline.com
the plant during her high-school years, went on to earn a finance Visit the Blow Molding Zone.

On-Site Agri-Industrial Plastics Co.
show fluorination is much less consistent than a coextruded barrier. Californias changes
including possible lower emission limits later oncould squeeze out fluorination.
AIPs two biggest markets for tanks and other blow molded products are outdoor
power equipment (~40%) and power sports (~30%). The latter includes ATVs, UTVs, snow-
mobiles, golf carts, and marine applications. The remaining 30% or so is made up of other
sporting goods, heavy trucks, agricultural and construction equipment, traffic safety,
defense, furniture, medical, and industrial.
HDPE accounts for 90% of AIPs material consumption, though it also molds a few parts
in PP, ABS, PC, nylon, and Eastmans Tritan copolyester. The firm does quite a bit of insert
molding, Ward notes, including metal fasteners and injection molded components such
as fuel-tank fill necks, vent barbs, and mounting tabs. A few OEMs were initially skeptical
about whether overmolding inserts would work with multi-layer blow molding, but we
proved this out from the very beginning. In some cases, plastic components are hot-plate
welded onto the tanks instead of overmolded.
Stielow says AIP has fewer than half a dozen direct competitors in coex fuel tanks, plus
a handful of firms using fluorination or barrier additives such as nanoclays. Were unique
in offering both multi-layer coextrusion and monolayer non-tank production capacity,
says Stielow. That works for us because our OEM fuel-tank customers also need monolayer
coolant tanks, air ducts, ORV doors, tailgates, etc.
AIP can mold larger parts than COMPETING WITH TECHNOLOGY

most custom molders, like this HDPE
Fuel tanks are a big growth niche for us, due to our blow molding expertise and because
playground slide, which weighs
50-60 lb and measures 10 x 2 ft. owenrship has been willing to invest, says Stielow. And invest they did. All six of AIPs coex
A
Dryer
control
gets an
Agri-Industrial Plastics Co.
On-Site
machines, and the one on order, are supplied by Kautex Machines humans without needing to be caged in with guarding. We use it for
Inc., North Branch, N.J. (kautex-group.com). These are state-of-the- insert loading in high-volume applications, Ward notes. One advan-
art machines, Stielow notes. There are lower-cost multi-layer tage of this type of robot (or cobot) is that it uses lead-through teach
machines available, but none of them come close to matching programming to make setup for new jobs faster and simpler.
Kautex machines for process control, consistency, and reliability. Like most new technologies, there is a learning curve to get
In fact, most of AIPs machines come from Kautex, except everyone comfortable using and programming it, Ward reports.
for a few older units that were bought used at the launch of the
business in 1978.
AIP makes considerable use of robotics, in applications both
inside the molding machinefor parison transfer, insert loading,
and demoldingand outside the machine in the finishing/assembly
area for trimming and hot-plate welding. Several presses use
simple linear robots to transfer parts out of the mold area, which
can be high up and/or difficult to access on some machines. The
multi-layer coex machines use six-axis articulated robots to grab
the parison and transfer it from the extrusion die head to the mold
clamp. Its more efficient than a shuttling press, Ward explains.
Other six-axis robots are used for automated trimming, drilling,
and welding. These units are mounted on a base with a part-fixturing
platform, and can be moved to different machines with a forklift.
In addition, AIP installed early this year its first collaborative
AIP uses six-axis robots for transferring parisons
robot, a UR10 model from Universal Robots USA Inc., Ann Arbor,
from die head to mold clamp and for automated
Mich. (universal-robots.com), designed to work safely alongside trimming, hole drilling, and hot-plate welding.
What does the A stand for in the new DC-A dryer control on small and mid-size
Conair dryers? Well, it represents the Allen-Bradley platform that supports a lot
of really Advanced capabilities. Like Accuracy, as shown on real-time trending
screens and the Acclaimed Conair Drying Monitor both built-in. It stands for
Adjustable dew-point control, Automatic (or manual) temperature set-back,
the standard Autostart feature, and for the wide-Area color touch-screen
interface. Whatever you think A should stand for, youll find the new DC-A dryer
control makes the grade!
The new DC-A dryer control Doing our part to help you make
yours grade-A.
Visit conairgroup.com/drying
Storage Conveying Drying Blending/Feeding Heat Transfer Size Reduction Extrusion Systems
1.800.654.6661 724.584.5500 info@conairgroup.com www.conairgroup.com

On-Site Agri-Industrial Plastics Co.
repeated iterations, we can determine how thick we have to be over

here in order to meet minimum thickness requirements over there.
It really helps us communicate with designers, adds Stielow. It
helps validate our recommendations when the customer resists
making changes. We now can demonstrate how shifting a parting
line or increasing a localized radius can improve overall wall-thick-
ness distributionand increase the usable liquid capacity of the tank.
AIP is using simulation more and more, on about half of its
new jobs, mainly the more complex parts. We can see where
Geoff Ward with one of the new IQMS data-entry
stations at every press, which record variables like the parison will touch the mold first, says Ward. That helps us
cycle time and scrap rate in real time. Were learning troubleshoot needle location on very large parts, and optimize that
a new way to run the business, Ward says. location if we have flexibility.
Ward notes that AIP engineers can enter parameters into the
It works well in select applications. Were still evaluating software and get good correlation with real-world results. The ideal
applying this option where it makes sense. state would be where the software can tell us what machine param-
Another new addition at AIP is an ERP system from IQMS eters to use in productionthat could save us a lot of time in setup.
(iqms.com), Paso Robles, Calif. AIP went live with the system How good are the softwares predictions? AIP measured the
in December 2016. There are growing pains with any new ERP actual thickness at 22 locations on a particularly complex-shaped
system, admits Ward, but the amount of data we can generate fuel tank that ranged in nominal thickness from 2 to 6 mm.
now is remarkable. Were learning a different way to run the Comparison of the predicted and actual thicknesses ranged from
business. A data-entry terminal is now located at every molding 0.0 to 0.6 mm. Sixteen of the 22 measurements were within
press. It allows us to monitor whats happening in real time 0.2 mm, which was both the mean and median of the differences
production efficiencies, cycle times, and scrap rates. between predicted and actual thicknesses. Thats close enough,
AIPs most adventurous exploration of new technologysince Ward allows. We can get that much in shot-to-shot variations.
its initial decision to dive into multi-layer coextrusionis its The BlowView consortium is continuing to research and refine
involvement with computer-aided blow molding simulation. the software in several directions. One is shrink/warp prediction.
Analogous to the flow-analysis software that has revolutionized Im very excited by this, enthuses Ward. Variable wall thickness
injection molding, blow molding simulation is at an earlier point is inevitable in blow molding, and with that comes warpage. Weve
in development and seen parts that met all key
little known to the dimensions but didnt fit in
AIP joined a blow molding simulation consortium,
vast majority of blow the final assembly due to
whose other members are heavyweights like Ford,
molders. warpage. If you can predict
TI Automotive, IAC Group, ABC Group, Graham
For the last even the right direction
Packaging, Amcor PET Packaging, and Coca-Cola.
three years, AIP has of warpage, thats half the
been a member battle. It can save a lot in
of a consortium, the Special Interest Group in Blow Molding geometry and tooling revision costs. The software has not been
(SIGBLOW), formed by the National Research Council Canada developed for cooling analysis yet, but Ward says some in the
(NRC), Ottawa, Ont. Members of SIGBLOW have access to propri- consortium would like to see R&D in that direction.
etary blow molding simulation software, called BlowView, which He adds, We are also using simulation for troubleshooting on
is not available on the commercial market. There are currently the shop floor. One of our very skilled but skeptical technicians
14 members of the consortium (nrc-cnrc.gc.ca), which puts this initially resisted it, but now has asked for help from our design team
small custom molder in company with the likes of Ford Motor to apply simulation to solve a processing challenge. Thats an encour-
Co., TI Automotive, Plastic Omnium, IAC Group North America, aging sign. Were still a long way from using simulation to its full
ABC Group-Saflex Polymers Ltd., Kautex North America, Graham potential. But the results we have achieved so far outweigh the costs.
Packaging Co., Amcor PET Packaging, and The Coca-Cola Company. AIP has nine CAD seats for part and mold design, and one seat for
BlowView models the thickness of the parison during extrusion BlowView simulation. In addition, it has a small 3D printer to enable
and the finished part after blowing. It takes into consideration parison customers to visualize particular features of large parts at the design
sag and swell. It gives us a warningor confirms our intuitionthat or prototype stage. AIPs quality lab has a laser scanner, which Ward
there is going to be a thin corner, says Ward. It helps quantify poten- says is a lot faster than a touch-probe CMM to get a full 3D profile of
tial issueswe know its going to be thin, but how thin? Through a molded part.

