thin-walled PET containers - polyethylene terephthalate injection molding

ENGEL's "inject 4.0" strategy aims to enable customers to develop and produce high-quality, cost-efficient parts. Through the use of digital assistance systems, AI-based analysis tools like the iQ process observer, and shopfloor monitoring in the e-connect customer portal, the entire production chain is optimised, from design to sampling, production, and maintenance. These digital solutions lead to energy savings, better part quality, and increased machine availability, ensuring long-term competitiveness.

Milacron has aggressively expanded its rebuild and remanufacture capabilities for LPIM machines for customers. There are a large number of old LPIM machines in the field that were purchased in the late 1980s and 1990s that need rebuilds and upgrades to control systems and new motor and drive selections, moving away from DC to AC drives which provide better energy efficiency. Milacron’s full remanufacturing consists of fully rebuilding the machine to current model specifications, including full teardown and inspection, platen refurbishment, full re-painting of the machine, new controls, electrical system, and hydraulics. The major tonnage and injection cylinders and hydraulic accumulators are sent out for refurbishment and resealing. New screws, barrels, and injection melt accumulators are also included as part of this program.

ENGEL demonstrated how production can be optimised through data-based decisions. Manufacturing companies receive item- and order-related results and KPIs to significantly reduce scrap and machine downtime.

On the first and last day of the event series, the iQ user communities took place. They specifically targeted the practical needs of process technicians and machine operators. Here, users were able to test and discuss ENGEL's iQ products at the technology centre in Schwertberg.

An advancement of the CC300 machine controller, the CC300 plus, was also a crowd-puller at the technology centre in St. Valentin. It offers enhanced ergonomics, assistance, and personalisation. The extended control concept, which is already successfully in use by customers, was presented here.

Parts molded with LPIM can replace many rotational molded or industrial blow molded parts with better aesthetics and better cycle times.

In total, Milacron is currently rebuilding eight LPIM machines as well as four HPIM machines. “Milacron’s commitment to the LPIM side of the industry, their quality, performance, and service is second to none and is the reason that we made this decision to have them rebuild and upgrade this equipment,” said Ron Ernsberger, President, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics.

With ENGEL GPT, employees of injection moulding companies will have all machine and process data available directly on the shop floor. Through simple voice input, they can access extensive and interconnected knowledge. The system is integrated directly into the customer portal.

Hallstrom added, “Essentially we are updating machines that have been in production for over 30 years and bringing them up to the same specifications as our new machines. This has been especially popular since we started to promote this capability to our customers, as they see a significant enough savings since we are re-using the most expensive parts of these large machines, being the bases, platens, and cylinders. The customer gets back a machine that outperforms the machine’s original specifications and is as reliable as a new machine with the same warranty.”

The markets driving the increased level of activity are material handling (pallets and boxes), underground enclosures for telecommunications and utilities, drainage and irrigation products, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) components, commercial/institutional, and industrial and safety products. Milacron is also seeing other new products being developed that are conversions from concrete, metal, and wood in the building and infrastructure market as well.

Dariusz Barton, managing director of SolidPlast Sp. Z O.O., spoke about transparent production at a medium-sized company. With ENGEL's innovative concepts, SolidPlast improved its production processes. Thanks to ENGEL's iQ systems and shopfloor monitoring, the innovative injection moulder was able to reduce production costs by 4.2% and increase machine availability by 270 hours annually, leading to higher efficiency.

Eric Hallstrom, Business Manager, Milacron LPIM added, “Milacron has been promoting our proprietary Structural Web technology that allows for multi-point gas assist molding that can be added to as an option to our standard LPIM machine. The process allows for a cosmetic part appearance for large projected area parts and can reduce part weights by up to 20%. The gas assist process also creates an inherently strong and durable part, molded with low internal stresses and a dual wall thickness which can replace many rotational molded or industrial blow molded parts with better aesthetics and better cycle times for higher volume parts.”

Florian Wurzel, cluster leader at KM.ON GmbH, presented an impressive example of production revolution through edge computing. His company uses the edge computing platform from DAIM, a joint venture between ENGEL Austria GmbH and uni software plus GmbH. Edge computing is a data processing concept where data is processed and analysed directly at the "edge," or the source of the action, rather than centrally in the cloud. This allows large data volumes to be processed quickly and with minimal delay. DAIM's edge devices are also used in ENGEL injection moulding machines' e-connect products.

At NPE, 20/20 entered into an agreement with Milacron to refurbish and upgrade two of their existing 400-ton LPIM machines to 500-ton LPIM machines, and one of their 500-ton LPIM machines to 750-ton LPIM machines. 20/20 is also having Milacron rebuild and upgrade five of their 750-ton LPIM machines. The machines will undergo a complete remanufacture and rebuild process at Milacron’s Batavia, OH manufacturing plant and be returned like new machines.

Over 400 enthusiastic visitors attended, gaining exciting insights into the current state of advancing digitalisation in injection moulding through practical examples, and offering interesting perspectives on the near future. ENGEL's activities in digitalisation aim to enhance customer orientation by optimising production, reducing energy costs, improving quality, and addressing the skills shortage.

