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Interview: Heart of the injection moulding machine, the plasticising unit
ENGEL's Plast team expands the applicability of the plasticising unit and thus creates new perspectives.
The plasticising systems area is essential for good component quality and increased machine performance. Bianca Gubi is part of the team and provides an insight into her work as technology manager in this interview.
What is your job at ENGEL and what is your field of work, plasticising, all about?
I am a technology manager for plasticising systems and recycling. I inspire our development team in development projects. For example, we are involved in projects to find solutions for the current requirements in e-mobility and recycling. Every innovation needs a successful market launch to make an impact. For this, strong teamwork is very important.
The task of plasticising is to gently transfer the specific plastic granulate in the plastic melt and inject it into a mould in an energy-efficient manner. The plasticising unit is the heart of the injection moulding machine.
We deal intensively with different aspects:
- Design of the geometry
- The right choice of high-alloy material designs for our components
- Development of new production routes
In this way, we achieve a stable processing procedure and ensure that our components are available quickly and in good quality. In this way, we also guarantee the customer an increased service life of the plasticising components.
Would you like to learn more about plasticising plastics at ENGEL?
Our experts will be happy to advise you.
Why is the plasticising unit of the injection moulding machine such a special product?
The reason is the interaction of the plastics used and the plasticisation used. Both are very important and require a lot of attention in order to achieve good component quality.
My professor at university used to say: "Screw design is a kind of art. And processing this material is also an art, hence the name plastic."
There are many different types of plastic on the market. For highly transparent glass-clear applications such as the camera lens, a very high degree of purity is required, which we achieve with a non-stick coating on the screw. Furthermore, the injection process must be precisely controlled.
Recycled materials bring impurities with them, which have to be filtered on our machine.
It must be possible to process these plastics reliably, i.e. in very good quality. Therefore, we need a plasticising unit in the injection moulding machine that is precisely matched to the respective requirements. Thanks to our Plast team, we at ENGEL can meet these requirements and also implement them well.
This means that we have a solution for every application on the market. If the current one is still not sufficient, we develop a customised alternative for our customers. We are able to do all this because we have such a large team.
Why is it so important for ENGEL to build up a large, interdisciplinary team for plasticising?
The use of high-precision manufactured plasticising components such as screws or non-return valves is enormously important to ensure high component quality.
For this you need:
- The competence of the development team: Which plastic component is suitable for which application?
- The knowledge of the manufacturing team: How to manufacture them quickly and qualitatively?
In addition, we are often confronted with individual, customer-specific requirements. Our diverse team consists of 30 employees. Thanks to them, we can respond well to customer requirements. We listen carefully to our customers and develop the most efficient solution together with them.
Do you work together with other departments?
Since our plasticising unit is installed in every injection moulding machine, we work together with all areas in the company. Such as:
- With sales and application technology to always be able to present the latest developments to our customers.
- With the technology to finalise it.
- With quality management to ensure consistent quality.
- With service to ensure faster spare parts delivery for our customers.
From the areas with which we cooperate, we receive
market feedback that we can integrate into existing developments.
What is the benefit for customers when ENGEL, as an injection moulding machine manufacturer, has the plasticising expertise in-house?
This means we can respond immediately to customer requests. Our teams handle all steps of consulting, development, production and delivery in-house. This allows us to ensure faster availability of plasticising units for our customers' injection moulding machines.
Furthermore, we can continuously develop ourselves further. We have the knowledge in-house and can fine-tune existing production routes through feedback from the market.
How long has the Plast team existed and how is it developing?
The Team has been around for about 8 years. Initially, it consisted of 5 people, we have now grown to 30 employees.
If the requirements in the area of plasticising units for injection moulding machines continue to develop so dynamically, we expect the team to be further strengthened.
Please briefly explain your activities in the Plast team.
For us at ENGEL, the responsible use of plastics is of great importance. That is why we are constantly researching and developing in the field of the Circular Economy. My central task is to market this area with regard to plasticisation.
My duties include:
- the active design of the portfolio,
- Strategy development and road map design
- the product positioning and
- the product success control.
This means that I am a constant companion in the product development of our team from the idea to the market launch.
One of the most important trade fairs, K in Düsseldorf, is just around the corner. What can your customers expect from ENGEL in the field of plasticising?
The preparations for the fair are already in full swing. Our Plast team will provide a highlight at our stand this year:
We will produce a customised plasticising screw for a selected customer within 24 hours entirely according to their wishes!
Our customer tells us his requirements and enters the dimensions of the desired screw into our calculator in real time at the stand. After the live transmission of the data, we start the screw production in our factory in Austria. The component is finished by the end of the same day. We deliver it to Düsseldorf overnight. The next day, the individually manufactured plasticising screw is handed over to our customer.
We are very much looking forward to the challenge. We want to show how fast and uncomplicated the production of plasticising components works at ENGEL. When everything comes from a single source, we don't have to wait for anyone. The process runs like a Swiss clock’.
What unites the team? What keeps it together?
The common spirit and being part of the solution!
In addition, our division is involved in the development, production and support of plasticising units in injection moulding machines. These include screws, non-return valves, barrels and nozzles.
That means we are an interdisciplinary team with occasionally different points of view and approaches. That's exactly what often leads to interesting discussions, which we then conduct in the context of creative workshops. This is how we often come up with new ideas.
I also think that the constantly changing challenges strengthen us. This is how we grow together as a team!
Why is it important to adapt the screw exactly to the application? Which applications are particularly challenging for the Plast team?
Because every plastic has different melting properties and different energy requirements.
Therefore, the biggest challenge for us is when our customers use a variety of applications in their production. The production of different components on the same injection moulding machine with the same plasticising unit requires a very versatile use of our plasticising components. Especially since we want to ensure that the plasticising process runs smoothly with high performance.
What are the current development priorities? What are the latest milestones in the development of plasticising units for injection moulding machines?
We are currently working very intensively on the topic of recyclate processing. This means that we are making our machines, especially the plasticising units for our injection moulding machines, fit for the future.
The goal is to be able to respond to the new requirements on the market. We do this through new robust material solutions or new adaptations such as filtration and degassing.
Furthermore, we are currently working on new improved designs of the locks and nozzles, especially in the high-speed (packaging) area.
E-mobility is also an important topic. The market is increasingly using highly corrosive additives in combination with very high fibre contents. Here, we have developed durable material solutions to match.
The trend towards fully automated production is also affecting us and is gradually being implemented.
Would you like to learn more about the Plast Team and the plasticising units for our ENGEL injection moulding machines?
We will be happy to answer all your questions.
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