WEBINAR a feature of PTonline.com
Thursday, June 6th WATCH ON-DEMAND NOW AT:

2:00 PM EST short.compositesworld.com/BTGLabs66
How to Measure and Control the Surface Properties PRESENTER

of Thermoplastics to Maximize Adhesion Dr. Giles Dillingham
BTG Labs Chief Scientist/
The success of bonding and printing to thermoplastics depends on control of a thin Founder
zone on the surface of a polymer. Changes in processing or composition can result
in dramatic changes that control adhesion and product quality. This webinar covers
the fundamentals of adhesion related to surface engineering of thermoplastics via
flame, corona, and plasma treatment. The effects of surface active additives are
presented along with techniques for detecting their presence and understanding Giles Dillingham has worked in the areas of
their effects on adhesion. Practical strategies for process development and control surfaces, interfaces, and adhesive bonding
provide participants with useful tools for improving quality and consistency. for approximately 30 years. After earning
PRIMARY TOPICS: a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the
Detecting surface contaminants University of Cincinnati, he worked in the

Thermoplastic surfaces and why
controlling the surface is important that could be detrimental to Advanced Composites laboratory of the
for bonding and printing adhesion Dow Chemical Company developing a
Adhesion on polymers and how Process development/control fundamental understanding of surface

to optimize flame, corona, and strategies to improve product treatments for high modulus polymeric fiber
plasma treatments quality and consistency reinforcements for aerospace applications.
Tips and Techniques
If Two Arms Are Better Than One,

Are Four Better Than Two?
Robots with two main arms have proven useful in
applications ranging from stack molds to IML to
insert molding and performing a variety of post-mold
operations. The concept has evolved to the point
that a single robot chassis can have two kick
assemblies with one or two arms apiece.
The first step in multi-arm evolution of Cartesian robots was the addition of a
sub-arm behind the main lifting arm to remove runners from three-plate molds.
For many years, Cartesian-style robots have been the primary As the robot mechanics improved, programming became easier
design for injection molding machines take-out robots. They and the end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) grew more sophisticated, so new
normally were comprised of three linear axes: a applications became possible. It has become common to use Double
By Ronald Bryant
Yushin America strip stroke, a lifting stroke, and conveying Main Arm robots for pre- and post-molding operations (photo
stroke. The mold would open and the lifting opposite). Typical pre-mold operations include automatic placement
stroke would position a gripping device to secure the molded parts of inserts in the mold before
in the mold. The strip stroke would move back, removing the the plastic is shot. Those
A simple light-duty
molded parts and then the lifting stroke would retract, allowing inserts could be machined
sub-arm for removing
the mold to close and continue the cycle. The conveying stroke or cast metal components,
sprues from three-
then moved the parts, carried by the lifting and strip stroke axes, or even molded plastic parts
plate molds evolved
to an area where they could be discharged. for overmolding operations.
into a second primary
It was only a short time before the need to simultaneously Double-main-arm robots
arm for stack molds
remove runners from three-plate molds was solved with the have applications in a wide
and then to the double-
addition of another lifting-stroke axis that was positioned behind range of industries:
main-arm robots
the main lifting arm (photo above).
commonly used today.
Medical applications
EVOLUTION OF THE SECOND MAIN ARM include overmolding
Many years later, the secondary, light-duty lifting arm was threaded inserts or clear windows.
replaced by a second primary lifting arm. Now the linear robot Automotive applications include overmolding elastomeric skins or
could be used for stack molds, simultaneously removing molded metal stiffening structures
parts from both sides of a stack mold. These applications are very Electronic and household-goods applications include overmolding
popular in packaging markets. RFI shielding or connector bodies encapsulating terminals

ROB OT S
Military applications include embedded electronic cir-

cuitry or overmolding impact-deadening materials
Virtually all industries can benefit from in-mold-

labeling (IML) applications. Those labels can be plastic film
or rigid plastic or metal. Applications range from warning
labels on lawnmowers to calibration markings on surgical
instrumentation to
identifying features in
Two main robot arms automobiles.
save floor space and Another use for
can perform secondary the second main arm
operations such as can be to reverse the
degating, inspection, orientation of parts. As was Assembly of Eddie, a toy robot, from eight
and hinge flexing while demonstrated in Yushins
parts in a family mold, was demonstrated with
a dual-main-arm robot at NPE 2012 and 2015.
transferring parts to booth at NPE 2015, medical
their next station, at no marijuana vials were
cost in cycle time. removed from the mold by Post-mold operations for a secondary main arm include
securing the bottom of the deflashing, degating, inspection, and hinge flexing. By incor-
containers with the EOAT. porating these and similar secondary operations on the robots
However, they needed to be placed in the lid-closing station with second main arm, two significant benefits are realized. First, the
the lid facing up. To ensure that the overall molding cycle would operation can be performed as the parts are moving from the
not be increased, a double-main-arm robot with opposing EOATs mold to the next operation. Since the robot does not have to place
was utilized. After the parts were removed from the mold, the rear the parts into a fixed-location fixture or clamp and wait for the
EOAT, which held the parts by the base, was positioned in front of operation to complete, the total cycle can be shorter. If one or both
the front EOAT. The parts were transferred to the front EOAT, which arms are equipped with a single- or dual-motion servo rotary axis,
secured the open side of the containers. Now the containers were the potential application range increases tremendously.
in the correct orientation For example, some hinge-flexing
for placement in the closing applications cannot be properly
Double-main-arm robots have
fixtures, and cycle time was become common in applications accomplished with one
not affected since that reori- requiring pre- and post-mold end-of-arm tool. A
entation occurred during the operations such as insert placement, secondary device to
in-mold label placement, degating,
move to the fixtures. render the correct
inspection, hinge flexing,
The second main and assembly. motion is sometimes
arm also can be used required. In place of
for product assembly. a piece of fixed equip-
As Yushin demon- ment that requires the part to
strated at the 2012 and be held in position and eats up
2015 NPE shows in Orlando, an valuable cycle time, that device
eight-part family tool was used mold and assemble can be added to the second main
Eddie, a toy robot (photo at top). The parts were demolded with arm. With that concept, the operation occurs as the robot is trans-
the primary-main-arm EOAT. That EOAT was repositioned and six ferring the molded parts to their next operation.
parts were transferred to the secondary main arms EOAT. As the This thought leads to the second benefit of a second main
first two parts were placed into an assembly fixture, parts on the arm on the robot: Valuable floor space is made available for other
second EOAT were repositioned to permit accurate placement on uses. It may permit moving the presses closer to one another,
the first parts and clamping nests. When the complete assembly or it may permit the addition of other labor- and inventory-
was finished, a third EOAT retrieved Eddie from his fixture and
placed him on his feet on the conveyor leading to his anxiously QUESTIONS ABOUT ROBOTS?
waiting adoptive family. Eddie was produced in a little less than
one minute without being touched by human hands. Visit the Robots Zone.

Tips & Techniques
This single robot chassis

permits operations that function
independent of one another and
act like two independent cells, yet
are managed by a single controller.
Advantages of this setup include
reduced floorspace and capital
cost savings of 10% to 15% over a
conventional two-robot solution.
Furthermore, value-added opera-
tions occurring at the molding cell
reduce material-handling labor and
Robots featuring two strip or kick assemblies on one traversing stroke,
storage space and reduce damage
like Yushins Double Wing design, have emerged in the last decade.
caused by additional handling. The
end result is faster and lower cost
throughput for your customer.
saving items such as box-loading systems. Packaging the This design is well suited to multi-process automated molding
molded parts at the press with the use of the robot eliminates systems, as indicated by these examples:
the manpower required to manually transfer parts from a
conveyor to a tote for subsequent inspection and packaging. 1. Two-color or multi-material molding.
Wasteful queues of WIP are reduced and the increased potential Mold opens, permitting the main arms to position the EOAT to
of damage or loss is reduced. Taken individually, each of these secure and remove the molded parts.
benefits improves the companys profitability and increases its Main arm B traverses to the discharge area as main arm A
perceived value to its customers. When multiple improvements transfers the molded part from the first mold to the second
are realized for an application, the ROI can be very attractive. mold for overmolding a second color or material.
ENTER THE DOUBLE WING 2. Maintaining total separation of RH and LH parts (below
Robot functionality advanced again in the past decade with the intro- left).
duction of two entirely separate robot arms, each with its own strip, Mold opens, permitting the main arms to position the EOAT
or kick, axis on a single conveying, or traverse, axis. Operated by a to secure and remove the molded parts.
single controller, the
two arms could be
mechanically coupled B Side: Performs take- B Side:
or they could operate out, places molded Performs take-
part on rear side out, supplies A Side: Handles
A Side: Performs take-
independently. The rotation unit. parts from rotation
out, releases molded
latter is the case with to packing stage.
Downstream part on operator side
the so-called Double Machine
Wing design (photo).
This type of robot fea-
tures two independent
strip or kick assemblies
on one traversing
stroke. Each of the kick
assemblies can be con- Rotation
Unit (90)
figured with one main Downstream Conveyor
lifting arm, or one main Machine Stocker
arm and one sub-arm, APPLICATION 2: Double Wing design with APPLICATION 3: Demolding and pack-out for
or with two main arms, one main arm on each kick assembly short molding cycles. Main arm B with sub-
permits parts to be released at both the arm removes parts and transfers them to a
or any combination of operator side and rear side of the machine rotation unit for 90 repositioning. Main arm
those configurations. to maintain separation of RH and LH parts. A takes the rotated parts and packs them.

ROB OT S
B Side: Performs A Side: Performs B Side: Performs A Side: Picks

Main arm B traverses to the
take-out and take-out and take-out, supplies workpiece, assembles,
rear-side discharge area as stocks parts. stocks parts. positioning stage inspects, and stocks
main arm A traverses to the
operator-side discharge area.
The molded parts can be
released to a discharge con-
veyor or positioned in stocker
systems.
Workpiece
Inspection
3. Demolding and pack-out for B Side Unit
Stocker
short molding cycles (oppo-
Positioning
site, lower right). A Side Stocker Stage
Mold opens, permitting the
APPLICATION 4: Demolding and pack-out for Stocker Workpiece Feeder
main arm(s) B to position the ultra-short molding cycles. A- and B-side kick
EOAT to secure and remove the assemblies each have a main arm and sub-
arm for demolding parts and packing them APPLICATION 5: Demolding, assembly
molded parts. and/or inspection and pack-out.
on operator and rear sides of the machine.
Main arm B lifts parts from
the mold area, permitting the
B Side: Performs A Side: Picks cooled B Side: Extracts A Side: Transfers
press to cycle. The B EOAT take-out, releases part, presents to gate molded part, product from finish
traverses to the handoff station part for cooling cutter, and stocks presents to gate cutter to stocker,
and transfers the parts to it. rough cutter transfers
and finish totes from
The B arm returns to the wait gate cutter upper
position above the mold, while to lower
the handoff station rotates the conveyor
parts up to 90.
The A arm retrieves those
parts and, as it moves to the
Finish gate cutter,
discharge position, rotates to
Cooling rough-cut unit
provide the final orientation of Gate Cutter Stocker Conveyor/Stocker
Stage EOAT change stage
the parts for release to a dis-
charge conveyor or positioning APPLICATION 6: Demolding, cooling, APPLICATION 7: Demolding, rough
gate cutting, and pack-out. and finish gate cutting, and pack-out.
in a stocker system.
4. Demolding and pack-out for ultra-short molding cycles 5. Demolding, assembly, and/or inspection and pack-out
(above, upper left). (above, upper right).
Mold opens, permitting the main arm(s) A to position the Mold opens, permitting the main arm(s) B to position the
EOAT to secure and remove the molded parts. EOAT to secure and remove the molded parts.
Main arm A lifts parts from the mold area, permitting the Main arm B lifts parts from the mold area and traverses to the
press to cycle, and transfers the molded parts to the oper- discharge fixture(s). Once the B arm is clear, the A EOAT can
ator side of the machine for discharge. perform secondary operations such as assembly and/or inspec-
As the A stage moves away from the mold, the B tion. Once completed, the approved parts can be transferred to
stage positions itself above the mold, awaiting the a discharge conveyor, or positioned in stocker systems. Rejects
mold-open signal. can be deposited separately.
Mold opens, permitting the main arm(s) B to position
the EOAT to secure and remove the molded parts. 6. Demolding, cooling, gate cutting, and pack-out (above).
Main arm B lifts parts from the mold area, permitting the Mold opens, permitting the main arm(s) B to position the
press to cycle, and transfers the molded parts to the oper- EOAT to secure and remove the molded parts.
ator side of the machine for discharge. Main arm B lifts parts from the mold area and traverses to
As the B stage moves away from the mold, the A stage posi- an open cooling fixture (or fixtures). Once the B arm is
tions itself above the mold, awaiting the mold-open signal. clear, the A EOAT can secure a cooled part and transfer it

