ORLANDO, FLA. — For John Berg, director of marketing at MGS Mfg. Group, NPE is an opportunity to show off some tricks and inspire his favorite question: “If you can do that, can you do …?”
A multishot molding demonstration at the company's booth is designed with the goal of drawing the attention of both the medical and caps and closures industries, he said. It's a three-shot, three-material in-mold-assembled cap with a molded-in gasket and septum. The septum, which allows access to a container's contents with a reduced chance for spillage, can be designed thicker with resealing properties, Berg said, but for this demonstration it's kept thinner and permeable.
“We were interested in pushing cycle on this particular application,” he explained.
The part has a cycle time of less than 8 seconds. The cap's gasket is molded first, followed by the other elements on a common core. In-mold assembly of the different elements ensures proper placement and avoids scrap that would result from a secondary operation, Berg said.
In-mold, servo driven unscrewing of the cap, occurs while the mold is closed, simultaneous to molding cycle, which also decreases cycle time.
The press is a KraussMaffei 160-180 CX High Performance Hybrid Press, but MGS's multi-shot system is universal and can be used with any machine, Berg said.
Berg estimates about 35 percent of MGS's business will be in the medical end market in 2015, with packaging in the low-20s. He's pleased with the traffic MGS has been able to draw at NPE, despite the show's recent change in venue; Orlando seems to produce a greater ratio of decision-makers and decision-influencers than the Windy City, he said.
“We were a little concerned [about NPE's move to Orlando] because of the loss of drive-in traffic that Chicago offered the Midwest plastics community,” he said. “On the other hand, we have found what SPI touted in the beginning — that perhaps the Orlando vacation will now attract more serious, higher-end buyers and inquisitors — we found that absolutely to be true.”
MGS also is demonstrating automation systems and equipment for molding liquid silicone rubber.
