thin wall moulding | Profile
Right: More than 70% of
materials used in the Mundon plant are
recycled; the company
compounds on site
evaluation of alternative options for both thermoform- ing and injection moulding. “I wanted the best available technology from people that would support us and at the best possible price – not just to buy but over 10 years,” he says. In depth process trials were carried out with
potential suppliers using the company’s own moulds and material, most of which is recycled. “We were in the process here of transforming how we managed and produced materials so we wanted to be sure the grades we were producing would be suitable for the machines. And the people financing the investment wanted application data – it had to be exhaustive.” For the injection moulding side of the business, the decision was made to buy all-electric moulding machines from BMB of Italy equipped with robotics from Star Automation. Two 250 tonne and two 350 tonne machines from BMB’s packaging specification eKW all-electric range (25Pi1300 and 35Pi2200 respectively) replaced 15 old hydraulic units. Binch also embarked on a rationalisa- tion of the product range, reducing the number of lines by 60% and scrapping 120 tonnes of moulds. Despite the drastic reduction in machine numbers,
Below: The BMB eKW machines feature direct servo drive, in this case using one motor for plasticising and two for injection
the increased uptime and outputs achievable from the new automated moulding machinery means total plant production capacity is increased. “One of the things we plan to do is to run the injection moulding room lights-out at the weekend. We are not quite there yet but we aim to be one of the best in the horticultural area,” he says. Key attractions of the BMB machines included the
energy-efficient all-electric drive technology. BMB uses direct servo drive technology on all machine axes, while energy recovery and full energy monitoring and reporting are standard features across the eKW range. As an example of the energy efficiency, the 350 tonne
model processing recycled PP on a 7.4s cycle consumes just 20.2kW of electricity (including barrel heating, which is equivalent to a consumption of 0.5 kWh/kg of resin. The mould shop was also completely overhauled as part of the investment programme and a new materials handling system installed to support automated manufacturing. Binch says to keep cost down much of this work was done by the company’s employees, who he says were enthusiastic supporters of the project. Like many companies running thermoforming equipment, Desch Plantpak extrudes its own sheet and runs its own compounding plant. As it uses more than 75% recycled resin, Binch says this on-site compound- ing capability also gives it a big advantage over its competitors on the injection moulding side of its operations. “In our business, margins are very low but our material expertise gives us an advantage. We buy PCR waste but produce a quality product, which is really cost effective,” he says. The company tests every batch of incoming recycled
material and grades it before determining a recipe to meet the performance it requires for any particular applications (it also now supplies a growing volume of compounded pellet and sheet to its sister plants in the Netherlands). “Our recipes are all data driven. We can characterise a polymer material as well as anyone in the UK and if we feel the material is weak in a particu- lar area we can correct it,” he says. Binch says the work at the Mundon plant is still ongoing, but the results achieved to date show great promise for the future of the facility. “This is essentially a new company,” he says. “The people here are on a learning curve and there is still a long way to go. But the financial success in 2014 and 2015 will reflect the work the people have done here.”
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.desch-plantpak.com ❙
www.bmb-spa.com ❙
www.star-europe.com
44 INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2015
www.injectionworld.com
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