Tips & Techniques
to a gate-cutting station. B Side: Takes out molded A Side: Picks B Side: Performs
Degated parts can be part, places insert, releases from insert take-out, gate A Side:
molded part, picks insert feeder, places in cutting, and stocking
transferred to a discharge positioning stage Picks and
places
conveyor or positioned
inserts
in stocker systems. Gate
Cutter
7. Demolding, rough and

finish gate cutting,
and pack-out (p. 53).
Mold opens, permitting Conveyor
the main arm(s) B to
position the EOAT to Conveyor Magazine-Type
secure and remove the Insert Feeder Insert Feeder
molded parts.
APPLICATION 8: Orientation and placement APPLICATION 10: Orientation and placement
Main arm B lifts parts
of multiple inserts for overmolding. of inserts for overmolding in a vertical press.
from the mold area and
traverses to a rough-cut
gate-removal station. Once
the B arm is clear, the A EOAT can pick the rough-cut part(s) and This application was demonstrated in Sumitomo (SHI) Demags
transfer to a finish gate-cutting station. Finished degated parts can booth at NPE 2015 in a two-cavity cell that simultaneously
be transferred to a discharge conveyor or positioned in stocker sys- molded two different-sized noodle cups with IML.
tems. The A arm can also move full trays to a discharge conveyor.
10. Orientation and placement of inserts for overmolding in
8. Orientation and placement of multiple inserts for a vertical injection machine (above, right).
overmolding (above, left). The B EOAT removes the over-molded part(s) from the lower
The A arm retrieves inserts from a feeder bowl or similar mold half and traverses to the discharge conveyor or stocker.
device and places them into a locating nest or nests. The A arm retrieves inserts from a feeder bowl or other
The B EOAT retrieves all of the nested inserts and traverses staging device and places them into the lower mold cavity(ies).
into position above the mold.
Mold opens, permitting the main
arm B to position the EOAT to A robot with two kick assemblies on one traversing stroke permits
secure and remove the molded parts. operations that function independent of one another and act like
The EOAT is repositioned and the two independent cells, yet are managed by a single controller.
inserts are loaded into the mold.
Main arm B lifts parts from the
mold area and traverses to a discharge conveyor. Robots that offer many variations of configurations can lower
risks by repurposing existing technology instead of creating new
9. Pre-orientation and placement of labels for IML. custom products for complex needs. Investigate robot vendors
The B arm EOAT retrieves labels from a magazine feeding carefully for their range of products and experience, and select the
station and places them into locating nests. best value and solution, not the lowest price.
The rear A EOAT secures the nested labels and traverses into (See multi-arm robots in action at short.ptonline.com/Yushin.)
position above the mold.
Mold opens, permitting the front and rear A arms to position
the respective EOATs in the mold.
The rear A EOAT accurately transfers the labels to the mold.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ronald Bryant is the manager of equipment sales
The front A EOAT secures the labeled parts and removes at robot supplier Yushin America, Inc., Cranston R.I. Since the 1970s
them from the mold. he has provided tooling and automation for sonic, ultrasonic, infrared,
and thermal assembly of plastic parts and metals. He has also provided
Both A arms rise from the mold area and traverse to a dis-
machine design and construction for film and paper converting, as well as
charge conveyor to release the labeled parts. robotic takeout and assembly systems for plastics. Contact: 401-463-1800;
The cycle resumes. salesinfo@yushin.com; yushinamerica.com.

REGISTER NOW & SAVE!
June 14-15, 2017
DONALD E. STEPHENS CONVENTION CENTER | ROSEMONT, IL, USA
A M E R I M O L D E X P O . C O M
Exhibit Hall Amerimold Tech Talks

featuring machine tools, on designing, machining,
mold components, tooling, maintaining molds
materials, software, more
BOOTH SALES ARE OPEN
Business Development Reserve Early and Save!
Opportunities Sales@amerimold.com
for mold builders
and mold buyers
CO-LOCATED WITH:
PRESENTED BY:
Tips and Techniques
Cavity
Temperature
Block Cavities
Sensor
and Keep Molding

It goes against conventional
wisdom, but molding with blocked Balance
cavities can be done while Time
maintaining quality with the help

of appropriate in-cavity sensors
and process-control software.
We have all heard it before: You should not run your multi-cavity FIG 1An automatic hot-runner balancing system
hot-runner molds with some nozzles blocked. But everyone who measures the time for the melt front to reach a
has spent some time on the shop temperature sensor in each cavitythe balance
By Marcel Fenner timeand automatically adjusts the tip temperatures.
floor of an injection molding
Priamus System Technologies
facility knows that its done once
a while. The nozzles could be blocked by a foreign object in the
nozzle tip; or you turned off the nozzle heater because you are not balanced anymore. That means some cavities are filled
wanted to block the cavity because there is a broken pin or sooner than others, which consequently results in some cavities
scratch in the cavity, or the nozzle was leaking, etc. being already in the packing and holding stage while other cavities
So why have we been told not to block some cavities and keep are still being filled. This leads to different packing levels in the
running the mold? The first problem is that the remaining cavities different cavities, which results in different part weights, shrinkage,
and dimensions. In the worst case, it leads
to short shots or flashing.
Charge Hot-Runner Controller
Amplifier (Internal/External)
5080 Core 8280 AN AUTOMATIC SOLUTION
Balancing the remaining unblocked cavi-
ties can be very challenging, especially
with a high-cavitation mold. With a self-
adjusting cavity-balancing control system,
this process can be automated. Instead of
the operator looking at the parts and
FIG 2 The automatic hot-runner balancing

system adjusts the tip temperatures after
every single shot, based on cavity-
temperature sensors. Software options like
adjusting the temperature every second
shot, etc. are also available if needed.

HOT- RU NNER B A L A NC ING
Cavity Temperature Sensor
42 Signal for
Switchover from
40
Injection to Hold
38 FIG 3 As soon as the melt front reaches
36 the cavity-temperature sensor, a signal for
34 switching from injection phase to holding-
32 pressure phase is sent to the injection
30 Cavity Temperature machine. That signal can also be delayed if
the sensor cannot be placed in the ideal
28 location because of the presence of an
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 ejector pin or cooling line.
adjusting the tip temperatures, cavity-temperature sensors are for the shot size. If the technician is a bit less disciplined, a rough
installed in each cavity of the mold to measure the time from guess will be made and the new value for one of the parameters
injection start until the melt front has reached the sensors (see mentioned will be set. As long as there is no short shot or flash, the
Fig. 1). This time is called the balance time and is measured down technician might be satisfied, restart the production, and move on
to the millisecond. to the next machine that requires his attention. This procedure is
The balance times not scientific at all and can lead to dimensions out of specification
for all the cavities are or material waste as too much plastic gets pushed into the cavities.
then compared by the The right thing to do is to apply the automatic switchover process
software and an algo- from injection stage to holding phase by means of melt-front detec-
rithm calculates which tion with a cavity-tempera-
nozzle temperature ture sensor. By applying this
must be increased or process, the screw position Balancing the
decreased and by how after plasticating has no remaining unblocked
much. This informa- influence on the switchover cavities can be very
tion is transferred to the position of the screw when challenging, especially
hot-runner controller switching from injection with a high-cavitation
after the end of each to holding stage. As soon mold. But this process
cycle. The hot-runner as the melt front hits the can be automated with
controller then adjusts cavity-temperature sensor, a self-adjusting cavity-
the tip temperatures the software detects the rise balancing control
automatically, which of the cavity-temperature system.
provides a totally curve and sends a signal to
balanced mold (Fig. 2). the injection machine to
The second problem switch over to holding stage. Switchover to holding stage is normally
FIG 4 A four-cavity, direct is that the shot size or suggested to be done when the cavities are about 97% full.
valve-gated mold was used for
the switchover position The position of the temperature sensors is probably never
the trials with blocked cavities.
for switching from exactly where you want it to be because of the presence of an
injection phase to the ejector pin or cooling line. However, the control software
holding-pressure phase has to be adjusted because the number of
the cavities being filled has been reduced. After blocking one or QUESTIONS ABOUT HOT RUNNERS OR CONTROLS?
more cavities, a disciplined technician will make another short-
shot study to determine the new switchover position or new value Visit the Hot Runners or Controls & Monitoring Zone.

