A high-tech-friendly country like China hosting one of the largest international plastics trade fairs: Chinaplas 2022 in Shanghai is set to be particularly interesting. Naturally, Arburg's appearance there has been planned accordingly. Particularly interesting target groups will be attending from the automotive industry, the highly dynamic medical technology sector, and the electronics industry. Machine technology and processes will match these, with LSR processing, high-speed medical applications, and lightweight construction with fibre direct compounding (FDC).
A total of four Allrounder exhibits – from the electric Allrounder 470 A to the large Allrounder 820 S – and two freeformers – a freeformer 200-3X and a freeformer 300-3X – will be on show. All machines will be connected 'live' to the Arburg host computer system ALS for demonstration purposes and to the arburgXworld customer portal, another focus of the trade fair display. Detailed information on the arburgGREENworld environmental and recycling program will round off Arburg's involvement in Chinaplas.

Zhao Tong, Director of Arburg's organisations in China, notes the importance of the event: "Chinaplas is the most important trade fair for us in the entire region. It is important that we showcase cutting-edge technology here, because the high-end market in China is also constantly growing and gaining in importance. Arburg has chosen the focal points of its trade fair activities accordingly. With our injection moulding machines and automation systems, we offer optimal solutions for individual series production, and with the freeformers, further solutions for the production of prototypes and small series. Then there are tools like arburgXworld and the ALS host computer system for supporting service and production management, and the arburgGREENworld environmental and recycling program for greater resource conservation and production efficiency."

Highlight: Electric Allrounder 470 A
Zhao Tong sees the electric Allrounder 470 A with 1,000 kN clamping force, size 290 injection unit and Gestica control system as an important highlight. A Multilift Select with a load capacity of six kilograms completes the configuration. The powerful injection unit with 35 millimetre three-zone screw can produce even complex parts in multiple moulds quickly and to a high standard without any problems. As a sample for the trade fair, the electronic 'connector' part will be produced on this machine in a 16-cavity mould. Each part weighs 0.59 grams, and the 16 connectors will be produced in a cycle time of around six seconds. The machine's energy requirement is very low, which increases economy and efficiency. This means that the Allrounder also fits in very well with the company's efforts as part of the arburgGREENworld program.

Fast: Medical technology on hybrid Allrounder 470 H
On a hybrid Allrounder 470 H with a clamping force of 1,000 kN, size 400 injection unit with 35 millimetre standard screw and Gestica control system, pipette tips will be produced from PP in a 64-cavity mould. The cycle time for this high-speed product is only seven seconds, which is partly due to the machine being equipped with powerful memory technology and the aXw Control ScrewPilot for reproducible injection and high moulded part quality. The shot weight is 64 grams. The complex automation comes from regional Chinese manufacturer Ningbo Welllih Robot Technology Co, LTD. In addition to a Luxor80 granule feed from Motan, a hot runner system from Husky and two HB-Therm temperature control devices are also used.

Safe: Face mask on Allrounder 570 E Golden Electric
A face mask will be injection moulded in a 4-cavity mould from Polarform Werkzeugbau GmbH. The sample part will run on a 570 E Golden Electric Allrounder during Chinaplas. The high-end system with this machine for LSR processing is a novelty in Asia. The Allrounder 570 E Golden Electric is defined here as an entry-level machine with maximum precision for the special application of LSR injection moulding. It has a clamping force of 2,000 kN and a size 800 injection unit with a 45-millimetre LSR screw and no mixing or compression zone. A special non-return valve is also used for low-viscosity material. A Wacker Chemie AG LSR optimised for medical technology is processed. The moulded part weight is around 42 grams and the cycle time some 60 seconds. The extreme undercut of the mask and different wall thicknesses with the very thin lip make the injection moulding of these parts highly complex. The gripper on the Multilift Select robotic system with a 15-kilogram load capacity in transverse design ensures precise, smooth removal. It comes from Barth Mechanik GmbH, and the dosing system from Chinese manufacturer Mucomac in Shenzhen. The system is completed by a CoolShot cold runner system from Ewikon with electrically needle-type shut-off system and a cooling unit from Shini in Taipei. For medical technology, which is also one of the most important industries in this region, clean production with maximum process control is indispensable. Arburg can fully guarantee this with this configuration.

Large: Allrounder 820 S with equipment for FDC processing
The largest Arburg machine at Chinaplas will be a hydraulic Allrounder 820 S optimised for fibre direct compounding (FDC). The machine has a clamping force of 4,000 kN and a size 3200 injection unit equipped with a 70-millimetre special screw for long glass fibre processing. The aXw Control ScrewPilot, which allows reproducible mould filling via the control of injection pressure and speed is also included as necessary basic equipment. A platform will produced with a PP as base material. The single-cavity mould has a hot runner with needle-type shut-off nozzles. The moulded part weight is 700 grams and the cycle time some 80 seconds.

