PROCESSING | SMALL BATCH COMPOUNDING
in time. Intelligent communication between the extruder and feeder enables this, making it possible for machine operators to save on both cleaning times at material changes as well as waste from remaining material in the feeder. In the C-Beyond dashboard you can see these features at a glance – downtime tracking, feeder emptying, then later on tracking of OEE.
CW: How can compounders ensure that planning for small batches does not compromise their ability to respond to short lead-time requests from customers? Lindsey: Most [machinery] OEMs have started considering small lot manufacturing at the design stage and have implemented lean features to assist in simplifying changeover processes. Technologies such as [our] QC³ (quick change, quick clean, quality control) have been successful with helping compounders minimise downtime between production lots. Cleaning and maintenance of spare tooling
offline also helps minimise downtime. Components such as a feed bladder, die plate, spare screw set, feed cones, etc, all help facilitate a quicker change-
over as these components can then be exchanged for the dirty ones between lots. Lechner: Nobody has a crystal ball but it is very important to have a compounding plant, including the feeders, that is flexible. The extruder’s screw design is also important. Changing a screw design, if the customer doesn’t have a second pair in stock, takes time so it is best to have a universal design covering all the recipes. You may have to compro- mise sometimes and adjust the screw speed or the torque level but this is state-of-the-art – it is very important to minimise screw changes because they are so time consuming.
Emptying the feeders is also very time consum-
ing. If you have colour changes, for example, then you need quick change features all around where you have dead spaces [the extruder itself is self- cleaning]. Then you can see a colour change done in less than 30 minutes, sometimes 10 minutes. We are willing to give a warranty on colour changes but for sure all the areas that are not self-cleaning can be made ‘smart’ by the machine supplier. We offer a number of smart solutions for fast colour changes. Typically, we see that our customers always want
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