Tips & Techniques
(such as Priamus FillControl) can easily allow delaying the AN EXTREME EXAMPLE
switchover signal to the injection machine by any amount To illustrate the procedure using these control techniques, a trial was
down to a millisecond after the first melt front reaches a conducted at our sister company, Synventive Molding Solutions, in its
temperature sensor. So long as the injection machine is able to lab in Peabody, Mass., using a four-cavity direct valve-gated mold (Fig.
switch over to holding stage before the melt front reaches the 4). In the first set of trials, automatic hot-runner balancing and swi-
end of fill, you are safe (Fig. 3). tchover from injection to holding stage was achieved by melt-front
detection with a cavity-temperature
sensor. First one cavity was blocked,
FIG 5 FIG 6
then two cavities, and finally three
Part Weight, g Switchover Position & cavities of the four-cavity mold.
4.600 Cushion, in. Blocking three of four cavities
2.0 means 75% of the cavities were
4.590
1.8 blocked, which is quite extreme but
4.580 1.6 will prove the concept.
4.570 1.4
The results in Fig. 5 show that
1.3
4.560 the weight differences between the
1.0
parts from the different cavities
4.550 0.8
are bigger than the weight differ-
0.6
4.540 ences of the parts from the same
0.4
4.530 0.2 cavities when using different
Cav 1 Cav 2 Cav 3 Cav 4 0 numbers of open cavities. This is
None #1 #1,#2 #1,#2, #3
exactly what you want to achieve
None Blocked Cavity 1 Blocked Blocked Blocked Blocked Blocked
Cavities 1,2 Blocked Cavities 1,2,3 Blocked the weight of the parts is basically
S.O. Position Cushion
independent from the number of
Results from blocking cavities without
cavities you are using.
applying a shear-rate controller. The Blocking cavities without use of
weight differences between the parts a shear-rate controller produces As seen in Fig. 6, the switchover
from the different cavities are bigger an earlier switchover position position from injection stage to
than the weight differences of the parts and larger cushion, because holding stage is traveling back-
from the same cavities when using less melt is needed to fill the
different numbers of open cavities. remaining open cavities. wards to higher cushion values
when fewer and fewer cavities are
FIG 7 open and less material needs to be
No Cavities Blocked 1 Cavity Blocked
9000 120 injected. It is also clearly recogniz-
Cavity Temperature, F
8000 115 able that the difference between

Cavity Pressure, psi
7000
Cavity 6000
110 Cavity switchover position and cushion is
Temperature 5000 100 Temperature getting smaller as more cavities are
Cavity
Cavity 4000 95 blocked. That observation makes
Pressure
Pressure 3000 90
2000 sense because the fewer cavities are
1000 85 getting filled, the less plastic has
0 80
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 to be delivered to compensate for
2 Cavities Blocked 3 Cavities Blocked shrinkage in the unblocked cavities.
9000 120 It appears that the weight of the
Cavity Cavity
8000
Temperature 115 Temperature parts is independent of the number

7000
110 of cavities used, but the shear rate
6000
Cavity 5000 100 Cavity in the cavities is changing, which
Pressure 4000 95 Pressure might influence the quality of the
3000 90
2000 parts. For example, if processing
1000 85
materials with a high glass content,
0 80
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 the glass fibers get more aligned at
a higher shear rate than if processed
Effect of blocking cavities without use of a shear-rate controller. Cavity-temperature
curves show shorter balance time and cavity-pressure curves become more steep. at a lower shear rate. A higher

FIG 8
Pressure 1 Temperature 1
Sensor 1 Sensor 2
Sensor Distance 2
Wall Thickness 0.078 Shear-rate control involves

measuring shear rate and shear
Temperature 1 stress in the cavity by means of
Reference Temperature
pressure and temperature sensors.
shear rate means the flow-front velocity is higher, which will produce SHEAR-RATE CONTROL
parts with a more shiny surface when using highly glass-filled The effect of the shear rate changing according to the number of
materials. Figure 7 shows the cavity-pressure and cavity-temper- cavities blocked can be eliminated with a shear-rate controller. The
ature curves of the filling phase with all cavities open, one cavity basics of such a controller start with measuring the shear rate in the
blocked, two cavities blocked and finally three cavities blocked. cavity. The shear rate in this case can also be correlated with the melt-
It can be recognized that the balance time (time from injection front velocity or the time between the melt front reaching two cavity
start until the melt front reaches the cavity-temperature sensor) is sensors. Usually the first sensor that gets reached by the melt front is
getting shorter as more cavities get blocked and the plastic volume a cavity-pressure sensor, typically located near the gate. A cavity-pres-
flow coming from the barrel of the injection machine stays the sure sensor in this position provides the additional benefit of mea-
same. From an injection molding point of view, this balance time suring the shear stress and with that the viscosity in the cavity, as well
is very similar to the fill time, depending on the location of the (Fig. 8). The second cavity sensor is normally a cavity-temperature
temperature sensors in the cavities. The cavity-temperature sensors sensor as it is less expensive than a cavity-pressure sensor, and only
in the blocked cavities are measuring the cavity temperatures only, the time when the melt reaches the sensor is of interest in this case.
as no melt reaches the sensors since the cavities are blocked. In The shear rate or melt-front velocity in the cavity is directly
addition, it can be observed that the slope of the cavity-pressure linked to the injection speed of the molding machine. So by using
curves get steeper as more cavities are blocked. The reason for that a shear-rate controller (such as Priamus FillControl Control P
is the increasing melt-front velocity. software), one is automatically controlling the injection speed of
the molding machine. During every
FIG 9
No Cavities Blocked 1 Cavity Blocked cycle, the shear rate is measured in
9000 120
the cavity and compared with the
8000 115
7000 set value, and if there is a difference

Cavity 110 Cavity
6000 a new value for the injection speed
Temperature 5000 100 Temperature
4000 Cavity is sent to the controller of the injec-
Cavity 95
3000 Pressure tion machine.
Pressure 90
2000 When applying the shear-rate
1000 85
0 80 controller in our trial, it can be seen
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 that the balance time stays consis-
2 Cavities Blocked 3 Cavities Blocked
120 tently at about 1100 millisec (Fig.
9000
9). This means the shear rate and
8000
115
7000 flow-front velocity stay the same,
110
Cavity 6000 Cavity
Temperature 5000 100 regardless of the number of cavities
Temperature
4000 95 blocked. Also, the slope of the cavity-
Cavity 3000 Cavity
90 Pressure pressure curves stays the same.
Pressure 2000
1000 85 After reviewing the weight of
0 80 the parts made while applying the
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
shear-rate controller (Fig. 10), it
Results from blocking cavities while applying a shear-rate
controller show that the balance time remains fairly constant is apparent that the differences
around 1.1 sec, and the pressure curves remain about the same, too. between the weights within the

Tips & Techniques
FIG 10 Part Weight, g Figure 12 shows the differences in balance times depending
on the number of cavities blocked, with and without applying
600
shear-rate control.
590
580
CONTROLLING PEAK CAVITY PRESSURE
570 For some applications, one would like to make sure that the peak
560 cavity pressure stays at a specific value. This could be the case, for
540 example, if a specific pressure needs to be achieved in an optical
530 part to make sure the optical charac-
Cav 1 Cav 2 Cav 3 Cav 4 teristics do not change. This can be
Software can
None Blocked Cavity 1 Blocked done with a compression controller.
automatically
Cavities 1,2 Blocked Cavities 1,2,3 Blocked For example the Priamus FillControl
adjust shot size
Control P software also includes a
With the use of a shear-rate controller, weight and switchover
differences between cavities are smaller than compression controller. The soft-
position for
before, as are weight differences in the same ware measures the peak cavity
cavity with different numbers of blocked cavities. blocked cavities,
pressure in each cycle and compares
saving the trouble
it with the set value. If there is a
of performing a
same cavity got even smaller when blocking one, two, or three difference between set and mea-
short-shot study.
cavities. Again, the switchover position and cushion will increase sured values, the software calculates
as more cavities are blocked (Fig. 11). So by using shear-rate the new holding-pressure value and
control it was possible to achieve not only a consistent shear rate sends that information to the controller of the injection machine.
and melt-front velocity, but also an even smaller difference of the The injection machine then changes its holding pressure auto-
part weights independent of the number of cavities blocked. matically. Communication between the process-control system
We essentially quadrupled our production capacity,

and our scrap went from significantly high to near zero.
Joe McGillivray, CEO Dynamic Group
60
ROI IN JUST
DAYS
Reduced 3 operators to 1 per shift Easy programming and safe, flexible deployment
Universal Robots boosts injection molding capacity 4X

A UR robot tends a complete injection molding cycle for a medical device with parts that are extremely heat sensitive, requiring a perfectly
consistent cycle from part to part. The robot helped Dynamic Group move from 3 operators on a single shift, to running 3 shifts per day with
just 1 operator per shift, freeing up staff for higher-value tasks. Production capacity quadrupled, and scrap was nearly eliminated.
Optimize your plastics processes with affordable, accurate UR robots.
Scan code to read case study and watch the video:

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Find your distributor: www.universal-robots.com/distributors

FIG 11 Switchover Position/Cushion, in. and the injection machine is done through the host-computer
2.0 interface of the injection machine. This is a real-world applica-
1.8 tion of Industry 4.0.
1.6 Of course, molding with blocked cavities should not be done
1.4
1.3 forever, as productivity goes down in the long run. But it might be
1.0 good to have this capability to keep the promised delivery date for
0.8 the parts to be produced, especially if that point is just a few hours
0.6
0.4 away. For more troublesome molds, productivity can even go up
0.2 in the long run if the mold travels less often to the mold shop and
0 back. And with cavity-temperature sensors in the mold, one gets
None #1 Blocked #1,#2 #1,#2, #3
Blocked Blocked Blocked additional benefits, like real-time cavity-temperature monitoring
S.O. Position Cushion and balance-time monitoring, the first of which can warn of
wrong tool temperatures or blocked cooling lines, and the second
With shear-rate control, switchover position and
cushion again increase as more cavities are blocked. detects resulting changes in the viscosity of the injected melt.
Cavities should not be blocked when processing materials
FIG 12 Time from Injection Start Until Melt Front that are very sensitive to the residence time in the barrel and
Reaches Cavity-Temperature Sensors hot runner, as the material in the nozzle that got switched off
1400 will still get some heat over time. Check with your hot-runner
manufacturer whether blocking cavities is acceptable for your
1200
Balance Time, millisec
equipment. If it is, you now have a way to block cavities and

1000
keep moldingin a controlled way.
800
600
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marcel Fenner is technical manager and president
400
of Priamus System Technologies, LLC in Brunswick, Ohio. He started
200 his career as an apprentice plastics technician specializing in injection
0 molding. He later worked as a process engineer and set up a department
None #1 Blocked #1,#2 #1,#2, #3 for mold trials and process development for a Swiss company special-
Blocked Blocked Blocked ized in insert molding. In 2000 he set up a production facility for that
company in Tennessee to supply the automotive industry in the NAFTA
Balance Time Without Shear-Rate Controller
region. He also worked for nylon resin supplier EMS-Grivory. Fenner
Balance Time with Shear-Rate Controller
started with Priamus in 2013 in Switzerland as technical manager and
Shear-rate control keeps balance times nearly the joined its North American subsidiary later that year. He was appointed
same, regardless of the number of blocked cavities. president of that operation in June 2014.
Smart machines that increase production and lower costs.

