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.

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.

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.

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.

The new MA III Multi and JU III Multi machines are managed by the latest KEBA control technology, ensuring easy integration into upstream and downstream automation production processes. Features of the MA III Multi and JU III Multi machines include:

Absolute Haitian has announced the availability of new servo-hydraulic multi-component injection molding machines that complement its Zhafir electric presses introduced in 2021. Based on its two popular servo-hydraulic series, the Mars III Multi and two-platen Jupiter III Multi series range from 67 to 2,709 tons of clamp force.

“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.”

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

clamping forces from 1,200 to 5,300 kN (135 to 596 tons) in the MA III Multi and 7,500 to 18,500 kN (843 to 2,079 tons) in the JU III Multi;

shot sizes ranging from 19 to 1,295 grams (0.67 to 45.7 ounces) in the MA III Multi and 228 to 2,547 grams (43.3 to 89.8 ounces) in the JU III Multi;

Designed to complement the Zhafir electric injection molders introduced in 2021, the machines feature clamping forces ranging from 67 to 2,709 tons.

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.

The machine design leverages Haitian’s accumulated knowledge of multi-component technology gained from the previous Iapetus generation of multi-component machines, said the company. The MA III Multi and JU III Multi reportedly are more efficient and offer increased configurations and flexibility than the Iapetus series. “Our goal is to advance Haitian’s long-standing and highly successful strategy of extending its product line and leveraging its manufacturing scale to deliver more machine configurations at competitive price points, thereby helping customers realize cost reduction,” said Sherman McGinnis, Vice President of Sales for Absolute Haitian.

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.

generous tie-bar specs and a strong load-bearing rotary table on the movable platen that accommodate large molds and provide capacity for stable production;

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.

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.