Q&A: Pentagon Plastics on the secret to success in UK moulding
As part of our recent focus on contract and trade moulders, and mould-makers, Interplas Insights caught up with Gabby Day, communications manager at Pentagon Plastics Ltd., to find out more about the secret to the firm’s success in UK injection moulding.
How is Pentagon Plastics able to support injection moulders in mould tooling processes?
Pentagon are one of the few UK plastic injection moulders with full on-site mould tool manufacturing capabilities. Facilitating not only mould tool manufacture for our own customers but also facilitating tooling services for other moulders.
The tooling arm of the group delivers full mould tool manufacturing services including new mould tooling solutions, repair, servicing, modification, and refurbishment of existing tooling.
Services provided are fully ISO9001:2015 certified and are facilitated by an experienced team of tooling engineers and dedicated in-house tool designer who are supported by our moulding technicians. This means that there is complete ease of communication from design through to finished manufactured tooling.
Our UK tooling division supports a network of moulders that require mould tooling for new production parts where we can design and manufacture to customer specification or to our own high tooling standards. Some moulders also take advantage of our servicing, repair, and modification services.Pentagon manufactures a range of development tooling options to support projects before moving on to production tooling. Full production tooling can be simple open and shut cold fed tooling, family moulds producing multiple parts through to complex multi-cavity, fast cycling, auto unscrewing, hot runner tools.Tool material and surface hardness is selected based on the thermoplastic being processed, the complexity of tool shut off faces and the life expectancy of the product. We source all our alloys, pre-toughened, stainless and tool steels from the UK and northern Europe.
What level of skill is involved for technicians to master the moulding capabilities? How many years training and experience do they possess?
Our moulding technicians are trained to IMT level 4 and collectively have more than 90 years’ experience in plastic injection mould processing. The moulding technicians are highly skilled in their area of expertise which is supported by a focused training plan. They possess a great depth of understanding of the moulding process and thermoplastic material behaviours.
The ability to troubleshoot with minimum loss is vital to keeping levels of waste plastics to a minimum in line with the company’s sustainability commitments. Finding skilled technicians in the local area is difficult as our location is not a manufacturing hub of the UK, therefore we are committed to delivering a concise training programme for both our skilled and trainee mould technicians using both in-house and external training facilitators. We also ensure that we provide an exceptional working environment to support employee retention rates.
Time spent in the industry building on experiences gained across a wide range of products, thermoplastic materials and varying tool types aids the development of our technicians. Building their knowledge and refining processing skills over time to support and enhance process optimisation to achieve exacting, repeatable production on time, every time.
How many moulds can Pentagon produce per annum? And how do you store so many?
On average Pentagon Tooling manufacturers around 35 new mould tools per year. Around 80% of tools we manufacture are customer owned tools that we manufacture are stored on site for on-going production and are stored in dedicated tool racks within the plastics division. The remaining tools are manufactured for other moulders or customers with their own moulding facility and are shipped off then stored as deemed appropriate by the customer themselves.
All mould tooling that is retained here on site for repeat production is subject to a rigorous maintenance program between production runs to maximise the life of the mould tool.
The level of ongoing maintenance required is determined at the manufacture stage and is dependent on the volume of parts, the complexity of the mould tool and the type of thermoplastic being moulded. A basic tool may only require the faces to be cleaned and the tool lubricated, and surfaces protected. A complex tool or one that moulds an aggressive material may require a full strip down, clean, replacement of seals and detailed inspection before being sent back to storage to ensure it is ready for the press and that there are no delays on the next production run.
Should it be identified that repair or refurbishment work is needed to the tooling, this is highlighted by a tool report being raised. Often by our moulding technicians before the tool is sent for maintenance but commonly by the toolmakers during the inspection phase. Any issues identified are reported to the customer at the earliest time which is essential in avoiding production delays further down the line.
Annually we complete a tool audit to identify any tools that have not run for a 3-year period or that are believed to be obsolete. This is relayed to the customers to allow us to cull the number of tools held and to ensure we only hold live tooling. Space is always a premium and it is essential that we not only maintain the live tools but actively reduce the number of tools where we can.
Investing in mould tooling is a large financial commitment for our customers and Pentagon are committed to maximising that return on investment.
Let's get technical. Give me some figures regarding the clamp forces, shot weight capacity, etc.?
Pentagon boasts a range of injection moulding machines from 22 tonne clamp force up to 280 tonnes. This facilitates mould shot weights from as little as 0.5 gram. The upper scale is very dependant on the surface area of a product which can determine the clamp force but generally we mould up to approx. 450 grams.
Our strength is in low to medium volume production serving industries such as Aerospace where volumes can be as low as 1 off for complex parts up to a few hundred whereas our medical stoma care ranges can mould a few thousand up to 250,000 per batch.
How many machines are in operation in your facilities?
We have 13 Injection Mould presses at Pentagon ranging from 22 tonne up to 280 tonne clamp force, the machines are purposely stepped up in size to ensure moulding capacity.
4 x Boy 22T
1 x Sandretto Micro 30T
1 x Zeres (Hybrid) 40T
1 x Sandretto Micro 50T
2 x Haitian MARS 90T
1 x Haitian Zhafir 120T
1 x Sandretto 130T
1 x Haitian Zhafir 150T
1 x MIR 280T
Full Plant List can be found here
How does the company intend to benefit from the ongoing reshoring trend that is bringing manufacturing capabilities back to the UK?
Looking ahead with a 5-year view in mind and the wave of reshoring that we continue to see, Pentagon will be looking to support new and existing customers by taking on existing production tooling while continuing to support those looking for new mould tooling solutions or needing replacement tools. As we continue to expand production capacity to facilitate demand for our technical moulding services, we will be committed to growing the team and delivering suitable training and progression.
We are fortunate to have the capacity to move to a three-shift pattern which will facilitate 24hr production capacity five days a week. This too would deliver employment opportunities to the local area and internal progression opportunities for existing team members.
Looking ahead the potential opportunities for company growth are vast, due to increasing demand for UK Manufacture the coming years could deliver a wealth of progress and exciting change for Pentagon.
How do you convince a manufacturer that Pentagon is the right partner to support such a move?
Pentagon is widely recognised in industry as a reputable provider for technical Plastic Injection Moulding and Mould Tool support services. The level of technical knowledge surrounding mould tool manufacture and plastic injection moulding speak for themselves.
Our commitment to delivering quality controlled products, produced to agreed standards and being delivered on time is crucial. In addition, how we react be it fulfilling an order at short notice or a solution to an issue that arises is just as key in building and maintaining customer satisfaction.
From initial communications customers can be confident that Pentagon have the level of expertise and commitment to quality that they require. The group operates with customers best interests and project success at heart. Customers of Pentagon benefit from one point of contact for all services giving complete ease of communication.