“Especially when you are entering new subject areas, competent, reliable and cooperative companions are worth their weight in gold. You also need a good dose of pragmatism, which is present in all project partners at all times,” continued Hennrich. The SKZ supported the component design with rheological simulations of the filling behaviour and degree of cross-linking. Growth rates in the silicone market have been in the double-digit range for several years despite the weakening economic situation. The impending PFAS ban will certainly continue to drive LSR sales in the coming months - as the inquiries from the industry already confirm.

One client, Chew Valley uses double-height Dolavs with central stainless-steel runners. They handle 9000 tonnes of raw animal bi-products from abattoirs every year. The Dolavs survive very harsh conditions and are often hit by the forklift truck forks when off-site. "With the density of the plastic, they stand up well and we can repair them. They serve us very well," said director, Lindsay Dury.

With in-stock standard colours of blue, yellow, green, brown, red and grey, UK customers of Dolav Direct can have almost colour but black. Many other colours are available to special order.

For most users, standard, heavy duty, volume produced pallet boxes are perfect but some clients want lower walls, extra length or changed width units. Dolav Direct listens and engineers tough conversions in any quantity. A rare service these days.

After extensive testing the Ace joined the Dolav product range and the HSF equipment pool this within recent months. Design and manufacture has achieved zero hiding places for bacteria before or after washing. Dolav low-pressure injection moulding using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) creates an impermeable, strong solid, single wall with no internal tension allowing use in extreme heat or deep freeze rooms. If cut, cracked or scratched the newly exposed surfaces are as impermeable as the original surface. This means that any damage or repair can be cleaned just as well, and as thoroughly as undamaged surfaces maintaining total hygienic integrity.

The jointly developed tool will be available to the SKZ for research and education in the future. The SKZ would like to thank all partners involved and those who have worked in the background. Interested parties are cordially invited to experience the tool live in action at the SKZ Network and Technology Day on June 26 and 27 in Würzburg in the model factory at the SKZ.

Meusburger Georg GmbH & Co KG contributed to the consortium with its expertise in selecting the right material for the tool steels used. “The silicone market is a stable and growing market. For us at Meusburger it was important to expand our expertise here even more in order to be able to advise customers in the best possible way,” emphasised Sebastian König, regional sales manager at Meusburger. For the planned injection mould, corrosion-resistant steels were proposed and ultimately used for the basic structure and the mould inserts.

Bestenlehrer GmbH, a tool and mould making company, is a recognized expert in the field of polishing complex cavities. The second-generation family business specialises in the distortion-free and contour-accurate polishing of injection moulding, die casting and forming tools. “Long-standing and highly qualified specialists as well as modern workplaces must be our claim when it comes to the individual requirements of our customers,” explains Marcel Bestenlehrer, managing director of Bestenlehrer GmbH.

The project consortium in front of the LSR injection moulding machine from KraussMaffei with the dosing system from NEXUS in the SKZ model factory. (From left) Jürgen Ritter (Weschu), Sebastian König (Meusburger Georg GmbH & Co KG), Marcel Bestenlehrer (Bestenlehrer GmbH), Jörg Essinger & Torsten Schnell (GÜNTHER Heisskanaltechnik GmbH), Thomas Lender & Markus Scheuerlein (toolcraft AG) and Bernhard Hennrich (SKZ).

“The contacts we make at the specialist conferences allow us to identify trends at an early stage and drive innovation forward,” he continued. The expertise built up over decades in the field of mould making for highly demanding precision small parts is the solid starting point for toolcraft to manufacture the silicone mould within the project. In addition to the ongoing “SiliTemp” research project with the SKZ, toolcraft is now also developing and building the first silicone tools for industry.

Although not at standard product prices, customised Dolav products can transform production processes and save or avoid large capital cost expenditure making a customised Dolav even better value for money. Remarkably, Dolav Direct offers customisation on small order quantities which can be a huge benefit to customers of all sizes.

Five partners from the world of plastics have embarked on an ambitious project: two moulded parts made of liquid silicone (LSR), which could not have been more different in terms of their application and geometric dimensions, were to be produced in a single mould. On the one hand, a coffee lid with a shot weight of 28 g, a diameter of 100 mm and a maximum wall thickness of 7 mm was to be produced. On the other hand, a magnifying glass with a shot weight of only 6 g and a diameter of 35 mm with a lens with 6x magnification was on the agenda.

“The nice thing about the plastics industry and my job is that after 16 years of professional experience, you can still get to know new materials or classes of materials that are fascinating,” explained Bernhard Hennrich, group manager Injection Molding Research at SKZ.

The Dolav 1000-Ace holds up to 900 kg because HSF, and other food handlers, wanted a box designed to help give lower lifetime costs, take 30 percent heavier loads and have three integral runners. Other detailed improvements included greater internal radii and reduced underside ribbing for easier cleaning, strengthening possible impact points from fork tines.

Dolav Direct (Stand J41) presents the Ace plastic box pallet with three runners and designed especially for hygienic food handling in close cooperation with a major meat logistics group, HSF Logistics.

New from Dolav Direct for the UK is a rapid, small order, customisation service. Customers are offered a wide range of options which include hinged lids with seals and locks, castors and drain bungs. Factory trained staff complete the conversions which retain the Dolav safe, secure stacking ability. Many modifications can also be made by customers for which Dolav offers kits with instructions, templates and parts.

Dolav has been supplying plastic pallet boxes to the UK for over 30 years and has recently introduced its pallet customisation service with no lower limit on order quantity.

“It quickly became clear to us that this project was a unique and good opportunity to test our cold runner system in practice,” said Torsten Schnell, head of Research and Development at GÜNTHER Heisskanaltechnik GmbH. “The electric linear actuators allow precise and infinitely variable adjustment of the needles for optimum filling of different component sizes in one mould,” added Jörg Essinger, head of Application Technology.

Supported by the expert advice of Dr. Ralf-Urs Giesen and his colleagues from the University of Kassel and thanks to the provision of system technology by KraussMaffei and NEXUS, SKZ and toolcraft AG have been able to press ahead with their developments over the past three years in the production cells set up on site. The significant differences in the shot weight of the two articles quickly led to a solution approach with a cold runner mould with valve gate.

Innovation partner GÜNTHER Heisskanaltechnik GmbH provided its valve gate nozzle with electric linear actuator for this purpose and, due to the space available on the machine's clamping unit, supplemented it with drives offset by 90 degrees.

“Only through close cooperation like this is it possible to expand the company's own portfolio and build up the necessary network alongside day-to-day business. The SKZ provides us with a wide range of opportunities to exchange ideas with other industry representatives,” added Markus Scheuerlein, project manager Mold Making at toolcraft AG.

A major UK pet food company needed a 1200 x 800 Dolav Pallet Box mounted on heavy-duty castors and fitted with a sealed, lockable lid to prevent insect infestation. They asked for one unit to try to be followed by another eleven if the Dolav solution worked. Within a few days the bespoke unit was on site and proved its worth.