K2022 NEWS
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag keeps a steady course
Gerd Liebig, CEO of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, said company turnover will slip by only 4% to €778m in 2022 despite difficulties in markets and the supply chain (particularly the shortage of microchips). The 2022 result compares with a record sales year in 2021 when the machinery company achieved €808m in turnover, he told journal- ists at a K2022 press conference.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag
expects most injection moulding end-sectors to be relatively stable in 2023. But challenges remain, including higher energy prices in Europe putting pressure on the automotive industry and possibly slowing investments connected with e-mobility. “I don’t think this [e-mobility investment] will come until the end of 2023,” said Liebig. The company’s focus on boosting market share for its all-electric machines is continuing. It has already dedicated production at its Schwaig facility in Germany to electric machines, and the Ningbo facility in Japan will likewise focus on electric machines. Sumitomo (SHI) Demag calculates it currently has a 35% share of the all-electric machine market and Liebig said it is aiming to increase this to 40% in the next two years. Amid the market
difficulties, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has not made staff redundancies. “Our strategy is not to fire people and then
16 Above: Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s stand at K2022
hire again in two years when the market is better,” said Liebig. Staffing is becoming a “big, big challenge” for the plastics industry, he said, as a wave of retirements is expected in the Baby Boomer demographic.
New hybrid robot Automation is one answer to potential skills shortages, making it a target growth area for Sumitomo (SHI) Demag. Liebig highlighted the premiere of the SAM-S robot as an indication of automation being an important focus of the company’s product strategy. SAM-S, which builds upon the SAM-C cartesian robot which it developed in-house, is a 6-axis hybrid robot comprising Scara mechanics and linear robots. With two payload sizes (12 kg and 25 kg) currently planned, the SAM-S series is suitable for applications where a linear robot is considered too inflexible, yet industrial
INJECTION WORLD | November/December 2022
robots too complex for operators. The robot is intended to be used with injection moulding
machines with 130 to 1,000 tonnes clamping forces. On its K2022 stand, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag showed a SAM-S12 robot in a demonstration of LSR moulding.
Christoph Wynants, in Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s Product Management team, spoke about the PAC-E high speed electric machine as one of the new products at K2022. The main target of the PAC-E’s development was to enable beverage cap and thin-wall packaging moulders to increase productivity, he said. The company already manufac- tures fast-cycling machines for packaging – the IntElect and IntElect S machines – but the PAC-E sets a new benchmark for energy consumption and cleanli- ness, the company says. �
www.sumitomo-shi-demag.eu
Sepro
develops Visual+
At K2022, Sepro revealed the next generation of its Visual platform. Visual+ features total integration of robots, peripheral equip- ment and injection moulding machine regardless of the brand. It is a flexible platform with modular software that is customizable and easily deployable, one central controller for multiple robots, and peripherals, and a versatile HMI. One of the demonstra- tion cells at the exhibition gave visitors a chance to control a Sepro S5-15 Speed robot through a complex series of motions using the HMI they felt most comfortable with. Choices included a smartphone and an Xbox controller. To further illustrate the benefits of Visual+ along with its latest control innovations, Sepro created a production cell around a 100-tonne Milacron machine supported by a Sepro 5X-15 Cartesian robot with servo-driven wrist and a 6X-140.2 articulated-arm robot, all working in conjunction with each other to produce a toy sailboat. The fully automated production process included assem- bly, inkjet printing, production-data collection, dimensional checks, tray packaging and final delivery of the finished product. �
www.sepro-group.com
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: D ELDRIDGE
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