Automation and the injection moulding process

Factory automation around the world has grown substantially in the past few years, owing to the many advantages that automation systems have brought towards increasing productivity and reducing costs. A study by MarketsandMarkets indicates that top factory automation companies are predicted to record compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.58 percent up to 2016, with the industrial control marketprojected to expand from $120 billion in 2010 to $185 billion by 2016.

Subsets of automation that reduce the need for human labour expected to see the most growth include robotics, control systems, IT systems and manufacturing execution systems (MES). Others include human machine interface (HMI), distributed control systems (DSC), SCADA, conveyor belts, conveyance systems and programmable logic controllers (PLC). The Asia-Pacific market is expected to post the highest growth due to increases in production activities, and attempts by manufacturers to cut labour and other production costs. Despite lower-than-average levels of plant automation, China is expected to be the key influencer in Asia. India is also showing gains in global market shares.

Putting efficiency first
Several companies are expected to showcase advanced automation productsin the upcoming K 2013 exhibition in October. ENGELprepared a wide variety of exhibits: 25 exhibits with two newly developed injection moulding machines, the ENGEL e-speed and ENGEL e-motion 30 TL. For packaging, the new ENGEL e-speed 650 injection moulding machine integrates the best of new speedster harnesses the proven technology of the all-electric high performance machines in e-motion and e-cap series as well as the benefits of the ENGEL speed range, combining maximal injection speed with energy efficiency. At K 2013, an e-speed 650/90 will produce thin wall containers in an 8+8 cavity stack mould with a total cycle time about fewer than four seconds.

On the other side, the latest addition to the ENGEL duo double-plated machine series, the ENGEL e-duo, integrate high precision and repeatability of electric machines with its electric injection unit, offering a space saving solution. This large scale series are efficient hybrid machines and at the K 2013 e-duo 5440/700 will show the amalgamation of gas injection technology and in-mould labeling, which grants the manufacturing of high volume packaging parts.

For teletronics, the all-electric high accurate and tie-bar-less e-motion 30TL responds to the demand of electronic industry by low clamping force area, to which flexibility, precision, and energy efficiency is highly concerned. Using a 16 cavity mould, 60-pin board to board connectors will be produced at the fair. In this application, the new small and tie-bar-less variant in the ENGEL e-motion series will work with an injection pressure of 3,200 bar and an exceptional injection speed of 800mm per second, which has been enabled by an acceleration of more than 40 m per second.

For technical moulding, ENGEL offers intelligent solutions with multi-layer technology for high quality optical molded products. Now the trend of synthetic materials used in the production of car parts and building lights is prevalent and the dominant factors are two: lighter polymers as the replacement of glass, and the great potential of plastics promising better design spectrum. The main issue on this field is to hold the balance between superior optical quality and cost effectiveness; ENGEL will show how to achieve this goal at the fair by overmoulding with e-motion 200/110 T and viper 12 robot.

<Test running, chaussures, montres cardio gps et habits sports