H igh-energy NPE200 9
overflows with
technology
and events
To all who said NPE2009 would be limited by the
economy: No offense, you were wrong. Here is just
a sample of the technology we knew of by press time.
And there is much, much more in Chicago, starting
June 22. See you there.—Kate Dixon and Rob Neilley
Molding machines and systems
With North American sales of new injection molding machines
at their lowest point in decades, many have been thinking we
would see very few new machines debuting at NPE2009. Many
were wrong. There are new machines—plus upgrades and expansion of existing model lines.
Over and above the sheer numbers of new machines, visitors
will be even more intrigued by the scope and specificity of the
application technology. The show is rich in its assortment of
multimaterial molding, inmold decorating, labeling, assembly,
and micromolding.
Though the molding machines on display tend to be appli-cation-specific, virtually all the machine suppliers are voicing
a few common strategies in response to current market conditions. Energy efficiency and competitiveness are dominant,
with sustainability right behind.
And when the machine companies talk competitiveness,
they are talking about making molders more competitive. We’ll
take a double helping of that, thank you. So here is some, and
by no means all, of what the molding machine companies have
waiting for you in Chicago.
Absolute Haitian (Booth S50031), the American source for
the molding machines of the Chinese Ningbo Haitian Group,
says it has a “total focus” on energy-saving machine tech. The
American introduction of its Jupiter series of two-platen servo-pump hybrid systems makes the point. A Jupiter-based cell in
the Haitian booth will
mold a thick-walled
laundry basket, and
use an energy-savings monitor to show
what the company
Read this article online at imm.plasticstoday.com/imm/articles/
NPE2009-preview for links to company websites.
terms significant energy economy during cooling.
Nearby will be another energy-saving machine, this one a
departure from the company’s recent American marketing. A
135-ton Zhafir Venus all-electric machine (pictured) will be
present on the stand, processing a higher-speed application not
specified at press time. The departure is that Haitian Group is
bringing a machine from its German affiliate. Zhafir machines
are high-performance with advanced controls, not the more
general-purpose machines that Absolute Haitian has been emphasizing in the North American market.
During last October’s Fakuma show in Germany, Arburg
(Booth S46048) demonstrated its commitment to energy savings with an award to a customer that made exceptional progress in energy efficiency.
Friedrich Kanz, head of Arburg’s U.S. operation, says
the focus of the company’s
500m /5400-ft NPE ex-
22
hibit is on the performance
of the fully electric Alldrive
Series machines, which are
energy misers by design, as
well as integration of auto-
mation to create custom,
complex production cells centered on its Selogica control system. The size of the stand, Kanz adds pointedly, emphasizes the
U.S. market’s importance to the company.
At the NPE, the application run by a 165-ton Alldrive (
Allrounder A) will include an assembly operation, while a nearby
220-ton 570A demonstrates its multimaterial flexibility, combining LSR and thermoplastic using technology from Simtec
Silicone Parts LLC and moldmaker Rico. And a third Alldrive,
the newest and largest (352 tons) in the series, will be running
a packaging application to show off its speed-precision combination. Finally, even though at only 17 tons you might miss
