MATERIALS HANDLING | TECHNOLOGY


Maintaining the material flow


Industry 4.0 technology is gathering pace in materials handling as suppliers look to provide the solutions that the injection moulding industry demands. Mark Holmes reports


A cost effective and efficient injection moulding operation needs materials to be in the right place at the right time and in the required quantities. Suppliers of materials handling equipment and systems are meeting these needs through modern conveying systems and sophisticated material hoppers, loaders and dosing equipment capable of delivering resin, additives, fillers and colour to the injection moulding machine in precise amounts. In addition, keeping downtime to a minimum and allowing easy cleaning tech- niques to facilitate shorter runs and quick changeovers are a prereq- uisite. Increasingly, manufac- turers of plastics ancillary machinery are also incorporat- ing Industry 4.0 compliant systems in their equipment as part of the accelerating digitisation of the industry.


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According to Mike Jordan, Managing Director of Summit Systems, a UK supplier of plastics ancillary equipment and services, the shift in materials handling towards integration and supervision that can monitor in much more detail than previously continues to gather pace. “While the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 are still currently buzz words, machinery suppliers are now being forced to invest in the knowledge to truly bring real benefits to manufacturers by using data and connectivity to reduce their costs further. For example, polymer drying has always been based on assumptions; these can be wrong of course and in the worst cases


catastrophic, so there is a big focus on fully understanding the initial material conditions before assuming what energy needs to be delivered to dry the material. Now moisture meters can provide the full link in


Main image: Motan-Color- tronic now offers pipe bends made from wear resistant, PU coated glass


Left: Moretto has developed three new types of


maintenance hoppers,


including TMK (pictured)


October 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 61


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