NPE 2006 marks the North American trade show debut of Krauss-Maffei Corp.'s (Booth S2102) Injection Molding Compounder, or IMC, which pairs a compounding extruder with an injection molding press to directly compound resin and then mold it into a part.
KM is molding a 30 percent glass-filled automotive front end on an injection press with 1,000 tons of clamping force. Glass rovings are fed into the compounding extruder.
Krauss-Maffei has run an IMC before, at the K 2004 show in Germany. But Paul Caprio, executive vice president, said many molders here still do not know about the exotic technology.
``I really think it will open up the eyes of U.S. molders,'' Caprio said at a Tuesday news conference.
Some IMC systems pair a Krauss-Maffei extruder with an extruder made by sister company Berstorff GmbH. But the one running in McCormick Place was assembled by Krauss- Maffei, using some Berstorff components, according to Josef Märtl, chairman of KM's managing board.
Märtl said Krauss-Maffei has sold more than 30 IMCs worldwide so far - about one third of them in the United States - into applications such as automotive and packaging. In one unusual application, KM sold one to a company that makes food for animals - although Caprio and Märtl were tightlipped. They declined to identify the exact species of animal!
But on the plastics side, Caprio said high material prices are driving customers to look at the IMC process. A processor can compound its own resin in-house, fully customized for the molded part.
Caprio said the mind-set of U.S. molders has changed, and they realize they are in a good position to reach the huge U.S. consumer market - the world's largest - if they modernize their plants. Commodity work has been lost to China, probably forever, he said.
Krauss-Maffei Corp. of Florence, Ky., is the North American operation of Munich, Germany-based Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH, which makes injection presses, extruders and reaction injection molding equipment for polyurethane processing equipment.
The company generated $140 million in 2005 sales from North America. Märtl said KM has identified several U.S. growth markets for its machinery: manufacturing systems, large-tonnage injection presses, all-electric machines, extruders for sheet, pipe and profiles and RIM.
RIM is a fast-growing area for Krauss-Maffei. Märtl said the company used to focus just on automotive but now targets white-goods appliances and PUR tooling, too.
Electrolux AB bought high-output KM machinery for a refrigerator plant in Ciudad Ju rez, Mexico.
In extrusion, the company has seen growth in machines for PVC sheet lines and plastic lumber.
In other NPE news, Krauss-Maffei is showing its EX all-electric press, an 88-ton machine molding a medical protector part. The direct-drive EX uses a Z-toggle clamp. Märtl said the press has a long holding-pressure time, thanks to the water-cooled design and very fast injection.
Booth visitors also can see two of the small-tonnage CX presses. One has a bolt-on second injection unit for multicomponent molding.