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40% less hydraulic oil required
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Prolonged mold life
Lower noise and vibration
Higher plastifier RPM
Servo-driven hydraulics jomarcorp.com
info@jomarcorp.com
*Energy consumption reduction contingent upon machine model, container specification, and material process.
**See Jomar Sales Department for full details. 609-646-8000

Tips and Techniques
What You Need to

Know About Drying
Specialty Nylons
PPA is being used more
frequently by molders
for demanding high-heat
applications in automotive
and other markets. While Specialty resins such as
Amodel PPA absorb less
in the nylon family, it does moisture than aliphatic nylons
such as nylons 6 and 66, and
not dry quite like nylon. do so at a slower rate. Yet PPA
is still considered hygroscopic
Follow these tips. and requires proper drying
prior to processing.
Basic chemistry dictates that the strength of molded parts partly Amodel PPA, for instance, is approximately 20% that of nylon 66
derives from the entanglement of the long polymer chains that at 73F (23C). Put another way, PPA generally will not absorb more
comprise the base resin. than 1.5% of its weight in moisture, while nylon 6 can hold up to
By William Hamm & Edgar Benjamin,
Solvay Specialty Polymers Hygroscopic engineering 7%. Yet PPA resins are still considered hygroscopic and require
resins, such as PBT, PET, PC proper drying prior to processing.
and nylons, all absorb ambient moisture that can effectively It is important to emphasize that there is more at stake here
shorten their polymeric chains and adversely affect performance than simply getting unwanted moisture out. There is such a thing as
in both the mold and the end part.
The aliphatic amine molecule of nylons,
Since specialty resins like PPA are chosen for their design prop-
in particular, lacks the aromatic ring directly
erties in demanding applications, proper drying is required to
on the molecules nitrogen atom, which
ensure that those properties are delivered in the end product.
makes them particularly susceptible to
picking up moisture. If excess moisture is
not removed, the presence of heat and pressure during molding drying a resin too much. Ultimately, the aim is to ensure maximum
can cause hydrolysis, which degrades the polymer or causes chain polymer performance, which is especially important if your design
scissions that produce excessive outgassing, splay marks, or discol- calls for a specialty polymer like PPA. This also applies to less hygro-
oration and compromise the physical integrity of the finished part. scopic specialty resins like polyamide-imide (PAI) and even non-
A number of specialty resins, such as polyphthalamide (PPA), hygroscopic polymers, like polyphenylene sulfide (PPS).
have significant amounts of aromatic character in their poly- Although PPS is hydrolytically stable, pellets may pick up some
meric backbone, which causes them to absorb less moisture than surface moisture during shipping or storage that may result in
aliphatic nylons like nylons 6 and 66, and do so at a slower rate. cosmetic defects, such as surface streaks or splay marks on injec-
The diffusion coefficient for water in some grades of Solvays tion molded parts or severe bubbling or streaking in extruded

DRYING SPECIA LT Y N YLONS
profiles. Further, surface moisture can vaporize into steam within Hot-air dryers are the most effective in removing surface mois-
the barrel of an injection molding machine, creating internal pres- ture and therefore are suitable for non-hygroscopic polymers such
sures that force nozzle drool. Lastly, it is important to remember as polyolefins, polystyrene, and PVC.
that many mineral fillers are hygroscopic and can make reinforced Desiccant dryers have long been the workhorse for drying
compounds more susceptible to moisture-driven drool even if the resins that absorb moisture, and generally include some configu-
base resin is stoutly non-hygroscopic. ration of a moisture-removal filter or bed that recycles dry air
through the system in a closed loop. Single-bed desiccant systems
ROLE OF DRYING EQUIPMENT & TECHNIQUE are adequate as long as the desiccant is replaced as necessary, but
The first step toward optimal drying of hygroscopic resins is to dual-bed systems allow regeneration of one bed while the other is
prevent moisture absorption in the first place. Amodel PPA, for drying. Another variation incorporates a rotor that exposes dif-
example, is shipped with less than 0.15% moisture in vacuum- ferent sections of a rotating desiccant wheel to process air, regen-
sealed, aluminum-lined containers that prevent moisture ingress. eration or cooling. Rotating or wheel designs absorb moisture at a
Once opened, it is critical to reseal packaging containers as more constant rate than a conventional desiccant bed, which
quickly and as tightly as possible. Many suppliers provide tools to helps to minimize spikes in dewpoint or temperature.
help molders gauge how long they Low-pressure or vacuum
should dry a resin based on how long dryers heat pellets just enough to
its container has been open. dislodge moisture from the resins
Equally important is that bags molecular structure, and then draw
should be opened individually and it off under vacuum. These systems
immediately loaded into a hopper can dry resins in a fraction of the
dryer. Opening several bags to allow air time it takes other dryers, thereby
conveyors to transfer the resin to the saving energy and minimizing the
hopper as needed allows the resin to prospect of discoloration from heat.
pick up moisture. When loading resin
from large containers, it is best to cut Regardless of the technique,
just enough of the foil liner to fit an air- the key metric for effective drying
conveyor wand into the package, and is dewpoint, which equates with
then reseal the foil around the top of ambient moisture. That is, the
the wand. Only dried airas opposed to lower the dewpoint, the less
shop airshould convey resin. moisture there is in the air inside
More exacting applications may Proper drying of PPA is critical to maintain the dryer. The ideal dewpoint for
require measurement of resin moisture mechanical and aesthetic performance drying most resins, including PPA,
in demanding applications, such as this
content prior to molding. Karl Fischer is -40F/C. As long as the dryers
automotive exhaust-gas recirculation valve.
titration, which uses a moisture-reac- dewpoint remains fixed, however,
tant chemical, offers an efficient, rapid, time and temperature can be used
and highly precise method for determining water content in resins. to calculate when the resin is adequately dry for processing. This
Gravimetric moisture analyzers, while less precise than titration, may vary from polymer to polymer.
may be more suitable for a manufacturing setting. These devices For PPAs, the drying time and temperature depends on the
comprise a sensitive weigh scale embedded within a benchtop moisture content of the resin, the size of the hopper dryer used,
drying oven to measure how much weight the resin loses during and the throughput of the molding process. To determine the
drying. While relatively fast and inexpensive, gravimetric analysis is proper drying temperature, divide the capacity of the hopper dryer
not moisture-specific. So, its measurement may be distorted by the (in lb or kg) by the rate of resin consumption (in lb/hr or kg/hr).
evaporation of other volatile components in the resin. This will determine how long the material should remain inside
The range of options for drying resin is even more diverse, but the dryer, which in turn determines the drying temperature. Figure
they take one of three approaches: heat, chemical desiccation, or 1 shows recommended drying time and temperature for Solvays
vacuum pressure. All are suitable for drying specialty resins. Amodel PPA resins when their sealed shipping container is opened.
For most uses, the specified dryness is 300 ppm (0.03%) for
QUESTIONS ABOUT DRYING? Amodel PPA resin. However, this specification may be tighter for
some applications, such as extruded monofilament, which requires
Visit the Drying Zone. the resin to be extremely dry.

Tips & Techniques
FIG 1 Typical Drying Time for Wet Hygroscopic PPA

0.0
Moisture Content,
SIDE-ACTION SYSTEMS 0.02
0.04
Make Perfect Parts and 0.06
%
Save Money! 0.08
1.0
.02
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Drying Time, hr
93C (200F) 107C (225F) 121C (250F)
Dewpoint <-31C (-25F)
Drying time and temperature depend on the moisture content of the resin,
Preload cores for perfect parts. the size of the hopper dryer used, and the throughput of the molding
Save $$$$ with a smaller cylinder. process. Shown here are recommended drying times and temperatures for
Simplify mold operation and design. Solvays Amodel PPA resins to maintain their recommended dried moisture
level of 0.03% after their sealed shipping container is opened.
Smaller mold base = low cost parts.
Fully Preloads at only 1,500 psi.
Stays locked without hydraulics. FIG 2 Effect of Moisture Content on PPA Melt Viscosity
400 F systems available. 10,000
Rush 0-2 day shipping available.
Viscosity, poise
8000
KOR-LOK
TRADITIONAL 6000
SIDE-ACTION VS. SIDE-ACTION
SYSTEMS SYSTEMS 4000
2000
S! Mold OPEN
S!
YE Core Out
YE 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
! Moisture, ppm
ES
Mold CLOSED
CANT DO IT!
Y Core OUT
Melt viscosity is influenced by the amount of moisture in the

S ! ! resin. More moisture equates with a lower melt viscosity.
YE
Mold CLOSED
Core IN
Y ES
S! Against FULL
Core PRE-LOADED
YE Injection Pressure CANT DO IT!

As previously mentioned, it is possible to overdry PPA and other resins, thereby solid-
stating the material or increasing its molecular weight. This typically leads to increased
viscosity or lower flow, which may result in short shots, increased pressure required to fill,
and inconsistent processing. It is best to find the equilibrium temperature where uniform
moisture can be maintained without over drying. The low-end
HYDRA-JAWS
tolerance for Amodel PPA is 100 ppm (0.01%) moisture content.

