'Gamification' comes to press controls

Arburg GmbH & Co. KG says it will continue to use and develop its Selogica control system on its injection molding machines, but that its newer Gestica system is "the control system of the future."

The Gestica control system has a graphical user interface, offering a look and feel similar to smart mobile devices, where operators can use "gestures" such as swiping or zooming to manipulate the screen. The system debuted last year at the K show in Düsseldorf, Germany.

"One day, there will only be Gestica, surely, and not Selogica anymore," Heinz Gaub, Arburg's managing director of technology and engineering, said Oct. 17 at the company's news conference.

"For customers, it's important to have the choice," he added.

Gaub said Gestica showcases one of the company's examples of "gamification," where the injection molding machines of the future are operated similar to a video game you'd play on the Xbox: intuitively, responsively and easily.

Gestica features industrial-grade multitouch technology, a high-contrast, full HD screen, dustproof and waterproof housing as well as integrated hardware keys with ergonomic click function and multicolored illuminated strips.

Compared with Selogica, Arburg also said Gestica's user interface features a similar set up and sequence programming with interchangeable data records. Gestica is compatible with Selogica control systems.

As part of Arburg's practical applications for Industry 4.0, Gaub said the company is showing demonstrations of how customers' wants and needs can be implemented in the "added value chain," including how batch parts can be individualized cost-effectively.

Previous examples include rocker-type light switches, office scissors and luggage tags, but Gaub also hinted toward an example of a customer linking the advantages of injection molding to additive manufacturing. Gaub declined to name the customer and provided few details on the project.

Gaub said the customer is an injection molder that is providing a consumer product using an Arburg injection molding machine and its Freeformer machine to produce small batch sizes of one-off parts. The process also involves 3D molding.

"Directly at the point of sale, they have been able to integrate their requirements into the product chain and buy their customized end product in a single-unit batch," Gaub said.