SMALL BATCH COMPOUNDING | MANUFACTURING


Greater demand for customised compounds and the need to reduced inventory are driving growth in small-batch compounding. Mark Holmes learns what extruder manufacturers are doing to help


Compounders respond to flexible demands


Production batches are getting smaller as com- pounders respond to market needs for flexibility and increasingly specialised compound formula- tions while looking to improve their own profitabil- ity through maintaining reduced material inventory. However, the compounding operation has to be carefully planned and implemented if fast change- overs are to be achieved without increasing start-up waste and extruder OEMs are playing a part in streamlining this process. A key driver in the adoption of small-batch compounding across the industry is the just-in time lean manufacturing culture and its drive to reduce inventory, according to US-based compounding machinery maker Entek. “Speciality compounds using higher priced additives, fillers and fibre reinforcements for applications in the medical, law enforcement and defence industries require small-batch compounding in particular, as well as colour compounding,” says Austin Lindsey, Regional Sales Manager.


www.compoundingworld.com


“Small-batch compounding needs target quality to be achieved quickly. It is important to leverage previous run conditions to minimise scrap gener- ated at start-up. Overfilling feeders should also be avoided, which requires an operator to empty leftover raw materials between production lots and can generate scrap and increase changeover downtime. In addition, cross contamination with incompatible materials or colours needs to be avoided,” he says. For successful small-batch compounding, Lindsey advises planning bills of materials in such a way that purge cycles and tooling changes are minimised. This means running lighter colours before darker ones, or less viscous materials before more viscous ones. He also emphasises the need for good operator training and recommends that compounders exploit ‘lean features’ provided by OEMs in their machine designs, such as recipe storage and quick clean features. Entek’s latest developments to assist small-batch


Main image: Specialised formulations, JIT production, and a focus on inventory reduction are seeing many compounders look to small-batch production


April 2021 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 39


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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