Machine manufacturer Arburg has had its own subsidiary in Denmark since 1997. To mark the 25th anniversary, an open house and a festive evening event were held on 2 June 2022.

With its range of quick clamping systems for injection moulding machines, Strack Norma offers its customers innovative solutions for reducing set-up costs and creates high flexibility for the user through quick and easy mould changes.

Germany — On the occasion of this year's Kuteno Kunststofftechnik Nord (plastics exhibition in Northern Germany) and in time for K 2022, Andreas Bexte, Bexte Kunststoff-Technik -BKT-, Essen, presents details of the cooperation agreement with LK IMM Europe, Travagliato, Italy.

A team of six trainees from Arburg won the VDMA “Carbon Busters” Award on 30 May 2022. The competition, which offered a first prize of 3,000 euros, was held by the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) as part of the Hannover Messe trade fair to honour the work of young climate protectors.

Speed to market has never been more important in the consumer goods sector, as brand owners aim to develop new bottle and package designs to address ever-shifting customer desires. But creating conventional metal tooling for the blow moulding of bottles is an expensive and time-consuming proposition. That is why Pepsico was looking for an alternative.

Called the Flat Die Unit (FDU), this hot runner system passes melt through a long slit instead of a circular hole like a conventional nozzle. The result is said to be faster injection of more melt through a thinner gate opening, with lower shear and injection pressure, as well as lower melt temperature.

How does a company transition from manufacturing small parts to the micro-scale? Can these parts be produced cost-effectively? What is important when partnering with another company?

In the following interview, Florian Schmitz, organiser of Moulding Expo, talks about the current difficulties, the expectations of exhibitors and the future of the trade fair industry.

In mould and die making, individual machining processes are increasingly being combined into automated production cells with integrated handling. The main advantage is a higher degree of machine utilisation, as the systems can operate unattended 24/7. Two prerequisites for realisation of such autonomous systems are more intensive digitalisation of the processes consistent with Industry 4.0 and an increased level of investment.

At the Mindelheim-based company BBG, an end-to-end line for finishing glass with polyurethane (PUR) is being set up to demonstrate and test the results of a research project. The project “EKI — Engineering for AI-based Automation in Production Environments” is intended to pave the way for the intelligent adaptation of production systems to changing requirements and environmental conditions, for example in order to manufacture new variants of a product.