UK moulder powers injection moulding machine exclusively via solar panels

It’s no secret that investment in new machines is going to be essential to help moulders lower their energy costs in this time of spiralling prices. But now, one firm is even managing to run a machine using only the power of the sun.

Following its investment in a Fanuc Roboshot injection moulding machine, eco-conscious plastic products manufacturer Bloom-in-Box says it is well on the way to becoming carbon neutral. By means of servo technology and ‘intelligent power regeneration’ capabilities, the Roboshot S150iA installed at Bloom-in-Box’s Burscough facility uses 3kW per hour, permitting it to be powered exclusively by renewable solar energy.  

“Our goal at Bloom-in-Box is to become carbon neutral over the next 12-18 months. We have been working with all-electric machines for the last 20 years to reduce power consumption and emissions. Solar installations and our new Fanuc Roboshot were the next steps to achieving this. Thanks to these latest investments, our current carbon emissions as a business are estimated to be less than 10 tonnes of CO₂ per year, with our ultimate goal to achieve net zero,” said Tom Reardon, production coordinator and robotics engineer at Bloom-in-Box.

Born again plastics

Bloom-in-Box is a third-generation, family-run plastic injection moulding business focused on designing and moulding recyclable products from recycled materials. In 2018 Bloom-in-Box earned a place in the final of Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year for its Bloomie floristry box. The Bloomie is made from 99% recycled material and is 100% recyclable. Any boxes that mould incorrectly are chopped up, passed through a grinder and made into security spikes. Other products made by the business include laundry pegs, scoops and measures.

Bloom-in-Box has been involved in injection moulding for more than 20 years and has always been an advocate of electric moulding machines on the basis that they use up to 80% less energy than their hydraulic counterparts. When significant growth meant the company had reached maximum production capacity last year, it took the decision to invest in a new electric machine that would enable it to increase capacity by 25-40%.

“We had reached a plateau. Our older machines were slower, causing production bottlenecks, and lacked the precise temperature control needed for working with biodegradable plastics,” said David Reardon, director of Bloom-in-Box.

Carbon neutral ambitions

At the same time, the company had embarked on a roadmap to become carbon neutral, starting with an assessment of its carbon footprint. This revealed electricity accounted for 95% of its total carbon emissions. To address this situation, in November 2021, Bloom-in-Box installed a 40kWp solar system that feeds directly into the factory. During daylight hours this generates on average 10kW per hour, with the potential to produce even more electrical energy during the summer months.

Therefore, when it came to deciding which injection moulding machine to invest in, Bloom-in-Box wanted this machine purchase to support its carbon emission reduction ambitions and to be powered exclusively by the new solar panels.

This search led Bloom-in-Box to Fanuc’s Roboshot range. 

Fanuc says the machine's energy efficiency is attributed to a combination of Fanuc’s proprietary servo technology and smart energy recovery.

“We build our own [servo drives], meaning they are as energy efficient as is physically possible. This also enables us to specify servo drives that are the perfect match for each machine’s target performance, ensure they deliver exactly the amount of power to the motor that it needs,” said David Raine, Roboshot sales manager UK and Ireland.

In addition, the Roboshot’s power regeneration feature enables intelligent energy recovery: when an axis decelerates, energy returns to the power source, adding to the overall savings.

“When the equipment starts to decelerate and the motor is no longer required to drive a process, it automatically switches to being a generator, feeding the electricity that is generated back through the system to another location on the machine where it is needed,” said Raine.

The 150T clamp force Roboshot S150iA in operation at Bloom-in-Box runs at 2.9-3kW per hour for a six-second cycle (the longer the cycle the less energy consumed), reducing energy consumption by 20% versus previous generation electric machines in the plastic processor’s fleet.

“This represents a huge saving both in terms of CO₂ emissions and energy bills,” said David Reardon.

As well as being well on track to becoming carbon neutral, Bloom-in-Box is well-placed to expand its garden, scoops and measures ranges and to develop new medical and PPE products.