Every Mold, There is such
Every Machine, Every Time! Once a resin has been adequately dried, it is important
a thing as
Adjusts to Fit Every Mold to maintain relatively constant moisture levels throughout
Quick and Secure drying a resin
the molding run to ensure process and part uniformity. Melt
Consistent Clamping Force too much.
viscosity is influenced by the amount of moisture in resin.
More moisture equates with a lower melt viscosity (see Fig. 2).
Moisture levels upwards of 0.15% can cause cosmetic problems such as splay or
silver streaking on the surface of a molded part. Higher levels can lead to hydrolysis, and
result in a significant reduction in mechanical properties. This is clearly an issue for any
molder. But it underscores the importance of proper drying techniques when specifying
pfa-inc.com
N118 W18251 Bunsen Drive
specialty resins like PPA, which are often selected for the most demanding applications.
Germantown, WI 53022
(262) 250-4410 ABOUT THE AUTHORS: William Hamm and Edgar Benjamin are both technical development engi-
Fax (262) 250-4409 Designed &
Made in USA neers in Solvays Specialty Polymers global business unit in Alpharetta, Ga. They bring nearly 50 years
KOR-LOK , Hydra-Latch and Hydra-Jaws are trademarks of PFA, Inc.
of combined experience in polymer technology. Contact: 770-772-8200; William.hamm@solvay.com
2016 PFA, Inc. All Rights Reserved. and edgar.benjamin@solvay.com; solvay.com;

Keeping Up
With Technology
INJECTION MOLDING
EXTRUSION
Dies Layer Overlapping

Improves Tube Quality
The 800 Series Hybrid die from Guill Tool & Engineering Inc.,
W. Warwick, R.I., incorporates the benefits of layer overlapping
typical of crosshead and inline tools while reducing unneces-
sary complexity. A design in which layers are overlapped in
New Line of Small Robots each semi-deflector, using a single cone, reportedly makes the
technology more affordable for processors.
A smaller range of compact, servo-driven linear robots has The overlapping tech-
been added to the LRX line from KraussMaffei Automation nology is also said to reduce
(U.S. office in Florence, Ky.). The new LRX 50, 100, and 150 weld lines to generate a
have payload capacities of 5, 10, and 15 kg (11, 22, and 33 lb) more consistent finished
respectively and are suited to injection presses of 35 to 650 product. The new tool is
metric tons. They compliment the LRX 250, 500, and 1000 reportedly less sensitive to
models that carry 25 to 100 kg (55 to 220 lb). changes in viscosity and line
The new models have rack-and-pinion drives instead of speed. It is compact and
toothed belts, providing a high level of speed and preci- offers low residence times
sion. Air/vacuum lines and electronics are protected on the and a low tolerance stack-up
Y axis by quick-change covers. A central air/vacuum portal error factor, all reportedly
facilitates fast gripper changing. The new axis design is said resulting in improved part
to ensure free access to the machine hopper and barrel. concentricity.
An additional blow-off function using vacuum after the Stagnation points are
parts are held ensures rapid gripping. Fully intregrated into reduced because overlap-
the MC6 press controls, a new digital vacuum-monitoring ping layers are more inherently balanced than single layers,
system with integrated air-saving function reportedly allows and also because each semi-deflector is tuned to flush, Guill
reducing compressed-air requirements by up to 90%. Also, says. Conventional deflectors must simultaneously achieve a
leakage monitoring detects malfunctions that require balance between flushing, balancing, and eliminating the weld
maintenance. The servo-driven wrist axes were redesigned line. In the new die, less difference between the slowest-moving
for minimal opening stroke and greater load capacity; their material and the fastest-moving material in the deflector
smaller drives reduce both weight and energy consumption. channels makes viscosity more consistent in the deflector.
859-283-0200 kraussmaffeigroup.us 401-828-7600 guill.com
EXTRUSION Multi-Mode Winder Avoids Excess Roll Compaction

The BO Plus winder from Italys winding, and center-peripheral (mixed) quality of gusseted stiff or thick films
Macchi (U.S. office in Dalton, Ga.) axial winding capabilities. Winding starts by removing the wrinkles that may
offers contact winding, axial with gap in peripheral mode on a large diameter. occur at the beginning of the reel, or
During the winding, the reel slides on to solve problems of air pockets while
horizontal guides, weighing down on producing adhesive or low-slip films.
the vertical axis, and not pushing up Each BO Plus unit is equipped with
against the winding drum. The result Easy Load, a pneumatic system that
is simpler and more precise control of allows positioning of the shafts directly
contact pressure that avoids excessive on the waiting hub, after being lifted by
compaction of the roll, which can create the hoists.
problems during unwinding, Macchi says. Also available is C Module, an automatic
The use of center-peripheral system for handling rolls and shafts.
winding (with gap/mixed) is recom- 706-581-1737 macchi.it
mended to optimize the winding

Keeping Up With Technolog y
BLOW MOLDING
New Shuttle Machine and Downstream Modules

Kautex Maschinenbau, parent of Kautex Machines Inc., North Branch, N.J., has
introduced two new products. One is the model KCC10 MK3 shuttle machine with
6-metric-ton clamp, a smaller companion to the KCC20 MK3 (24 m.t.) introduced last
year. The new unit has a shuttle stroke of 380 or 480 mm and clamp stroke of 260
mm; it handles up to six cavities. According to Kautex sources, it is competitive with
other hydraulic shuttles but includes
in-machine deflashing. The overall
package also has been made more
compact by having the articles go to
the back of the clamp and exit from
one conveyor.
Meanwhile, Kautex also has a new
method of integrating downstream
processes such as post-cooling and
quality-control functions into the
companys KBB all-electric machines,
in a manner consistent with the prin-
ciples of Industry 4.0. New IntelliGate
modules for these functions can be
incorporated on a plug-and-play basis with the aid of the new Connext interface.
Connext is a standard solution that provides all connected modules with compressed
air and power, as well as standardized data exchange. It gives users flexibility to
exchange the modules on KBB machines and eliminates the need for additional power
or air connections. A KBB machine with Connext interface not only recognizes every
module, but also the order of modules, even if changes are made to their arrangement.
908-252-9350 kautex-group.com
MATERIALS HANDLING
Stainless-Steel, High-Lift
Box Container/Dumper
A new Tip-Tite High-Lift Box/Container above the plant floor. Boxes and other
Dumper from Flexicon, Bethlehem, Pa., containers are loaded at floor level and
discharges dust-free into vessels 6 to 10 ft hydraulically seated against a discharge
hood. The assembly is then hydrauli-
cally elevated and tipped, causing the
discharge-hood spout to seat against
a gasketed receiving ring installed on a
receiving vessel or process equipment.
Opening a pneumatic slide-gate valve at
the spout outlet allows controlled, dust-
free discharge, while closing it allows
partially empty boxes and containers to
be returned to the plant floor. The unit
accommodates Gaylords and other boxes.
Constructed of stainless steel finished
to industrial or sanitary standards, the
unit is also available in carbon steel and
with optional receiving hoppers config-
ured with the companys mechanical
or pneumatic conveyors to transport
discharged material to any plant location.
610-814-2400 flexicon.com

September 11-14, 2017: Conference / September 12-14, 2017: Exhibits
Orange County Convention Center / Orlando, Florida
Experience the Future

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Keeping Up With Technolog y
TOOLING 3D Printed Mold Inserts With Conformal Cooling

The DME brand of Milacron Holdings Corp., Madison
Conventional TruCool 3D Printed Heights, Mich., has partnered with Linear AMS (a Moog
Machined Cooling Cooling Company), Livonia, Mich., to offer metal 3D-printed molds
with conformal cooling. Unlike conventional cooling with
straight, gun-drilled cooling channels, conformal cooling
can employ complex arrangements of curved and coiled
channels that conform closely to the shape of the core or
cavity insert. Cycle-time reductions up to 60% reportedly
have been obtained in real-world applications.
Linear AMS has more than 12 years experience in
building 3D-printed conformal-cooling mold inserts. It
uses direct metal laser melting (DMLM) technology, a
268.550 3D printing process that is said to produce components
260.065 that are extremely dense and stronger than metal parts
251.580 produced by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). In coop-
243.095
eration with Linear AMS, DME is offering DMLM cavities
234.611
and cores with conformal cooling under the TruCool
226.126
name. The DME TrueCool solution starts with a detailed
217.641
209.156 review of the moldmakers and/or molders require-
200.671 ments. With advanced 3D CAD modeling and FEA software,
192.186 the DME technology team can simulate the optimized
183.701 cooling-channel design. Then the moldmaker receives
175.216 the conformal cooling (and/or venting) optimized mold
166.732 cavity or core with a hardness up to 56 HRC and with an
158.247 additional +0.025 in. rough metal to allow for finishing the
149.762 cavity or cores part surface. Every TruCool component is
Cooling Temp material, flow, and pressure tested before shipment.
Time = Eoc 800-626-6653 milacron.com
MATERIALS
Diverse Line of TPEs

A new line of TPEs with grades for specialty compounding, a
variety of functionalities, and varying degrees of rigidity and
softness has been introduced by LTL Engineered Compounds,
Morrisville, Pa., part of the Americhem Group. The new line
includes
styrenic block
copolymers,
TPVs, and
TPUs, in both
standard and
custom grades.
The TPE
compounds
can be made
in a wide range
of durometers,
including
grades for
soft-touch
overmolding.
Many of these
products are part of the companys ColorFast line of precolored
compounds, while others in the ColorRx line are for health-
care and medical-device industries. Functional properties can
include: structural reinforcement, flame retardancy, electrical
conductivity, wear resistance, and density modification.
330-929-3125 ltlcolor.com

NE W PRODUC T S FOR PL A S T IC S PROCE S SING
MATERIALS
ADCA-Free Foamed HDPE

For Communication Cable
Borealis AG (U.S. office in Port Murray, N.J.) recently unveiled what is believed
to the first HDPE for foamed communication cable that is free of azodicar-
bonamide (ADCA) blowing agent. New HE4883 is a fully formulated HDPE
compound containing a blowing agent for physically foamed data-cable
insulation. It was developed in partnership with Brand-Rex Ltd., a Scottish
developer of cabling solutions for network infrastructure and industrial
applications. Borealis expects it to become the material of choice for next-
generation, higher-category communication cables.
ADCA has been classified as a substance of very high concern, due to its
respiratory sensitizing properties, by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA).
Borealis HE4883 is said to be both ADCA-free and to meet requirements for Cat
6, Cat 7, and Cat 8 physically foamed data cables. It boasts the same benefits
as its predecessor, grade HE4873, long the leading foamed data grade for Cat
7 data cables used in data centers. Advantages include optimal cell structure,
enhanced process stability, and higher line speeds (up to nearly 2000 m/min).
908-850-6200 borealisgroup.com
YOUR FUTURE IS WIDE OPEN

