Demag Plastics Group has announced a controller retrofit package — called Van Dorn Universal, or VDU — to support its “legacy” injection molding machines outfitted with Pathfinder, Barber-Colman and Allen-Bradley controllers.
This is one huge legacy. Aftermarket sales Vice President John Martich said that going back 15 years, Van Dorn's existing fleet of presses is about 15,500 machines.
DPG ended U.S. manufacturing of injection presses last year. The Strongsville facility remains open to handle U.S. sales and service.
DPG's aftermarket sales team will change out the existing controller and install the new one, including the operator terminal with a 15-inch, high-resolution screen. The company will provide machine startup and training.
VDU can be retrofitted on these machine lines: HT, HP, HPE/HPR, HPS, Classic and Newbury vertical presses. Officials launched a promotional campaign for VDU in September, contacting customers running the legacy machines that were made in Strongsville.
The layout and “feel” of the VDU is based on the old Van Dorn Pathfinder controller. “But it's more than just an upgraded Path¼finder control,” Martich said in a Sept. 3 interview in Strongsville.
Martich said VDU is interchangeable with DPG's modern controllers used today, the NC4 and NC5. With a VDU upgrade, molders will have a guaranteed supply of spare parts in the future, he added.
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