Injection moulding: Doing more with less
Key Highlights:
- Operating high-value contracts that demand more advanced technology, more investment and more longevity are the balancing act that any contract moulder must master.
- Over the past five years WIBA UK has found that for many of its moulding customers ‘doing more with less’ means accomplishing the difficult trick of expanding the business within the fixed constraints of an existing site.
- Today’s moulders are therefore increasingly appreciative of a ‘plug and produce’ system, especially when setting up shop for a new client.
Some twenty years ago the UK’s contract injection moulding numbers of the UK could be generously counted at some 1050 companies – and with hindsight, quite possibly the crest of a wave.
These firms had already seen out a number of economic contractions and hard times and were by no means inefficient – getting on, for example, with issues such as Investors in People, the BS and ISO standards and starting to deliver the all-important KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
Back then, Industry 4.0 had yet to fully emerge but terms such as kaizen, kan ban, JIT, various forms of 6 Sigma and CI (Continuous Improvement) and various metrics such as OTIF and OEE were all becoming well-known and practiced - part of the trickle down from leading global manufacturing practice. The sciences of metrology and a revolution in QA technology and methods were also becoming incorporated as standard in many moulding enterprises.
All this by way of a preamble to note that the UK’s injection moulding sector has been continually becoming ever more efficient, simply in order to survive.
Meanwhile the Irish injection moulding sector races forward on all fronts: The expansion is largely in line with the Republic’s general economic expansion (first in Europe), unhindered by the presence of brown or legacy industrial site, and also largely powered by the growth demand from medical OEM throughout that country. (About half of Ireland’s injection moulding output goes to medical and healthcare suppliers.)
Come the present day, it’s clear that any moulders that sought to avoid the menu of the 90s – leading up to the present day - have probably perished. The stats and databases bear this out. The UK’s contract moulding population now stands at about 880 businesses (Ireland’s now approaches the 250 mark) and its remaining cohort now faces a series of new challenges:
Doing more with less…
It’s a simple rule-of-thumb that injection moulding businesses have to extract more and more value and value-per-head from their operations: Low-value and low margin moulding manufacture is not a place to be today. Instead, operating high-value contracts that demand more advanced technology, more investment and more longevity are the balancing act that any contract moulder must master.
…less space
Over the past five years WIBA UK has found that for many of its moulding customers ‘doing more with less’ means accomplishing the difficult trick of expanding the business within the fixed constraints of an existing site. And that mastery often comes down to simple physical factors.
Moving staff and equipment out of the confines of one factory and into another is easier said than done. Indeed, it very rarely happens. Instead, the business has to somehow achieve more within the same physical constraints. Anything to help that process therefore – smaller, more compact technology - will automatically go to the front of possible procurement.
"We’re quite happy to share that we’ve won machinery orders in competition simply because our moulding machines are that much more compact than others," said Dan Williams, joint managing director of Wittmann Battenfeld UK.
"And that applies in three dimensions,’ he adds.’ A reduced machine height can literally give you the clearance to get through some factory doors, and a shortened length and depth usually means that our machines are creating space for the customer – not taking it away."
The current generation of Wittmann’s MacroPower, EcoPower, SmartPower and MicroPower moulding machines have been designed by Wittmann with these factors in mind, and are now the most compact ever made by the company.
St Austell-based Polymermedics is a case in point. "For a customer such as ourselves - in a legacy factory – started in 1979 - and with limited space - it’s a relatively simple issue. Basically, we need to source the smallest possible machine footprint – but with the largest possible platen and tooling area," said Polymermedics operations director, Neil Skyba.
"The small footprint of the SmartPower was therefore ideal for us. It is a full one metre shorter and also slightly narrower than any alternative supplier. And again, the robot and machine together as a single package with quick delivery was very helpful."
But best of all is the fact that – despite the overall unit reductions - Wittmann has also increased the size of the mould platen area; meaning that the machines punch considerably above their factory footprint size - whether classed as 80t, 120t, 240t, 300t, 700t or any other locking force.
…less energy cost
Over the past thirty years, Wittmann has also invested energy and innovation in ensuring that all of its machines are leaders in low energy consumption. Energy cost is a critical issue for populations today; particularly for manufacturers and all the more so since the Russia/Ukraine war began.
Based on its long-standing energy experience the Wittmann strategy is simple: "Either your inefficient machinery costs you money every day," said Williams "or else it makes you money and helps pay off your investment earlier."