Milacron CEO Tom Goeke stated, “Stories like 20/20’s machine retrofits reinforce the fact that Milacron has an unrivaled aftermarket offering. Our aftermarket offerings aren’t only spare parts, we can literally take an older machine and transform it to like new condition. Milacron has set the standards, driven innovation and led the industry in Multi-Nozzle Low-Pressure Injection Molding Technologies for more than four decades. These machines can be used for Structural Foam, Structural Web, Gas Assist, Solid Molding, or combinations of these technologies depending on the application.” Goeke added, “The LPIM market is strong for our customers that require either new or rebuilt machines in both North America and Europe, and we have a number of solid inquiries both domestically and internationally including many from Latin America and India.”

Machine builder Milacron Holdings Corp. has seen demand increase for its Low Pressure Injection Molding (LPIM) Structural Foam machines following a successful NPE 2018 in Orlando, FL, including machine rebuilds. Milacron had a dedicated space in the NPE booth focusing on LPIM technologies and large part molding. An eye-catching display showed a replica platen of the massive Cincinnati 6,750 ton machine sold to 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics of Holiday City, OH.

Ideal for injection molding large, lightweight, durable structural plastic parts, the Milacron LPIM Structural Foam Technology creates a cellular foamed core surrounded by integral skins, forming a total integral and rigid structure. In this process, a foaming agent (nitrogen) is mixed with the polymer melt and short-shot through a modular multiple nozzle system into a mold (or multiple molds) in a volume less than is required to fill a solid part. The injection pressure and expanding gas/polymer cellular mixture act to fill the mold. The mold cavity pressures are 10–20 times lower than conventional injection molding which permits the use of lower cost aluminum molds with no additional hot runner system since the hot runner manifold and nozzle system is integral to the machine. Many molds and large parts of different sizes can be molded at the same time. The multi-nozzle machine design allows for multiple molds to be run simultaneously allowing for higher productivity.

AI Evangelist Malcolm Werchota, head of generative AI at Triple Eight Solutions and Co-Founder/COO at CoatingAI, Switzerland, gave a talk on "AI in Industry - Has the Future Already Begun?" and provided a clear answer: “ENGEL uses artificial intelligence to improve the process efficiency of its customers.”

From June 18 to 20, 2024, ENGEL hosted the Digital Days event in Schwertberg and St. Valentin. This event provided concrete answers to central questions in the injection moulding industry.

Machines delivered in the 1980s and 1990s are being upgraded to outperform their original specifications, while new machine deals also are accelerating.

Ernsberger added, “Milacron worked closely with our entire team at 20/20 to identify the upgrades to the existing machines to be rebuilt that will put these machines above today’s current machine specifications and give us the widest capabilities for these size machines in the industry.” Ernsberger continued, “We also had Milacron integrate some proprietary technologies into their machines that allow us to have the most versatile LPIM Structural Foam machine fleet in the custom molding market. It’s a great partnership between the companies, as all equipment at 20/20 CMP is 100% Milacron.”

At the end of his lecture, he introduced the prototype of a world-first innovation: ENGEL GPT. This large language model offers significant value to ENGEL's customers by:

Piercarlo Balducci, head of product engineering & head of maintenance at Interroll SA, also sees technology as a key to solving personnel challenges. The company relies on the digital setup assistant, ENGEL setup assistant, which allows for short setup times even by less experienced operators. Machine downtime due to tool changes can be reduced by up to 80%. For contract manufacturers, this represents a clear competitive advantage. Additionally, the company managed to reduce energy costs by 15.38% through the use of iQ flow control. Therefore, Interroll described ENGEL's digital solutions in their presentation as a game changer.

The global player in disposable lighters, razors, and pens, BIC, looks back on eleven successful years of digital cooperation with ENGEL, significantly enhancing its production as a result.

Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

Yiannis Voultzatis, IMM process & mold optimization manager at BIC Violex S.A., said: “With ENGEL digital, we have improved our Manufacturing KPIs significantly. Our already high Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) for moulding was increased by 3% and our scrap was reduced by approximately 40%, which is really significant, leading to a more sustainable moulding process.”

Under this motto, Johannes Kilian, head of process and application technology at ENGEL, presented how digital products can enhance productivity in the injection moulding industry.

How ENGEL is already using AI today was made clear in remote support and digital tools. AI is a key to service optimisation and significantly reduces the time required for injection moulding companies.

The prototype of the system was a crowd-puller at the technology centre in the large machine plant in St. Valentin. Here, the opportunities and potential that AI offers for the future of injection moulding became clear. At additional stations, ENGEL presented the practical implementation in digital products and assistance systems.

Gerhard Dimmler, CTO of ENGEL, and Hannes Zach, head of sales Digital Solutions at ENGEL, opened the event with a lecture on the importance of digitalisation for the injection moulding industry. ENGEL has evolved from a machine builder to a provider of complete solutions with a high degree of digitalisation possibilities. The digital transformation encompasses process optimisation, sustainability, and addressing the skills shortage. Digital assistance systems and products enhance production efficiency and quality. ENGEL sees the future of injection moulding in the use of AI and digital twins for process optimisation.

In conclusion, ENGEL impressively demonstrated its innovative strength in plastics technology to an enthusiastic audience with the Digital Days. The developments and technologies presented highlighted the company's commitment to sustainably shaping the industry through digital transformation and advanced solutions focused on customer orientation. The event provided valuable insights and impulses, paving the way for future progress and cooperation.