Key Highlights:
- R.W. Simon Ltd prioritises environmental sustainability by minimising material waste, remaining competitive advantage during a rise of material costs.
- The company minimises environmental impact by re-introducing up to 48% regrind into the manufacturing process,
- R.W. Simon recently invested £1.3 million, acquiring three Engel Victory 300 moulding machines and 14 Ferlin Gravimetric Blenders with Labotek loaders.
South West based injection moulding company R.W. Simon Ltd are specialists in designing, developing, and manufacturing thermoplastic mouldings and assemblies for a range of industries, including fibre optic termination, biopharmaceuticals, medical and construction.
An important aim for the business is to ensure that they can minimise the negative impact on the environment by ensuring that they are not wasting material. Also, with all material costs increasing it ensures they can remain competitive in the market by maximising our materials.
RW Simon
When moulding some of our own products, we re-introduce the runner and sprue from the moulding process via an automated de-spuing process, on some parts we can re-introduce up to 48% regrind back into the process via the closed loop system we have designed to ensure there is no material being wasted, advised Declan Tattersall, RW Simon Tooling Engineer.
As part of a close loop system, RW Simon use Ferlin Gravimetric Blenders to reintroduce the regrind directly into the throat of the barrel. They also have a Labotek “Microscan” central feed system to feed the dosing units the regrind, virgin, and masterbatch materials. All of which is part of a £1.3m investment that also included 3 off Engel Victory 300 moulding machines.
This recent investment has increased the number of Ferlin Blenders to 14, all supplied with Labotek single hopper loaders. With the proven onsite reliability and accuracy, the Ferlin Gravimetric Blenders have delivered years of service. With their design, they are easy to clean and to programme, resulting in reduced machine down time when Labotek carry out material changes.
Labotek was also presented with the option of using Ferlin Bridge software that enables them to monitor material throughput with live updates externally from the Ferlin gravimetric dosing unit.
All of which is backed by the years of suburb after sales support from Labotek GB, concluded Declan.