Guill boosts ability to make larger dies
WEST WARWICK, R.I. — Extrusion tooling maker Guill Tool & Engineering Inc. has purchased a five-axis, computer numerically controlled milling machine and other equipment, boosting output of larger dies ranging from 4-10 inches.
The CNC machine reduces tool setup time. Guill also added the latest software programs for computer-aided manufacturing and distributive numerical control. The company's machining programs are synchronized directly from computer models.
In addition to the CNC milling machine, the West Warwick-based company added a CNC lathe, an electric discharge machine and a dual-column band saw for faster, more-precise cutting, and a CNC hole-popper to make holes as small as 0.010 inch for EDM operations.
Guill Tool also added an automatic reorder system for tooling, which is now located close to the machinist.
Triangle expanding mold making at HQ
MILWAUKEE — Triangle Tool Corp. is building an 18,000-square-foot addition to house new equipment that will help it produce its injection mold tooling and expand new business in specialty machining.
The expansion will bring Triangle's Milwaukee headquarters up to 173,000 square feet and will be completed in late June or early July, sales manager Vic Baez said April 2 by telephone.
The company has purchased a new milling machine that will take up nearly half of the additional square footage. The machine's bed is big enough to accommodate multiple tools, but will also ensure Triangle has sufficient capacity to make molds and fill machining orders, Baez said.
Triangle builds tools for end markets that include industrial packaging and home appliances.
Leistritz lab adds environment room
SOMERVILLE, N.J. — American Leistritz Extruder Corp. has expanded its twin-screw extrusion process laboratory in Somerville, by adding a controlled environment room for developing products for the plastics, medical and pharmaceutical industries.
The extruder supplier also has added several pieces of lab equipment.
The room has controlled temperature and dew point, according to Somerville-based Leistritz.
The extrusion facility can do compounding, devolatization and reactive extrusion. Recent additions to the laboratory include a Leistritz ZSE-50 MaXX twin-screw extruder, a Nano 16-millimeter twin-screw extruder for running very small batch samples, a supercritical injection system for developing foamed products, coextrusion tooling for film and sheet sampling, and strand and underwater pelletizing equipment for production rates up to 2,000 pounds an hour.
MGS to blow mold bottles at TecStar
GERMANTOWN, WIS. — MGS Mfg. Group Inc. has added blow molding to its TecStar de Mexico facility, by installing a Bekum H-155 double-station shuttle blow molding machine.
MGS has allocated production space for a second blow molding cell, which the company intends to acquire in the near future.
By adding blow molding at TecStar's Chihuahua, Mexico, plant, the company now can produce custom blow molded bottles and injection molded closures in one facility, mirroring the capabilities of TecStar Manufacturing Co. at MGS' Germantown headquarters.
In other news, MGS has added a new Mori Seiki computer numerically controlled lathe to its technical center tool shop in Germantown. The company also installed a Fanuc six-axis robot on its Röders 500 DS five-axis milling machine, which is part of its new electrode manufacturing cell.
In addition to processing, MGS manufactures tooling, hot-runner controllers, multishot technology and portable injection units.
Lehmann & Voss buys ring extruder
HAMBURG, GERMANY — German masterbatch maker Lehmann & Voss & Co. has purchased a 12-screw ring extruder from ExtriCom GmbH of Lauffen, Germany.
The screws are arranged in a circle around a fixed core.
Lehmann & Voss installed the machine at its headquarters plant in Hamburg. The company develops masterbatch formulations tailored to special customer applications. That type of business accounts for more than 70 percent of production, officials said.
On the ring extruder, the screws rotate in the same direction, so the material passes through the extruder on a spiral path, through a large number of intermeshing areas between the screws. Shear forces create a melt that is both elongated and compacted, which Lehmann & Voss said produces colorant with very good dispersion.
Another benefit of the ring extruder over co-rotating twin-screw extruders, the firm said, is a more intensive and even working of the material over the entire cross section of the cylinder, avoiding temperature peaks that can cause degradation. Also, the constant surface renewal and low volume-to-surface ratio guarantee a more intensive exchange of heat, which improves processing of temperature-sensitive materials.
“The ring extruder will enable us to pursue innovative routes for our customers. Now it's up to the market to challenge us,” said Volker Oldach, head of the masterbatches business team.
Briefly …
— Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc. of Gloucester, Mass., has named three manufacturers' representatives: Michael Woodhead of Extrutech, based in Droitwich, England, will cover England and Ireland. Werner Winter of Wiku Plastic GmbH in Schwaig, Germany, will handle Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Finland. Shanghai Polymer, directed by Tomson Wang, will represent the film equipment maker in China … Munich-based KraussMaffei Berstorff reports that Dutch pipe maker Wavin NV is running one of its QuickSwitch lines at Wavin's factory in Hardenberg, Netherlands. QuickSwitch allows the user to change pipe dimension without interrupting production. … Extruder maker Processing Technologies LLC of Aurora, Ill., named Hub Scott Associates of Coppell, Texas, as its manufacturers' representative for Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. … Davis-Standard LLC of Pawcatuck, Conn., said customers that purchase an Epic III supervisory control system now have access to remote diagnostics and troubleshooting via a secure Internet connection, since the React (Remote Access Technology) system is standard on all Epic III systems. … Rexam Mold Manufacturing in Buffalo Grove, Ill., has integrated Ritemp blow mold technology for blow molds, which uses sealed cooling chambers that surround the working surface of the mold. Rexam partnered with SWM & Associates, Ritemp's exclusive representative for the Americas, on the project.... Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based IMS Co. has added Dri-Air Industries Inc.'s dual-bed desiccant bed dryers and drying hoppers to its product line. ... ACS Group, the auxiliary equipment maker based in Schaumburg, Ill., has named a manufacturers' representative in northern Mexico: Axiomatek (Tecnomagnetos y Equipos para Manufactura SA de CV) of Monterrey, Mexico. … Eurotherm Inc. of Leesburg, Va., which makes Maco machine controllers, has named four companies to its Factory Trained System Integrator Group: Facts Inc. of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Progressive Controls & Automation of Huron, Ohio; MRI Molding Resource Inc. of Lyons, Colo.; and Molders Technical Services of Norton, Ohio. ... Hot-runner control manufacturer PMS Systems of Hereford, England, has signed an agreement with Innovative Manufacturing Solutions Inc. of Lynnfield, Mass., which now has the exclusive right for distribution, sales, support and service PMS products throughout North America, effective Jan. 1.