ENGEL focuses on premium quality with low unit costs at T-Plas 2015

Thailand is one of the key markets among the emergent industrial countries in Southeast Asia. To meet the growing demands in the region more efficiently, ENGEL has had its own sales office in Bangkok since 2010 and opened a subsidiary there in 2013. This means that the company will be well represented at T-Plas. As Aram Tongurai, the managing director of ENGEL Machinery (Thailand) Ltd., says: "ENGEL is seen as a technology leader in this region. With our extensive turnkey solution, technology and automation expertise, we are able to give our customers an edge over their competitors at a time when quality and efficiency demands are increasing."

At T-Plas, process integration as a key factor to become more competitive will be demonstrated via ENGEL's two-component application.  An ENGEL e-victory 200H/80W/120 combi injection molding machine with an ENGEL viper 20 linear robot will be producing sensor housings for flow metering with an integrated seal. The first stage involves two housings being molded simultaneously from a thermoplastic material. The robot then transfers the parts of the housing to a second set of cavities, where the seal made from liquid silicone (LSR) is molded on directly. While the soft components of one set of housings are being processed, the next housings are already in progress in the lower half of the mould. Mr. Tongurai says: "Having the seals moulded directly onto the housings not only increases production efficiency, but also product safety. The thermoplastic and elastomer form an inseparable unit." There are examples for this application in every sector, from the automotive industry to medical technology to packaging.

ENGEL will also meet the demands placed on the processing of liquid silicone (LSR) which must be fully automatic, waste-free, low in burrs and require no post-processing. Various factors contribute to ensuring that these demands are fulfilled reliably. Servo-electric injection units guarantee a very high degree of precision, for example. The shot weight of the LSR components is just 0.04g per part, and a special individualised solution would normally be required for processing LSR when such a small injection volume is involved. ENGEL is able to use a standard unit, however. To measure out the liquid silicone, mini pumps with one-litre tanks are used that all fit within the safety housing of the injection molding machine, saving both space and costs. The standard version of the ENGEL e-victory machine's clamping unit works with the ecodrive servo-hydraulic system which drastically reduces both the machine's energy consumption and its noise and heat emissions.

Last but not least, the tie-bar-less clamping unit of the ENGEL e-victory machine helps to achieve very high process consistency levels. The patented force divider enables the moving mold mounting platen to follow the mould exactly while clamping force is building up and ensures that the clamping force is evenly distributed across the platen face. Both the outer and inner cavities are therefore kept closed with exactly the same force, significantly reducing mould wear and raising product quality.  This tie-bar-less technology gives ENGEL a unique selling point that is unmatched anywhere else in the world. In addition to high process consistency levels, the machine concept makes it possible to achieve very fast set-up processes, compact production cells and efficient automation concepts. This will also be clearly demonstrated at the T-Plas exhibition. The ENGEL viper robot can reach the cavities directly from the side without having to circumvent any obstacles.

If ENGEL supplies both the injection moulding machine and the robot, the robot control unit is integrated into the machine's CC300 control unit. The user therefore benefits from uniform control logic and it is not necessary to learn to operate two different systems. An integrated robot control unit can also shorten the cycle time,  because when the machine and robot access the same database, they can automatically coordinate their movement sequences to achieve maximum overall efficiency.

Smart service products for greater productivity
At its T-Plas stand ENGEL dedicates an exhibition area to its service products and services under the heading ENGEL plus. The ENGEL e‑service.24 and the ENGEL e-factory will take centre stage there.  

With its MES solution ENGEL e-factory, ENGEL is setting new standards in production data acquisition. The current release can be connected directly to ERP systems such as SAP – even injection molding machines of different brands can be integrated. This way the operations manager can keep an eye on production figures from his desk in real time and take immediate counter actions in case of deviations. This leads to greater productivity and higher production plant availability.

The ENGEL e-service.24 package also contributes to availability. ENGEL service engineers can use a remote connection, after approval by the customer, in order to access the machine data in real time, and immediately start troubleshooting following an error message. The ENGEL team can give the machine operators on site specific instructions and explanations by audio, video or text conferencing. Many problems can easily be resolved over the Internet in this manner, and plastics manufacturers can avoid a costly and time-consuming service call on-site.

ENGEL booth at T-Plas is located at hall 102-104, stand F01