Elmet & Arburg Smartshot i: Cold Runner Self-Balancing

Cold runner technology Elmet and Arburg present Smartshot i live in operation for the first time

2026-03-12 Source: Elmet 1 min Reading Time

At the Arburg Technology Days 2026, Elmet and Arburg will present Smartshot i live in operation for the first time, showcasing a cold runner system that balances demanding family moulds fully automatically and in real time.

Elmet and Arburg showcase the new Smartshot i cold runner live for the first time at the Arburg Technology Days 2026.(Source: LariBat/Shutterstock provided by Elmet) — Elmet and Arburg showcase the new Smartshot i cold runner live for the first time at the Arburg Technology Days 2026.
(Source: LariBat/Shutterstock provided by Elmet)

Elmet and Arburg will present a pioneering joint development at the Arburg Technology Days 2026: the new Smartshot i cold runner, shown for the first time in live operation on an electric Allrounder 520 A. The cold runner is connected directly to the machine — a significant step towards the future full integration that both companies are currently developing intensively.

The technology will be demonstrated on a family mould whose five cavities each have different shot volumes. This places the highest demands on precise filling balance. Smartshot i takes over this task fully automatically thanks to integrated sensor technology: during the injection process, the thrust forces at the individual needle shut-offs are recorded and transmitted to the Arburg machine in real time. The cold runner then adaptively readjusts the needle positions — without manual intervention.

A standout USP of this new technology is the speed of its fully automatic self-balancing. In previous applications, the system was already fully balanced after around 30 minutes — even with complex 16-cavity moulds. Compared with conventional filling studies, this represents an impressive time reduction of up to 95 percent. This not only drastically shortens start-up time, but also ensures process stability after a very short time.

Although full machine integration is still under development, the presentation demonstrates impressively the potential of the close collaboration between Elmet and Arburg:

automatic balancing even for demanding family or multi-cavity moulds

significant time savings during start-up

fully automatic balancing

determination of the isothermal mould condition

transparency regarding needle-relevant forces and filling behaviour

stable processes and reduced scrap rates

data-based, adaptive injection moulding process → AI-ready

With Smartshot i, both companies are demonstrating what modern LSR processing will look like in the future: intelligent, efficient and seamlessly connected.

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