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
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • 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
    • 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
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics 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
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • 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
October 13, 2017 02:00 AM

Ube flexes machinery muscle at open house

Audrey LaForest
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Audrey LaForest
    Ube Machinery Inc. hosts an open house event for customers Sept. 21-22 at its North American headquarters and assembly plan in Ann Arbor, Mich.

    Ann Arbor, Mich. — Ube Machinery Inc. showed several all-electric and servo hydraulic injection molding machines at a Sept. 21-22 open house at its North American headquarters and assembly plant in Ann Arbor.

    Over the course of two days, the event gathered customers such as Flex-N-Gate Corp. and NYX Inc., members of the media and executives from Nagoya, Japan-based Ube Machinery Corp. Ltd., which is owned by Ube Industries Ltd. in Tokyo. The parent company is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.

    "[Ube] began in the U.S. in the machinery business in 1984 in Michigan, and then as we continued to grow, we went from a small office in Dearborn to a larger facility right up the street," David Bernardi, former senior sales and marketing manager at Ube Machinery Inc., told Plastics News and a group of customers attending the event.

    Ube moved into the 47,675-square-foot Ann Arbor facility in 1995 and shipped its first injection molding machine in June 1996, Bernardi added. In 1998, the company expanded its facility to 148,000 square feet. Today, the facility has around 84 employees.

    Koji Watanabe, director and general manager of sales for the U.S. operation, estimated that in previous years 60 percent of the sales for Ube's injection molding production business came from North America.

    "Most of the automotive customers are buying the machines," he said, adding that the Ube is looking to grow in the North American market.

    In January, Ube Machinery Corp. Ltd. completed its acquisition of an 85 percent share of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., gaining Mitsubishi's facilities in countries ranging from Germany and India to Brazil and the United States.

    Mitsubishi's injection molding machines are now being sold under the name U-MHI Platech Co. Ltd.

    "With the acquisition, one of the things it did for us — in addition to gaining tremendous manufacturing space, which we were limited to between Japan and here — was we gained all of Mitsubishi's facilities," Bernardi said.

    The acquisition also expanded Ube's product range, enabling the company to build smaller injection molding machines.

    "The [global] product range is 55 all-electric to 3,850 all-electric," Bernardi said.

    In August 2016, Ube added a parts and service office in Lexington, Ky., its second location in the U.S.

    Audrey LaForest

    Ube Machinery Inc. displays its new two-platen, 3,300-ton servo hydraulic machine.

    Machinery in motion

    The company showcased several all-electric injection molding machines such as the UN720, a 720-ton machine, which was running an automotive mini door panel and demonstrating Ube's Dieprest in-mold core back foaming process.

    "It's a lightweighting process," Bernardi said. "It's done to save material."

    For automotive, the process is primarily done on thermoplastic polyolefins because of its affordability, Bernardi added.

    Ube's 720MEIII all-electric injection molding machine was also on display. The 720-ton machine was running a two-cavity mold, utilizing sequential cavity separation to reduce tonnage and mold a thick part first and then a thin part second.

    "While the thick part is curing, you're molding the thin one," Bernardi explained. "The cure time is equal."

    Ube demonstrated a smart factory "internet of things" system, which was connected to the 720MEIII machine, the 1500MMXW two-platen servo hydraulic injection molding machine and a machine running in Japan. The system offers process monitoring, operations management and quality monitoring as well as control, analysis and failure prediction data available on the machine and accessible online.

    The company also displayed its US1500 Servomax — a 1,500-ton, high-speed servo hydraulic toggle injection molding machine — and a new two-platen, 3,300-ton servo hydraulic.

    "We can assemble machines in this building up through [3,330 tons]," Bernardi said. "In Japan, we can go to 7,000 [tons]."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Thermoformer Genpak closing Ohio facility, cutting 67 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
    Asahi Kasei settles Michigan PFAS lawsuit, agrees to clean up pollution
    2
    Numbers That Matter Live January 2023: Expect short-term pain, strong rebound in 2024
    3
    Berry, Coca-Cola launch tethered caps in EU markets
    4
    Berry sees growing health care demand in India; new plant to open soon
    5
    Top-dollar deals, repeat buyers highlight 2022 M&A
    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.

    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
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • 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
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics 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
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • 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
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • 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