- Ninth live programme: Around 450 viewers followed the interactive TV format
- Expert presentations: Correctly configuring, maintaining, and protecting injection moulds against wear
- Live presentation: Conserving moulds and machines and keeping processes constant
Once again, “arburgXvision” had a fascinating topic lined up for its viewers: “Mould Strategies 2.0”. In the ninth episode, Arburg experts Christoph Blöchle and Christian Homp presented strategies for significantly increasing the utilisation rate of injection moulding machines. In addition to the expert presentations, there were instructive live links hosted by Philipp Jarosch in Arburg’s Training Center. Around 450 people watched the interactive internet TV programme live on 28 October 2021. Anyone registered with “arburgXvision” can watch this and all previous episodes in the Media Centre.
In what was once again a very entertaining two hours, the experts competently shared valuable ideas and inspiration and interacted live with viewers to answer key questions. The main topics in theory and practice were strategies for protecting, preparing and monitoring injection moulds as well as tips for combating wear.
Interaction of machine, mould and controller
Christoph Blöchle, Technical Sales Manager at Arburg, argued that “each mould is only as good as the machine that it runs on”, adding that the aim was to produce high-quality mass-produced parts with an optimal price/performance ratio. This requires a low machine load, little wear on the mould, and fault-free operation. “In other words, ‘Mould Strategy 2.0’ means the perfect interaction of machine, mould and controller,” Christoph Blöchle underlined in his technical presentation. Machine technology plays a major role when it comes to symmetrical force application, platen parallelism and force distribution on the tie bars, for example. Key tips from an expert on protecting your mould: If there are process variations, the machine alignment should be checked first and the toggle-type clamping units adapted to different mould installation heights to ensure constant clamping force.
Strategy: Increase reliability – reduce wear
“The best mould strategy is actually really simple: increase reliability and reduce wear,” declared Christian Homp, Team Manager Applications. He went on to stress how important it was to find the perfect compromise between controllable technology and a high utilisation rate. “This starts with the selection of the right material, but also covers the issue of the use of hot runners and ejectors, considerations on flow path wall thickness ratios, and the selection of the right injection unit, drive technology and peripheral equipment,” said Christian Homp. As a supporting tool, he presented the “MachineFinder”, which can be used to determine the optimum machine technology for the requirements of the part and mould. He also explained how assistants such as the “aXw Control ScrewPilot” and “aXw Control ReferencePilot”
provide support in a way that is easy on the mould. In addition, Homp talked about how various monitoring functions can be used to prevent damage to the mould during ongoing processes and how maintenance points can be programmed depending on the cycle.
Live link: Tips and tricks for moulds
Philipp Jarosch, Team Manager of the injection moulding facility, used two Allrounders in Arburg’s Training Center to demonstrate which mistakes to avoid when preparing machines and moulds and the various monitoring options available. He first showed how problems closing moulds can be solved by levelling the machine correctly instead of increasing the clamping force and hence wear. During the second live link, the injection moulding expert demonstrated how mould breathing could be monitored, for example, using a compression path sensor. He also explained how wear can be detected and how forces can be monitored and maintenance points set using the Gestica controller.
Mould and machine will communicate with each other
With moderator Guido Marschall, the experts reiterated how important it is to take a holistic view of the manufacture of a new product and to involve application technology advice at an early stage. “A well-designed mould strategy helps to protect your investment, reduce production costs, and increase part quality,” Christoph Blöchle emphasised. The direction in which Arburg is heading in terms of mould strategy was formulated by Christian Homp as follows: “In future, the mould will communicate directly with the machine controller and facilitate production. At Fakuma 2021, we and one of our mould partners demonstrated for the first time how this can be done.”
Last programme of the year on 25 November 2021
Entitled “Sustainable production: Conserving resources in the plastics industry”, Arburg’s last programme of 2021 will address a particularly relevant topic. Experts Bertram Stern, Sustainability Manager, and Dr Philipp Kloke, Application and Process Development Engineer, will explain important aspects of sustainable and future-proof production and show how recyclates and bioplastics can be processed reliably and efficiently. Several live links will also give viewers a deep insight into injection moulding machine production in Lossburg.
To join the event and stay up to date, simply complete a one-off registration at www.arburgXvision.com. This provides free access to all previous events and to the Media Centre for this outstanding series of programmes.
Press release
File: Pressenachbericht arburgXvision 2021-10-28_en.doc
Characters: 5,212
Words: 789
This and other press releases are available for download from our website at www.arburg.com/de/presse/ (www.arburg.com/en/presse/)
Contact(s)
ARBURG GmbH + Co KG
Press office
Susanne Palm
Dr Bettina Keck
Postfach 1109
72286 Lossburg
Phone: +49 (0)7446 33 3463
Phone: +49 (0)7446 33 3259
German family-owned company Arburg is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of plastic processing machines. Its product portfolio encompasses Allrounder injection moulding machines with clamping forces of between 125 and 6,500 kN, the freeformer for industrial additive manufacturing and robotic systems, customer- and industry-specific turnkey solutions and further peripheral equipment.
Arburg is a pioneer in the plastics industry when it comes to production efficiency, digitalisation, and sustainability. The “arburgXworld” program covers all digital products and services and is also the name of the customer portal. The company’s strategies regarding the efficient use of resources and circular economy as well as all related aspects and activities are combined in the “arburgGREENworld” program.
Arburg’s central aim is for customers to be able to produce their plastic products, from one-off parts to large-volume batches, in optimal quality at minimal unit costs. The target audience includes, for example, the automotive and packaging industries, communication and entertainment electronics manufacturers, the medical technology industry, and the white goods sector.
An international sales and service network ensures first-class customer support at a local level: Arburg has branches at 35 locations in 26 different countries and, together with its trading partners, is represented in more than 100 countries. Its machines are produced exclusively at the German parent company in Lossburg. Of a total of over 3,300 employees, more than 2,750 work in Germany and over 550 in Arburg organisations around the world. Arburg has triple certifications, namely ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), and ISO 50001 (energy).
Further information about Arburg can be found at www.arburg.com