People expect that the industry of the future Industry 4.0 will be
built on openness and flexibility. At Sepro, we agree. Weve introduced
a wide choice of 3-, 5- and 6-axis robots, all operated with the familiar
Visual control platform, developed by Sepro specifically for injection
molding. Sepro can equip any molding machine, new or existing, and
we offer different levels of integration in collaboration with several
IMM manufacturers. What comes next? Time will tell, but with
Sepro robots and evolving technology, your future is wide open. May 16-18, 2017 Booth #2110
www.sepro-america.com | 412-459-0450
info@sepro-america.com

YOUR BUSINE S S
Resin Pricing Analysis
Commodity Resin Prices Dropping

A reversal of several industry factors is likely
to drive prices down this quarter.
The upward trend of commodity resin prices was reversing itself
as we entered the second quarter, despite further price hikes in Market Prices Effective Mid-April 2017
March for PE, PP, PS, PVC, and PET. Resin Grade /lb
By Lilli Manolis Sherman
Senior Editor Factors driving the reversal include
POLYETHYLENE (railcar)
recovery of suppliers inventories after LDPE, LINER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93-95
planned and unplanned resin and monomer production disrup- LLDPE BUTENE, FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79-81
tions, the decline of prices for nearly all key feedstocks, and gen- NYMEX FINANCIAL FUTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
erally slower export activity due to lower global resin prices. MAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
HDPE, G-P INJECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95-97
These are the views of purchasing consultants from Resin HDPE, BLOW MOLDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85-87
Technology, Inc. (RTi), Fort Worth, Texas (rtiglobal.com), CEO NYMEX FINANCIAL FUTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Michael Greenberg of the Plastics Exchange in Chicago MAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.25
(theplasticsexchange.com), and Houston-based PetroChemWire HDPE, HMW FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98-101
(PCW; petrochemwire.com). POLYPROPYLENE (railcar)

Polyethylene G-P HOMOPOLYMER, INJECTION . . . . . . . . . . . 80.5-82.5
Price Trends NYMEX FINANCIAL FUTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.25
PE PRICES UP FOR NOW
MAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.50
Polyethylene prices moved up 3/lb in LDPE IMPACT COPOLYMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.5-84.5
March as suppliers split their 6/lb MAR APR POLYSTYRENE (railcar)
increase between March and April, with G-P CRYSTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107-109
implementation of the latter half now HIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113-115
3/lb
questionable. This brought the total PVC RESIN (railcar)
increase of PE prices this year to 8/lb. LLDPE Butene G-P HOMOPOLYMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83-85
PCW reported in late March that market MAR APR PIPE GRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82-84
chatter indicated a tendency among PET (truckload)
domestic buyers to delay purchases until 3/lb U.S. BOTTLE-GRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
April in anticipation of lower prices.
Meanwhile, Mike Burns, RTis v.p. HDPE
of client services for PE, ventured that Injection Demand remained mostly uninspired, with the best buying seen for
implementation of the April increase MAR APR HDPE injection, still the tightest of commodity PE resins. Spot PE
would depend largely on the speed of prices have softened even as contract prices rose again in March.
recovery of supplier inventories, which 3/lb Burns pointed out that the delta between domestic and
he thought would take place going into global PE prices (the latter have been coming down), should be
this month, if not earlier. The earlier HDPE 7-10/lb, but it is currently over 13, or 30-40%. He anticipated
tightness resulted from a combination Blow Molding that activity in the spot and export markets would be the first
of heavy domestic and export prebuying MAR APR indicator of any price decline in the second quarter.
in late 2016 and early this year, as well
as unplanned outages and scheduled 3/lb
plant turnarounds. If not implemented PP PRICES TREND DOWNWARD
in April, the increase would not happen HDPE HMW Polypropylene prices moved up 4/lb in March, in step with
this month, either, in Burns view. MAR APR propylene monomer contracts, but it appeared that prices had
Reporting on the spot market, The peaked for both, according to Scott Newell, RTis v.p. of PP mar-
Plastics Exchanges Greenberg noted, 3/lb kets, in agreement with both Greenberg and PCW.

YOUR BUSINE S S
Moreover, with spot monomer Polypropylene destruction, he said referring to the high domestic PS prices.
prices dropping quickly by 8, to 40/ Price Trends Resin suppliers also have to contend with falling global PS prices.
lb by early April, late-settling monomer
Homopolymer
contracts were expected to come down
MAR APR
at the very least by 2, and more likely PVC PRICES SET TO RETREAT
by as much as 4-6, and PP prices would PVC prices appear to have moved up by1-2 out of the 3/lb
follow by a like amount, according 4/lb sought by suppliers in March, while the April 3/lb hike was
to RTis Newell. PCW reported that as expected to fall by the wayside. RTis
Copolymer PVC Price
spot PP prices edged lower, some PP Kallman ventured that by May, PVC prices
suppliers were eager to move inven- MAR APR
would drop 1-3. Trends
tory, and buyers anticipated downward Not only were resin inventories Pipe
pressure from monomer in the second 4/lb expected to be in good shape, but PVC
MAR APR
quarter. Meanwhile, Greenberg reported, exports were down as global prices
It is important to note that spot PP levels did not rise nearly dropped. Improved operations along the
1-2/lb
as much as contracts during this cycle rally. As such, spot PP entire supply chain, along with added
has developed a steep discount to contracts, so even as spot ethylene capacity from OxyChem and
Gen. Purpose
PP could see some further softness, there might be limited expected lower ethylene prices, are
downside, and we expect monomer-tied contracts to fall by a expected to put downward pressure on MAR APR
larger magnitude and the spot discount to shrink. PVC prices as the construction season
Similarly, Newell ventured that significant price decreases gets underway. According to Kallman, 1-2/lb
are likely throughout the second quarter. On the other hand, he Demand entering the construction
expected demand to be good and production rates to be high, season will play a role: If strong, we may see March prices
and noted that PP resin imports have dropped to nearly 2015 extended for a month before lower pricing can be obtained.
levels following last years influx. The market could get tight
again in the second half of the year if demand continues to
be strong. Newell ventured that suppliers may push again for PET PRICES RISE, THEN SLIDE A BIT
margin increases. Domestic bottle-grade prime PET prices in March averaged 60/lb,
up 1.7/lb from February, based on PCWs Daily PET Report. That
price represents PET business on a delivered Chicago basis. That
PS PRICES UP, THEN DOWN price on April 7 dropped to 57/lb.
Polystyrene prices rose 6/lb in March, after moving up a total of Meanwhile, imported prime PET PET Price Trends
13/lb in the previous two months. However, one supplier prices were also up in March, averaging
Bottle Grade
announced a 5/lb decrease for April, and others were expected 57.6/lb, up 4.3 from February (on a
to follow, according to both PCW and Mark Kallman, RTis v.p. of delivered, duty-paid, U.S. port basis). The MAR APR
client services for engineering resins, PS, and PVC. price for imported PET on April 7, slid
Suppliers were able to push through what is expected to a bit to 57/lb. (Note: The U.S. Dept. of 2/lb 3/lb
be a short-lived increase due to a number of planned and Commerce, as of January 2017, designates
unplanned outages and late restarts, imported prime PET as having an IV of 78 ml/g or higher, and deleted
despite much lower feedstock prices. Polystyrene the reference to this PET as packaging grade.)
Benzene dropped 30% in March, styrene Price Trends Prices rose primarily due to higher costs for feedstocks
monomer was down 10/lb, and buta- including PTA, MEG, and PXdriven by higher hydrocarbon
GPPS
diene prices dropped by 17/lb. Kallman prices and strong demand for intermediates, according to
MAR APR
noted that the 6/lb PS price hike Xavier Cronin, senior editor for this PCW report. However, the
exceeded the change in feedstock costs average cost of these key feedstocks in March was about 55/
during the first quarter. He expected 6/lb 5-6/lb lb, 1/lb lower than in February.
April PS prices to drop back 6, with a
HIPS
good possibility of further downward
MAR APR QUESTIONS ABOUT MATERIALS?
movement in May, even though the
second quarter is the busy season.
Theres been talk about some demand 6/lb 5-6/lb Visit the Materials Zone and the Materials Database.

YOUR BUSINE S S
G ARDNER BUSINESS INDE X: PL A S TIC S
March 2017 Index: 55.1

Custom processors have experienced robust growth all year.
With a reading of 55.1, Gardners Plastics Business Index grew 55 for three straight months. The Northeast and Southeast
for the third month in a row in March and at its fastest rate continued their long runs of growth. The South Central
since January 2015. The index has grew for the second straight month. The West contracted for
grown at a slightly faster rate each the third time in four months.
month in 2017. Custom processors Plants with more than
have experienced consistently 250 employees expanded at New orders and
robust growth each month in 2017. a robust rate for the third production both
Plastics/rubber product manufac- month. Facilities with 100-249 grew for the third
turers have grown in seven of the employees have grown in month in a row.
last eight months. every month but two since
New orders and production both March 2016. Companies with
Steve Kline Jr. grew for the third month in a row. 50-99 employees had an index above 58 for the second
Dir. Market Intelligence And both indices grew at a slightly time in three months. Processors with 20-49 employees
slower rate than in February. The grew for the sixth time in seven months. Processors with
backlog index increased for the second time in three months. fewer than 20 employees contracted after three months of
The rate of growth in March was the fastest since February modest growth.
2012. The trend in the backlog index
indicated that capacity utilization
should increase in 2017. Employment Plastics Industry Business Index
increased for the third straight
70
month. Exports have contracted at an
accelerating rate since October 2016.
Values above 50 indicate growth
Supplier deliveries lengthened at
their fastest rate since February 2015. 60
Material prices increased at a
March
significantly accelerating rate in each
2017
of the last four months and March saw Index
50
the fastest increase in material prices 55.1
since the survey began in December
2011. Prices received increased for
the sixth time in seven months and 40
have steadily improved since June
2015. Future business expectations
remained strong, although they have Values below 50 indicate contraction
30
dropped somewhat in each of the
JAN 14
JUL 14
JAN 12
JUL 12
JAN 17
JAN 15
JUL 15
JAN 16
JUL 16
JAN 13
JUL 13
last two months.

