Pentagon Plastics invests £95,000 in new injection moulding machines

Horsham-based injection moulder, Pentagon Plastics, has invested £95,000 in new injection moulding machines as it continued to enhance and improve its manufacturing facilities.

The company, which has invested significantly in new machinery and equipment over the last two years, has most recently taken delivery of two new machines from Premier Moulding Machinery.

The first, a MARS MAII 900/300 Universal, is a 90 tonne hybrid moulding machine that replaces an older hydraulic one of similar capacity; this, says Pentagon, will deliver “a good rate of energy saving to the business over the coming years”.

The second machine is a ZERES ZE1200/430, which comes as an addition to the current plant machinery and takes Pentagon’s on-site machine count from nine up to 10. Pentagon specialises in producing bespoke thermoplastic components to a wide range of industry sectors and is able to mould any product from 0.5g up to 550g in shot weight.  The new 120 tonne press, it says, will help cater for the increasing mid-range production demand, especially in the medical moulding sector.

“The repeatability of the newer breed of hybrid and electric machines will mean parts stay correct from the beginning of the run until the end, and with close process monitoring software any discrepancies are flagged up straight away,” said Graham Fooks, Mould Shop Manager at Pentagon.

Going forward, Fooks says having the extra machine will help in several ways. “When we are experiencing a particularly heavy demand for medical flanges, the new Z120 will be able to run some of the tooling that would previously only fit one of our presses,” he explained.

“Its electric injection unit makes it ideal for these parts which have a very narrow processing window. I’m planning, when the workload is at a normal level, to keep a mid-sized machine available for short runs and for short lead times when the customer needs their product in a hurry. It will also help with tool trials as the new M90 will be able to process the majority of tools and shot sizes for T1 sampling.’’

Pentagon says the investment go some way to setting the company up for its next 40 years of trading, while driving down energy costs and ensuring it continues to provide LEAN manufacturing processes to its customers.