Glazpart looks to the future with ENGEL technology

At K 2022, ENGEL UK welcomed Mark O’Mahoney, operations and technical director of Glazpart Ltd and Andrew Rose, manufacturing manager, to view developments in ENGEL’s machine designs and technology and discuss the recent substantial and continual investment by Glazpart in ENGEL technology.

Glazpart recently took delivery of its most recent investment in a collection of ENGEL injection moulding machines with viper robot automation. With an ongoing energy efficiency programme that involves replacement of less efficient machines and the addition of digital solutions, Glazpart says it is looking to the future with its partnership with ENGEL.

Banbury-based Glazpart is a technical and custom injection moulder, originally established in 1985 by Ken Hanley, and still owned by him today. Since its inception Glazpart has evolved into a one-stop-shop for product design, tooling manufacture and injection moulding across a comprehensive spread of industries. Glazpart’s injection moulding platform includes medical component manufacture in a specifically designed area, twin shot moulding and in-mould labelling. Glazpart produces in excess of 200 million parts per year, and manufactures a comprehensive range of its own products for the fenestration industry.

O’Mahoney outlined the reasons Glazpart has chosen ENGEL injection moulding technology to support the firm’s growth acceleration. “We were originally attracted to the ENGEL brand by the tie-bar-less feature of the machines, which give us a breadth of specifications” he said. “The tie-bar-less design of the victory machines allows us to utilise smaller footprint injection moulding machines and reduce our capital outlay by ensuring that we only invest in the clamping force we actually require. The open access to the mould area allows space for large moulds and barrier free access for our technicians enables comfortable working conditions. We currently have over 30 ENGEL machines ranging from 28 - 220 tonnes.”

 Baker added: “Our customers report greater efficiency and economy when fully utilising the tie-bar-less design. It creates the ideal environment for automation, allowing faster part removal. As Mark has already remarked these victory machines are compact, and energy efficient. The victory series - from 280 to 5,000 kN clamping force - offers our customers the perfect modular system for the production of diverse technical parts. The patented force dividers, which distribute the clamping force evenly over the entire clamping surface, guarantee consistently high part quality, even with multi-cavity moulds.”

The viper robots which Glazpart are using with their victory machines are a flexible and powerful linear robot. Thanks to the construction of laser-welded steel profiles, the dead weight of the viper linear robots is low. At the same time, the stability is high. Due to the integrated control concept, the linear robot can be operated entirely from the CC300 machine control which guarantees optimal interaction of the components. The grip tools from ENGEL ensure efficient use of the linear robot. Both standard robot grippers for different areas of application, and individually designed grippers in special versions are offered.

O’Mahoney said the fast-cycling capabilities of the e-mac range of machines are another advantage. The e-mac combines precision, cleanliness and efficiency with minimal floor space requirements. The encapsulated toggle lever requires less lubricant and increases the service life. Oil leakage at the toggle joints is avoided and enables clean production for products from the food and medical technology sectors. The significantly lower cleaning requirement also reduces downtime. Glazpart has been able to equip its e-mac machines with specific options for specific applications.

During the visit to the ENGEL stand at K, the subject of digital solutions was a topic the Glazpart team was keen to investigate. Mark Mahoney and Andrew Rose emphasised that they were anxious to embrace all the technology ENGEL has to offer. All the machines that the company are currently purchasing from ENGEL are fitted with the e-connect feature. This digital solution is a remote maintenance tool which allows Glazpart to get remote maintenance assistance from experts immediately. Glazpart is situated near to the ENGEL UK HQ in Warwick, but the firm still finds this tool invaluable for remote support when needed. A further digital solution being utilised by Glazpart is the i.Q Melt Control, a plasticising assistant for higher melt quality, which works by automatically optimising the screw speed. i.Q Melt Control is part of the standard equipment on every ENGEL injection moulding machine delivered since 2020.

By automatically optimising the screw speed, the plasticising assistant exploits time reserves, especially cooling time. The software enables optimum adjustment of the dosing parameters. Glazpart is able to get to series production faster, while freeing up in-house technicians. Thanks to the optimised plastification time, Glazpart can also minimise the deflection of the screw and thus the abrasion on the screw flight. Using the i.Q Melt Control assistant ensures a significantly longer service life for the plasticising components.

ENGEL offers injection moulding training courses digitally or on-site, in the training centre or directly on the cutomer’s machine. The training programmes ensure effective knowledge building when it comes to shorter cycle times, higher process quality and less scrap. Glazpart’s team have utilised both training opportunities at ENGEL UK premises and with trainers from ENGEL UK visiting the site when the circumstances were more suitable for that option.