Friedrichshafen, Germany — For the first time at a Fakuma fair, Milacron LLC has brought together all its businesses on one stand.
At Fakuma 2015 in Friedrichshafen, Ferromatik, Mold-Masters, Uniloy, DME, Tirad and CIMCOOL are being presented together under the slogan One Milacron.
“We still have these very good brands, but we're saying they are all part of the Milacron company,” said John Gallagher, Milacron's chief operating officer for melt delivery, control systems and fluid technologies, during an Oct. 14 news conference.
Milacron has accumulated many of these brands in recent years during a hectic period that also saw the group go public on the New York Stock Exchange in June. It has launched new group branding that aims to emphasize Milacron's broad portfolio for the injection molding and mold-making market, which Gallagher summed up as one company that can offer “infinite possibilities for the customer.”
The company has been integrating the businesses to create a unified global group. One of the goals is for Milacron to be able to produce any injection molding machine to the same high specification at any of its plants in North America, Europe and Asia. So, for example, it would develop a machine at its site in Malterdingen, Germany, get CE certification for the machine, and then enable all its plants around the world to also manufacture the machine to the same specification.
Ferromatik restructuring
During the Q&A session, Milacron executives were asked about restructuring of the Ferromatik business based at Malterdingen in the early part of 2015.
Denis Poelman, managing director of Milacron Injection Molding Europe, replied: “The Malterdingen business has been struggling for more than 10 years. The basics of what was wrong was in the marketing and product mix.”
He said the restructuring involved short-time working “to align capacity with business requirements. By doing that, we have stabilized the business.” Short-time working is a cost-saving measure where employees work fewer hours for reduced pay, but are not laid off.
The Malterdingen business passed the break-even mark in May and is now on track to making a profit. Poelman illustrated the turnaround by saying Malterdingen has already almost filled its order book for the second quarter of 2016.
Milacron has been making investments in Czech Republic, where the Uniloy, DME and Tirad businesses have operations.
At Šašovice, Tirad has expanded its facility by 1,000 square meters and has built a new 3,000-square-meter distribution center. At Policka, Uniloy is constructing a new facility for its blow molding machine systems.
Highlights among Milacron's new products at Fakuma include its Magna Toggle Servo injection molding machine. The multi-purpose machine's toggle mechanism is optimized for fast cycling and reduced platen deflection, and its servo motor design has increased reliability and lower maintenance costs, said Milacron.
A Magna T Servo 200 is producing a high-end storage container made out of PP at Fakuma.
Milacron is launching the Elektron Evolution all-electric injection molding machine at Fakuma. The advanced Ferromatik-Series control system called Mosaic is installed on the Elektron Evolution, which uses 60 percent less energy and 90 percent less water than hydraulic injection molding machines.
At Fakuma, an Elektron Evolution 75 is producing a two-component part made of PA 6 GF 30 and TPE.
New from Mold-Masters is the Summit-Series premium hot runner line. The new hot runner nozzle has four times less thermal variation from set point, compared to the typical thermal variation seen in a nozzle with a heater band, said Milacron.
The company is also showcasing Klear Can, the coinjection multilayer plastic can that it launched at NPE in April.
Milacron announced an online shop will be made available to customers in the fourth quarter of 2015 and offered in multiple languages. The e-commerce site has all Milacron products, including individual parts and assemblies. Deliveries can be made within 24 hours.
