BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — All-electric injection presses have hit Argentine shores. During Argenplas 2000, Milacron Inc. was molding pail lids on a Roboshot press with 165 tons of clamping force. Milacron believes the machine was the first all-electric injection molding press ever shown at an Argentine trade show, said Enrique Escobar, regional sales manager for Milacron's agent, Plastec U.S.A. Inc. of Miami.
"There's a lot of interest. These machines are super-precise," Escobar said during the show.
He said many Latin American molders have seen all-electric presses before, at the NPE shows in the United States or the K shows in Germany. But the machine stood out at Argenplas, he said.
"Many customers come by and say, `This is it. This is the only new machine at the show,'" he said.
Although Milacron has yet to sell an all-electric press in Argentina, Escobar said Milacron has sold all-electric presses to molders in several countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
He said Milacron has sold about 30 all-electrics to Brazil, 10 in Columbia, four to Venezuela, one to Panama and five to the Dominican Republic. Milacron also has sold 20 of the presses to molders in Puerto Rico.