In a presentation entitled "Data transparency from a single source," Andreas Schramm, managing director of Wittmann Battenfeld's Meinerzhagen, Germany-based subsidiary, said the value of plastics parts production increased by 4.7 percent between 2022 and 2023. The value of manufacturing execution systems (MES) grew however by 13.8 percent in the same period.
Schramm concluded that entire data recording and analysis, and by implication it's use in MES, will determine future competitiveness of injection molding. He showed benefits of Wittmann's TEMI+ and iMAGOxt systems at the new plastic injection molding division set up in 2022 at the Feletto Canavese, Italy-based hose and cable reel producer Zeca SpA. The company uses 11 hydraulic and hybrid electric/hydraulic molding machines with clamping forces between 60 and 700 tonnes. Eight of the machines are from Wittmann. They are equipped with linear robots and supported by Wittmann ancillary equipment in terms of a centralized plastics drying and distribution system, three mixers and eight beside-the-press granulators.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is determined from availability, itself determined from run time and planned production time, performance as ideal cycle time multiplied by the number of parts produced and quality in terms of the proportion of good vs. total number of parts produced. Schramm said a typical non digital company achieves 49 percent availability, 75 percent performance and 84 percent quality, but data-based decision making with TEMI+ and iMAGOxt brought Seca higher corresponding values of 60-80 percent, 90-95 percent and 94-97 percent.
Schramm also referred to the Tagtec product identication system used on molded automotive door panels by Lotte, Germany-based Frimo GmbH.
Sensorinstrumenten Systemtchnik GmbH of Thurmansbang, Germany, developed Tagtec and involves inclusion in plastic materials via a masterbatch from Gumpoldskirchen, Austria based masterbatch producer Gabriel-Chemie GmbH of invisible 2-8 μm inorganic luminescent pigments from Leuchtstoffwerk Breitungen, Germany. The resulting "Tagtec" or "Taggant" markings remain unaffected in the hot melt during compounding and injection molding.
The system identifies material in small and even shredded/granulated plastic parts. Identification is achieved by exposing the pigment to UV light and a Lumistar camera-based sensor system then analyzes random distribution of selected light spots. This pattern is mathematically coded, stored in an Internet database and then used for product identification.
Schramm pointed to a production cell based on an Ecopower 110/525 machine cell, a B8X control system and WFC 120 water flow regulators molding climbing net holders. It was an example of an "ingrinder" system by being equipped with a S-Max "by-the-press" granulator for inline sprue recycling, with direct material feeding reducing product carbon footprint (PCF). The HiQ Flow system compensated for process fluctuations on account of molding recyclate. The cell used TEMI+ for both CO2 footprint recording and integration into manufacturing execution systems (MES), as well as iMAGOxt for energy consumption analysis.