Medical, machinery/equip-
ment, automotive, and electronics/
computers/telecommunications
markets each had its own index above 60 in March. These ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Steven Kline Jr. is part of the fourth-generation
industries have grown for at least the last three months. ownership team of Cincinnati-based Gardner Business Media, which is
the publisher of Plastics Technology. He is currently the companys director
The North Central-West grew the fastest in March. of market intelligence. Contact: (513) 527-8800;
The North Central-East has had an index of more than email: skline2@gardnerweb.com blog: gardnerweb.com/economics/blog

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Six leading shows.

One powerful event.
June 13 - 15, 2017

New York, NY
Keynote: A Conversation with

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34118_AS_NY17 Photo by Michael Bulbenko

YOUR BUSINE S S
MARKET WATCH
Appliance Growth Slowing

Current growth rate in production is strong, but
the dip in housing permits could change things.
Since May 2012, appliance production has grown in all but about refinancing of mortgages, providing cash for home improve-
12 months. In our last update in October, we noted the leading ments, or it makes the monthly payment of a new mortgage lower,
indicators were pointing in a positive direction for the industry. which tends to spur activity in the market. Either tends to lead to
But the indicators have turned in the last purchases of new appliances.
Steve Kline Jr.
Dir. Market Intelligence six months. Heres whats going on:
Housing Permits. There were 84,500 housing permits filed in
Real 10-Yr Treasury Rate. The real (inflation-adjusted) 10-yr U.S. February 2017. This was the lowest level for permits since January
Treasury bond interest rate was 0.92% in February, which was a 2016. Compared with one year ago, housing permits were
slight decline from last month. This was the first month below 1% unchanged, which was the second time in three months that per-
since November, and it was the lowest rate since October. The mits did not grow. The annual rate of growth decelerated to 0.3%,
nominal rate currently was 242 basis points (2.42%), which was which was the slowest since October 2011.
virtually unchanged from last month. But the rate of inflation rose Housing permits tend to lag changes in the real 10-yr Treasury
to its fastest rate since February 2012. In February 2017, inflation rate by about one year. Since October 2016, the change in the
was above 2.5% for the second straight month. Increasing infla- interest rate has been moving in a negative direction for housing
tion is limiting the rise in the real 10-yr Treasury rate even though permits. Therefore, I expect the annual change in housing permits
the nominal rate has increased (the real rate is the nominal rate to contract at some point in 2017.
minus inflation). The year-over-year change in the real rate
increased to -53 basis points (-0.53%). That was the fourth straight Appliance Industrial Production. Despite the extended period of
month of an increase and the highest it has been since May 2016. growth since May 2012, the actual level of appliance production is
The interest rate is an extremely important indicator for still at the bottom of the production levels from 1994 to 2007. That
the appliance industry because of its significant impact on shows what a toll the industry took as a result of the popping of the
the housing market. Generally, a lower rate either encourages housing bubble about 10 years ago.
In February, appliance production
Housing Permits Lead Appliance Production was up 2.4% from where it was one
year prior. That was the slowest rate
80 25
of month-over-month growth since
64 20 March 2016. The rate of growth has
48 15 slowed significantly since last fall.

As a result, the annual rate of change
12-Mo. Rate of Change
12-Mo. Rate of Change
Appliance Production,
32 10 in appliance production (see graph)

Housing Permits,
16 5 grew at a slightly slower rate in

February. While the current growth
0 0
rate is quite strong, I expect the
-16 -5 growth in appliance production to
slow throughout 2017.
-32 -10
-48 -15
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Steven Kline Jr. is part
-64 -20 of the fourth-generation ownership team of
Cincinnati-based Gardner Business Media,
-80 -25
Jan 97
Jan 07
Jan 17
Jan 99
Jan 09
Jan 01
Jan 05
Jan 11
Jan 15
Jan 03
Jan 13
which is the publisher of Plastics Technology.

He is currently the companys director of
market intelligence. Contact: (513) 527-8800
Housing Permits Appliance Production email: skline2@gardnerweb.com
blog: gardnerweb.com/economics/blog

MARKETPL ACE
This is Plastics Technologys online listing for plastic processing equipment

builders, material suppliers, auxillary manufacturers and more.
WWW.NOVATEC.COM WWW.WITTMANN-GROUP.COM
Wittmann
Battenfelds
website provides
global access to
the full range of Battenfeld injection molding machines, process
engineering, customer service, training and turnkey solutions, in
Worlds largest selection of dryer technologies and blenders addition to automation and auxiliary equipment including Wittmann
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Absolute Haitian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Hosokawa Alpine American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Rapid Granulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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Advantage Engineering, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 IMS Industrial Molding Supplies . . . . . . . . . .16 a,b Rapistak Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
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Arizona Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Leistritz Extruder Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4 Sepro America, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
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Avian USA Machinery, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Maag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Sterling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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www.cvi.canon.com www.novatec.com
Unique Tool & Gauge Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Chem-Pak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 PCS Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 www.unique-tool.com
www.chem-pak.com www.pcs-company.com
Universal Robots USA, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Conair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 47 PFA Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 www.universal-robots.com
www.conairgroup.com www.pfa-inc.com
Wittmann Battenfeld, Inc. . . . . . . . . Back Cover
Dri-Air Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Plastic Process Equipment, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.wittmann-group.com
www.dri-air.com www.ppe.com Inside Back Cover
Engel Machinery Inc. . . . . . .Inside Front Cover Plastics Industry Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 33
www.engelglobal.com www.plasticsindustry.org
Exxon Mobil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Plastrac Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

www.exxonmobil.com www.plastrac.com For additional product information, refer to
this companys Advertising/Data Sheets in
Fimic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Processing Technologies International LLC . . . 36 PLASTICS TECHNOLOGYs 2017 PROCESSING
www.fimic.it www.ptiextruders.com HANDBOOK & BUYERS GUIDE
SALES OFFICES PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY (ISSN 0032-1257) is published

monthly and copyright 2017 by Gardner Business Media
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PROCESSORS EDGE
RENYMED BALDWIN PARK, C ALIF.
Molder & Moldmaker Embraces

Minimalist Tooling Philosophy
RenyMeds niche consists of projects where
it can offer not only molding, but help in
designing and making the compact, modular RenyMed helps design tooling for more
than 90% of the jobs it molds, says CEO
molds that are a company specialty. Steve Raiken, who started his own one-
man tool shop in the mid-80s.
RenyMed CEO Steve Raiken half-jokingly calls it his Harry Potter to shorter lead times, the compact tools require minimal storage
closet. The walls of the 6 x 8 ft space off the tool room are lined with space and can run on smaller machines. Those floorspace-saving
shelves filled with small plastic containers. They benefits add up quickly in the costly California real-estate market.
By Tony Deligio,
Senior Editor give the initial impression that this is a compact From a production standpoint, the compact tooling minimizes
storage area for various mold components. On residence time for the expensive, heat-sensitive resins RenyMed
closer inspection, however, visitors discover that each blue plastic uses to mold precision medical components.
container holds a production tool slid into protective netting. Because its modular, were starting from the 40-yard line in
For most injection molders, tool storage consists of pallet- terms of design, says Raiken. Were getting a running start on the
lined floor-to-ceiling racks, where molds are moved to and from project. As an example, he displays one part for which RenyMed was
production by a combination of forklifts and overhead cranes. able to create tools for six different sizes in seven weeks.
However, RenyMed, Baldwin Park, Calif. (renymed.com), can store We make the most contained and concise mold, Raiken says. So,
all its tooling in what amounts to a closet, with workers pulling when we use this tooling, what were doing is asking, What does the
a mold from its netting and dropping it into the appropriate part require? rather than fitting the part into something we know.
modular base, which RenyMed also makes. Raiken knows molds, having started a one-man tool shop in the
Says Raiken, When we tell a potential customer we have a mid-1980s after completing a moldmaking apprenticeship. That
unique modular system, almost always they ask, Is it a M.U.D. operation was carved out of unused space in the corner of an injec-
base? We show them tion molder, and consisted of a mill, grinder, and lathe. Dissatisfied
4-in. round cavity mold with the mold testing he was finding, Raiken decided to add a
insert set with a robust molding machine, which he did in a new space all to himself.
1/2-in. cooling channel Raiken expanded his business from there, taking on molding
that envelops the cavity, and growing along with the California medical-device market, which
double slides that inter- called for high-precision parts made from difficult materials in a
lock the cavity, a side race to the smallest that continues today. Ten years ago, RenyMed
Y-corepull, and a helical moved into its current space in Baldwin Park.
unwind for a luer thread. Raiken notes that most of the parts he makes weigh less than a
We then install all gram. Exemplifying the small size and precise nature of the programs
this in a mold base with RenyMed takes on, when Plastics Technology visited, Raiken was
RenyMed specializes in small, guided ejection and it preparing for a customer visit to discuss a new ophthalmology
high-precision medical parts becomes a SPI class 101 product used to hold the iris open during cataract surgery. For this
from hard-to-mold resins.
mold without an ejector project, as with well over 90% of its jobs, RenyMed will help design
pin mark on the part. The the tooling it will build and run. Our niche is creative DFM [design for
customer then says they have never seen a solution such as this. We manufacturing]. We provide our customers with creative manufac-
then tell them this is scalable to four cavities. This is unique. turing solutions that help them realize their medical device, Raiken
This modular tooling concept was developed by RenyMed says. At trade shows, molders lay out hundreds of parts, to say, Thats
about seven years ago. While its not a fit for every project, in the what we do, we make plastic parts. Well thats not what we do. We
programs where it does work, it offers myriad benefits. In addition provide our customers with the ability to make their product.

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A property of Gardner Business Media MAY 2017 No- 05 VOL 63

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