Wittmann is so clear on this issue that WIBA UK offers any prospective customer a free energy audit – an objective and comparative assessment of the energy usage of its machines. A piece of Wittmann software called IMAGOxt represents the tip of the spear for the next phase in this campaign.
IMAGOxt allows the energy consumption of connected machinery, devices and any consumption clusters in injection moulding to be visualised and displayed in a scalable manner.
The energy data can also be aggregated into logical units in order to make evaluation even more straightforward. The program runs as a web application, both as an optional extension to Wittmann’s MES software and as a stand-alone program. The energy costs per machine can be apportioned to the individual production cycle of the IMM or even for specific injection moulded parts and jobs – thus providing production and environmental transparency that is an increasing requirement for today’s circular economy.
Joint WIBA UK MD, Tracy Cadman said that "it doesn’t matter what IMM machinery or peripherals you are running in your moulding shop, WIBA UK offers you the IMAGOxt analysis package free of charge. We make sure to play our part in providing energy solutions that are based on real time data and science."
…..less (no) product variance
For many moulders the ‘plug and produce’ aspects of the Wittmann moulding systems give complete peace of mind when it comes to Quality Assurance. Repeatability and reliability become paramount – especially when it comes to contracts such as medical, which typically also need intensive and expensive systems of process validation.
The Covid emergency brought plenty of those: Dick Walsh, founder and owner of Plymouth-based injection moulder TML recalls that "the most time-consuming part of medical verifications consists of the capability studies: These involves measuring various numbers of components that have been produced during three x three hour production runs. Normally we measure up to 125 parts on key dimensions with an acceptance criteria of CPK 1.66."
Walsh says that ‘having carried over fifty of these medical validations we have found that the repeatability of the new Wittmann Battenfeld Machines are so good that any variation whatsoever on part dimension can be attributed to operator measuring error rather than machine variation.’
….less management (suppliers to talk to)
Moulders today also have less time to spend and ‘old school’ engineering skill sets are increasingly hard to find – e.g. those that involve mixing, matching and fine-tuning disparate pieces of equipment from various suppliers. Those days are perhaps nearly over– both for suppliers and buyers.
Today’s moulders are therefore increasingly appreciative of a ‘plug and produce’ system, especially when setting up shop for a new client. Those suppliers who can supply and service a moulding system solution are increasingly in favour. All moulding aspects are covered – including machine production, automation, conveying, temperature control, materials drying and feed, granulation, as well as connectivity and 4.0 control.
For its part, the equipment supplier must be willing to embrace the challenge of designing, manufacturing and servicing all of this connected equipment in order to add value for the moulder and to reduce moulding production cost.
For Mark Fellowes, operations director with Malvern-based Talisman Plastics the advantage in single source supply includes the peace-of-mind and equipment synergy provided by one manufacturer. More importantly, the move opens up opportunities in aftersales service and partnership:
"One phone call: That’s all I ever need or want to make if I want to explore all the possibilities in our moulding system. I will typically call up and ask - “Can the cell do this?” – to which the answer is typically “Yes” or else be provided with options. In this way, we are supported to get on with our creativity, efficiency and sales."
….less (environmental) waste
In addition to all these factors the past twenty years have brought another issue sharply into focus – the world’s emerging circular economy and the need for sustainable manufacturing practices within it.
For many years the British Plastics Federation – Wittmann is a member - has been carrying the torch for the sustainable manufacturing agenda, advised and sustained by its consultant, Dr Robin Kent, an expert practitioner in plastics processing of over 50 years’ standing.
Kent says that injection moulders should know – like it or not - that "the sustainable agenda is unavoidable and urgent: On the upside if you satisfy sustainable values you will increasingly be on the right side of winning new business, especially internationally and especially also with OEMs, large purchasers and governments. On the downside if you have no sustainable credentials your business will simply shrink and fade. It’s also not a case of if – but when."
Over the past two decades therefore – and principally through its energy-reduction expertise - Wittmann has been staying ahead of the sustainable curve. Solar powered injection moulding machines and bicycle powered robots have provided the ‘wow factor’ at important trade shows. More importantly, year-on-year best reduction in energy equipment ratings, and diagnostic tools such as IMAGOxt have been making a practical and sustainable differences for its customers.
It goes without saying that injection moulding today is a very tough business. Whether today’s fresh challenges will further thin out the general population is anybody’s guess. It may be that perhaps a corner has been turned. In any event, partnering with the right suppliers is a critical factor in planning for future success.