Over 5,500 trade visitors from 47 countries, more than ever before, visited the Arburg Technology Days from 13 to 16 March. This international event for the plastic injection moulding industry, which boasted over 40 exhibits, focused entirely on the subject of production efficiency.
The plastic world comes together at Arburg: over 5,500 trade visitors from 47 countries came to the Technology Days 2013 in Lossburg from 13 to 16 March to learn about the latest injection moulding technologies.
Innovative applications, new products and specialist presentations on current injection moulding topics kept the visitors up-to-date and gave them numerous and diverse new ideas on cost-effective part production to take home with them. The “Efficiency Arena” exhibition was particularly well received. Here, at eight stations covering the entire value-added chain, Arburg and selected partners provided visitors with individual advice and practical tips for increasing injection moulding efficiency at their own production facilities.
“I’m delighted that, despite the forthcoming major international K trade fair and wintry weather conditions, we have once again been able to present our innovative injection moulding solutions to several thousand guests from all over the world,” said Michael Hehl, Managing Partner and spokesperson for the Arburg Management Team, summing up the event. “Since the first Technology Days in 1999, around 54,500 trade visitors have come to Lossburg; with currently over 5,500 we have thus easily cracked the 50,000 mark.”
Around 41 per cent of the visitors came from outside Germany. The largest group of visitors came from Switzerland (220 participants) and the USA (200 participants), followed by France (150 participants), the Czech Republic and Italy (each with 140 participants) and Poland (120 participants).
Production efficiency – “Knowing what counts!”
The Efficiency Arena was one of the highlights of the Arburg Technology Days 2013. At eight stations, Arburg and its partner companies used concrete examples to demonstrate in practical ways how cost effectiveness can be permanently improved in injection moulding production. Under the motto “Knowing what counts!” experts provided valuable suggestions, answered questions and offered comprehensive advice regarding vital topics covering the entire value-added chain – from product design and mould technology to machine technology, peripherals and configuration, right up to process integration, process control and production planning. Visitors were able to take home with them a great variety of inspiring and motivating pointers on how to make their production even more efficient and exploit potential savings with regard to energy requirements, cycle times and unit costs: “I didn’t even realise that the new productivity package is now available for several hydraulic Allrounder series. I’ll definitely be bearing this in mind with regard to our current machine enquiries,” says the managing director of a smaller injection moulding company. “As we want to network our machines and manage production planning centrally, I was seeking information on the Arburg host computer system and received detailed advice,” reports the highly satisfied technical manager of another company. Another guest found exactly what he was looking for at the “Configuration” station: the Arburg cost-effectiveness calculator, which, based on just a few parameters, determines the best machine for a particular application and how quickly the additional cost will be amortised.
New products, processes and applications
Numerous innovations from the fields of machine, process and application technology were presented. New products included:
- size 630 A and 630 H electric and hybrid Allrounders with a clamping force of 2,500 kN,
- the servo-hydraulic drive concept for the large Allrounder S, which reduces energy consumption by up to 50 %,
- the “Packaging” version for electric and hybrid Allrounders, developed specially for the packaging industry, and
- the productivity package for the hydraulic Golden Edition and S series.
Where innovative processes were concerned, inline printing met with a very positive response, as did long-fibre direct injection moulding and Particle-foam Composite Injection Moulding, which opens up new applications for lightweight construction.
Application highlights included:
- a fully electric two-component Allrounder 720 A with travelling injection unit and electrically rotating cube mould, which produces closure caps,
- a hybrid Allrounder 570 H which produces two IML food containers in 4.5 seconds,
- a high-speed precision application in which an electric Allrounder 470 A produces 64 “dosing units” in a cycle time of 2 seconds,
- an electric Allrounder 370 A which manufactures a so-called bottom layer for a lab-on-a-chip with sophisticated microstructures for use in medical technology.
Specialist presentations
In addition to all of the above, Arburg also offered visitors high-quality specialist presentations in English and German. In-house and external speakers provided information on the opportunities that the new long-fibre direct injection moulding process offers for lightweight construction, on what must be taken into account during the electroplating of plastics and on developments in the field of product and mould design, as well as revealing tips and tricks for working with the Selogica control system.
Programme
More than 40 exhibits covering a broad range of applications and industries provided a comprehensive overview of all electric, hybrid and hydraulic machine series, horizontal and vertical machines, the entire Allrounder clamping force range from 125 to 5,000 kN, automation solution offerings, as well as customised turnkey solutions. The programme was completed by a presentation of the complete pre and after-sales services, including available training courses, as well as tours of the production facility.
Factory tours
With Arburg as one of the first companies to gain triple certification last year, for the first time the Technology Days also included tours on the subject of ISO 50001 energy management certification.
In total, 1.800 guests attended some 240 German-speaking tours of the factory.
Furthermore, all groups of foreign visitors visiting the Technology Days under the auspices of the Arburg subsidiaries and trading partners were given presentations of the company in their own language.