At the IWT site in Winchester, new manufacturing facilities had to be built to house the large machines. As 29 truckloads of machine parts were arriving from Austria, the 59,000-square-foot building expansion went forward. A 150-ton overhead crane was installed to move molds in and out of the machine and was also used to help assemble the new press.

Geoff Giordano is a tech journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in all facets of publishing. He has reported extensively on the gamut of plastics manufacturing technologies and issues, including 3D printing materials and methods; injection, blow, micro and rotomolding; additives, colorants and nanomodifiers; blown and cast films; packaging; thermoforming; tooling; ancillary equipment; and the circular economy. Contact him at [email protected].

Contract manufacturer Diversified Plastics Inc. (DPI) has a new CEO at the helm, with Alex Danzberger being promoted from vice president of finance.

Engel said it received the purchase order in November 2020 and completed handover of the first machine in February 2022. The second machine, a replica of the first, was delivered this month.

Special shipping and ground transportation arrangements were needed to move the machine from Austria to the United States and even within Austria. The platens were transported to and from the St. Valentin manufacturing facility along the Danube River on barges. “Each machine was fully assembled and tested prior to shipping and then disassembled to be shipped to the United States,” said Jim Moran, business development manager at Engel North America.

“We have made significant investments in new equipment, and this will allow us to produce our products more effectively and efficiently,” said Bryan Coppes, vice president of engineering and R&D at Infiltrator. “It is the new capabilities and opportunities for continued product development that are truly exciting. This new equipment will allow us to continue to bring new and innovative products to market and meet and exceed our customers' needs.”

“Alex’s unique skillset aligns perfectly with the company’s vision and growth initiatives,” said Rob Kieval, chairman of the board at DPI. “We are confident he is the visionary leader needed to usher us into a new era as an economy powerhouse company defined by digital agility and customer-centricity.”

Engel said it is increasingly receiving requests for custom solutions in the extremely high clamping force range. Clamping forces of 10,000 tons and more are possible. Machines of this size can process individual shot weights of several hundred kilograms or pounds and achieve two-ton-per-hour material throughput.

Getting the 8,000-ton machines from Austria to the Infiltrator Water Technologies plant in Kentucky was a logistical challenge.

Engel was recently awarded a gold sustainability rating by EcoVadis, which relies on data from more than 90,000 evaluated companies and global supply chains to rank companies.

With more than two decades of experience ranging from operations to process efficiency, Danzberger will lead the Minneapolis-based custom manufacturer further down the path of digital manufacturing. Diversified also has a facility in Vista, CA.

“DPI’s commitment to innovation and its dedicated teams in Minnesota and California are the perfect foundation for this exciting transformation,” Danzberger said. “In collaboration with our leadership team, including Rodd Joos and (Chief Commercial Officer) Tom Venable, we will leverage groundbreaking technologies to redefine contract manufacturing, exceeding customer expectations and establishing DPI as a leader in the digital manufacturing age.”

Danzberger has held numerous leadership roles with firms including Kinetic Data, a workflow automation application company; Capella Education Co., an online university; Digital River, a global SaaS provider; and Honeywell International. He earned a bachelor’s in economics from Allegheny College and is a Six Sigma Greenbelt.

Diversified Plastics, which is employee owned, specializes in custom plastic injection molding, micro molding, and additive manufacturing of high-precision, close-tolerance parts and components for medical devices, electronics, telecommunications, and industrial applications. The full-service contract manufacturer also assists customers in designing for additive manufacturing, mold construction, and cleanroom assembly and packaging.

The duo injection molding machines each have two 85,000 cm³ injection units, which allow for injecting a total shot weight of 270 lb (122 kg). Despite the clamping force and shot size, the machines have a relatively small footprint — 96 ft. (29.3 meters) long and 37 ft. (6.4 meters) wide — enabled by Engel’s two-platen design.

Engel added in the news release that it shares a commitment to sustainability with ADS, which claims to recycle more plastic than any other company in North America.

Two injection molding machines with a clamping force of 8,000 tons each have now been delivered by Austrian injection molding machine maker Engel to the Infiltrator Water Technologies (IWT) plant in Winchester, KY. IWT took delivery of the first Engel duo 130000/130000H/8200 combi US machine, the largest machine ever built at Engel’s St. Valentin facility in Austria, in February of last year. A second machine, a replica of the first, arrived at the facility this month. IWT, a subsidiary of Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS), produces water management products.