Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 24, 2014 01:00 AM

Rotoline begins U.S. assembly of rotomolding machines

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Bill Bregar
    Manager Alain St. Pierre and Raphaeli De Luccas, general manager of the U.S. operation, show off Rotoline's carousel machine.

    KENT, OHIO — Brazilian rotational molding machinery maker Rotoline Industrial Equipment Ltda. has started U.S. assembly, at a 38,000-square-foot plant in Kent.

    The Kent facility will handle final assembly, with U.S. sourcing of some components, and serve as a showroom for Rotoline machines. The plant has a CR3.60, three-arm carousel machine and a 2.5-meter shuttle machine on display.

    Manager Alain St. Pierre said that, as of mid-January, the company is assembling two more shuttle machines that have been sold. He declined to name the customers. Another shuttle machine, a 4-meter machine, is next in line for assembly.

    St. Pierre said Rotoline is shipping critical parts from its headquarters plant in Chapecó, Brazil, such as the arms and the head-blocks that hold the mold at the end of the arm. That factory is set up to do the precise machining of the arms, the shaft and the bearing housings, he said. The rest is sourced from U.S. suppliers — many within 30 miles of Kent. These components include frames and control cabinets.

    Rotoline North America has packed the carousel machine with modern technology. The CR3.60 in Kent has three independent arms, two of them are straight arms and the third is an offset arm. The rotomolding machine is prewired, so it can be easily configured with a fourth arm, plug-and-play style.

    "This machine is equipped with all the bells and whistles," St. Pierre said. "You have the internal temperature control on it. You've got the gas monitoring on it."

    Rotational molding technology is evolving into more of a closed-loop control technology. Rotoline fully integrates the process into the machine controller.

    Historically many U.S. rotomolders were hesitant to invest in new advances, but that is changing, St. Pierre said. "They're replacing old equipment. We see that people see the advantages of replacing old machines that are non-performing, and cost a lot of energy to run," he said. "And they cannot really add this new technology on an old machine. So it can be easier just to replace the machine, and in a year, it pays for itself." A new machine runs more efficiently, turns out higher-quality parts with lower levels of scrap, and needs less downtime for repairs.

    Rotoline North America will handle sales, service and spare parts. St. Pierre said the parent company will decide where to do final assembly — Kent or Brazil — based on what location makes sense, including considering free trade agreements.

    Rotoline now has two temporary workers building the first machines. St. Pierre said the company will expand to four production people.

    One big advance is internal temperature control — done through the machine controller, to give consistency to the molding sequence. The company calls it the RWTC, for Rotoline wireless temperature controller. You determine at what temperature the cycle should be completed, then remove the molds from the oven, and how fast and how long the cooling should be.

    "You can finish by time or by temperature, so your cure is always perfect," said Raphaeli De Luccas, general manager of the U.S. operation.

    St. Pierre said running the cycle by temperature is very accurate. "There will be a lot less scrap. By using that system you're controlling your warpage better." Cooling that is too fast or slow can cause warpage, he said.

    The RWTC uses a thermocouple that measures the mold's internal air temperature.

    Another feature is the ability to monitor consumption of natural gas, to heat the oven. The technology uses three different sensors. The system can measure how much is spent for gas to heat each part.

    Executives can do detailed production reports, using the data, for example, on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. "All the stuff can be broken out," De Luccas said. "Who did it? Which operator did it? When? What time? How much plastic did he put in the parts? What temperature did this part go to?" He said that allows you to control material and match material usage to production.

    The carousel and shuttle machines feature Rotoline's rounded oven, which cuts energy use. Many of the components are the same on Rotoline carousel machines and its shuttles — such as burners, sensors and mechanical parts — so a molder can use many of the same spare parts on both types of equipment, De Luccas said.

    There are about 70 Rotoline rotomolding machines installed in the United States and Canada.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Play Mart expanding in Kentucky, adding jobs
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Ohio PET jar maker closes, auctioning off equipment
    2
    An 8,000-ton dream for Milacron, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    3
    Nova declares force majeure for PE resin at second Ontario site
    4
    Preventing pellet pollution focus of expanded Operation Clean Sweep, congressional push
    5
    PS resin prices continue their climb
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified