ENGEL focusing on Industry 4.0 at Plastimagen

Well-known in the live events industry for its prominent, eye-catching booths and distinctive green machinery, ENGEL is taking its trade fair showmanship to Mexico City for Plastimagen 2022 (8-11 March) to focus on process technology, automation and digitalisation.

Flexibility and efficiency were the focus in the development of the reel-to-reel IMD application which ENGEL is presenting at its stand in Mexico City in collaboration with system partners Leonhard Kurz (Germany), Schöfer (Austria) and Isosport Verbundbauteile (Austria). To manufacture complex, three-dimensional sample parts, the duo 1060/350 injection moulding machine with an integrated viper 20 robot uses two process technologies at the same time: foilmelt and foammelt. Decorative foils will be thermoformed, back-injected and punched from reel-to-reel in the mould in quick succession in a one-step process.

To prevent fluctuations in the injection moulding process, and thus prevent rejected parts, the ENGEL e-victory 170/80 injection moulding machine on display is equipped with two smart assistance systems. One, the iQ weight control, autonomously detects fluctuations in the melt volume and material viscosity and compensates for them in the same shot. The other, iQ flow control, ensures constant temperature control conditions by automatically adjusting the temperature differences in the cooling water manifold circuit.

ENGEL’s continuous commitment to automated manufacturing solutions was recently exhibited in its acquisition of Poland-based automation specialist TMA Automation.

Additionally, the e-victory will be fitted with an ENGEL viper 12 linear robot that transfers the needle holders to an integrated pipe distribution system. The small parts are packed in bags in a fully automated process to support batch tracking right through to the level of individual cavities.

Frequent visitors to major trade events such as K, Fakuma, and Interplas, will not be surprised to note ENGEL operating from a large booth with ‘numerous Expert Corners’, where visitors can observe how digitalisation can enhance quality and efficiency in production planning and service through its subsidiary TIG. Here, the Austria-based injection moulding machinery manufacturer will show how machinery capacities can be optimally utilised or productivity indicators very easily correlated with economic objectives.

Finally, ENGEL will also showcase two modules from the e-connect.monitor solution at Plastimagen in order to promote how unplanned downtime can be predicted and averted.