Cranberry Township, Pa. — Conair Group (W2113) will have its largest and most interactive North American trade show presence with 12 product rollouts among 55 products on display at NPE2024, including a new generation of controls and products driven by artificial intelligence.
The exhibits, which will focus on making every pellet count, will feature working medical and filament extrusion lines as well as AI demonstrations that show practical ways to save labor, time and money.
All exhibits combine know-how, logic and hardware to manage and eliminate common and often costly challenges that can frustrate or stump even experienced operating personnel, according to company officials.
The highlight will be technology driven by artificial intelligence technology that virtually eliminates the need for human interaction or adjustments.
The patented AI technology — called Conveying with Optimizer — creates and maintains optimal material flows regardless of characteristics and distances while automatically compensating for conveying problems.
"At Conair, we have always sold auxiliary equipment to processors with the understanding that it's going to provide labor savings and increased productivity," Sam Rajkovich, vice president of sales and marketing for Conair Group, said in a news release. "Our latest products, including our AI-driven conveying technology, offer processors a practical, affordable and technically advanced way to meet high labor training and turnover costs head-on."
The company is encouraging attendees to bring a list of their most annoying conveying issues to the booth, and Conair staff will show how AI-driven solutions can eliminate daily headaches.
With the conveying technology, all the operator needs to do is tell the controller where to send the material and the system takes care of the rest, according to A.J. Zambanini, director of product management for Conair.
The AI system uses the Conair SmartFLX-brand conveying control equipped with the optimize package to automatically detect source-to-destination conditions related to the vacuum, receiver distance, material bulk density and other factors. AI then autonomously adjusts the conveying system in real time to move material under optimal conditions.
Zambanini likens the concept to a self-driving car.
"It calculates what's needed to move material from A to B, starts the cycle and then further adapts system conditions when necessary," Zambanini said. "For example, if the bulk density of the material changes, the conveying line has a vacuum leak or the receiver filter is getting clogged, Optimizer will adapt conditions to ensure that the material gets through at the optimum speed."
Conair products will be exhibited in eight booth areas. The features include:
• The ResinWorks with Optimizer, an optional AI-driven feature for Conair multihopper drying systems, will make its world premiere. This product automatically keeps process-ready resins at perfect temperatures and varied throughputs, a news release said, while preventing over-drying and saving money on energy costs.
• A new automatic resin selection station (AutoRSS) for resin management. Conair said the station performs fully automated, proofed and traceable material transfers from up to 60 resin sources with a speed and accuracy that conventional, operator-assisted fantail manifolds cannot match.
• A new EH-brand drying hopper for mass flow, heat distribution and cleanability. The stainless-steel contact surfaces and a 60-degree cone angle allow not only a fast mass flow of pellets but also even movement from top to bottom.
• A smaller temperature control unit redesigned for medical, electronics and other processors working with small injection molding machines, small precision molds or tight production spaces, such as clean rooms. It's part of the MicroTemp Thermolator line of products.
• A SmartFLX-brand mini-control for central conveying in small plants and work cells. The control supports vacuum conveying systems with up to three vacuum pumps and a maximum of up to 12 receivers.
• A TrueBlend-brand TB-T blender for use as a central color and additives blender able to handle throughputs from ultra-low to 100 pounds per hour. The product blends up to four ingredients and stands less than 24 inches tall for easy mounting on a machine. The new blender is being globally introduced.
• The ProfileMaster-brand line introduction for downstream processing of plastic profile extrusions. The new line features calibration and cooling tables, haul-offs, cutting units and tilting tables.
In all, Cranberry Township-based Conair offers more than 450 products, including feeders, line-control systems, film and sheet scrap-reclaim systems, and downstream equipment for pipe and profile extrusion.
Conair Group W2113