The FDC lightweight construction process is characterised by high material availability and up to 40 per cent lower costs compared to special long-fibre granules. FDC moulded parts are used in all innovative sectors of plastics processing, such as automotive construction or the aerospace industry. The physical properties that can be achieved are due to the individually adaptable long fibres. The FDC unit directly on the injection unit is integrated into the Selogica control system, as is the entire process, and includes a servo-electric lateral feeder with built-in cutting device, an adapted cylinder, and special screw geometry.
The moulded parts are removed from the single mould via a Multilift Select robotic system with a load capacity of 15 kilograms. Downstream, the items are weighed inline via a scale automation system for quality assurance, entered into the process documentation, and then deposited on a conveyor belt.

Business potential in China and Asia remains high
According to Zhao Tong, the exhibits at Chinaplas 2022 are a perfect match for the current market requirements in China: "The automotive industry is becoming increasingly energised by developments and applications in the field of e-mobility. In medical technology, Arburg can make an important contribution to more stable supply chains thanks to its central production, its on-time delivery, and the high reliability of its Allrounders. More and more companies are also looking to IT solutions such as the arburgXworld customer portal and the ALS host computer system to increase their production efficiency. With our products and technologies that are 'Made in Germany', we are in the right place at the right time. Because – and this is also demonstrated by our involvement in Chinaplas – we can offer our customers regionalised services to fully support them in increasing quality, efficiency and resource conservation in their companies."

Steffen Eppler, Divisional Manager Sales Europe, appreciates the importance of Celje as a gateway to south-eastern Europe: "The entire region benefits from pioneering European companies in the field of injection moulding, which continue to transfer technology to the respective countries. And for these markets we offer a comprehensive product range." More than 700 exhibitors from up to 30 countries will be attending, as well as visitors from around 15 countries. "With our Allrounders and the short cycle times that can be achieved with them, we have our eye on the needs of producers in the medical technology field in particular, but also of component manufacturers, for example, in the automotive and household appliance sectors. Accordingly, we are also particularly well positioned in applications where extremely precise injection moulding, excellent technical support and aftersales expertise are required."

High-speed product: 19,200 moulded parts per hour
At the Industry Fair 2022, a hybrid Allrounder 520 H with a clamping force of 1,500 kN will demonstrate the efficient, high-quality production of pipette tips from PP. The hybrid high-performance machines of the Hidrive series are already optimised for rapid series production as standard, and are thus also excellently suited for bulk items such as those used in the medical technology sector. The Allrounders combine electric speed and precision on the clamping side with hydraulic power and dynamics during injection. The exhibit is equipped with a 32-cavity mould from Zahoransky, a long-standing Arburg customer, and is prepared for use in clean rooms. The cycle time is around six seconds, which corresponds to a throughput of approximately 19,200 moulded parts per hour. The trade fair exhibit is thus perfectly geared to the needs of medical technology – speed, precision and high performance. "Especially in the current times, personal care, and the medical and pharmaceutical industries are of particular interest, and not only to us," Eppler says, summarising the significance of the high-performance application on display.

Digitalisation: arburgXworld customer portal demonstration
At the Arburg stand, visitors to the Industry Fair will see for themselves how digitalisation can succeed in modern injection moulding companies. A demo version of the "arburgXworld" customer portal will be on hand for live testing. Among other things, up-to-date online information on the machine fleet can be accessed from anywhere, whether at the workplace or on the move. Faults can be remedied around the clock using the various apps. And spare parts can also be conveniently ordered directly online 24/7. In addition, calculation tools and knowledge bases are available in various packages for individual compilation. This makes work as easy as possible in many areas of the company.

This time, the French hosts are offering a completely new format: three trade fairs in one: The “FIP” covers the industrial technology and services sector. The “FIP Valorize” focuses on the environmental challenges for the plastics industry, and the “FIP Transform” is the meeting place for processors and decision-makers from all sectors.
Pascal Laborde is the Managing Director of Arburg France and really looking forward to the trade fair, which is almost ten months late: “Finally, we'll meet our customers in person again. It's been a long time and it's definitely overdue. The FIP is the key trade for the plastics industry in France and also for Arburg as the most important and largest player on the national injection moulding market.”

One machine, two cavities
Arburg will present an electric Allrounder 470 A with 1000 kN clamping force and a size 290 injection unit at the FIP. A Multilift Select robotic system will be used to handle the parts. The configuration has been optimised for this process in an application-oriented way.
In a 1+1-cavity family mould, toothed wheel and pole wheel are produced alternately in two cavities through turning from a PA6 with magnetic filler. Production is free of changeover and non-standard sequences. When changing products, only the second stored injection and mould program needs to be selected and the runner in the mould changed. The plastic filled with the magnetisable material is poled in the mould via permanent magnets. An electric Allrounder 470 A with the latest Gestica control system will alternately produce a magnetised toothed wheel and a pole wheel in a cycle time of only 73 seconds.

The focus is always on the customer
Laborde wants to demonstrate the power of such an automation solution to the market with the presentation of the Allrounder 470 A: “We want to show our customers new, innovative ways to integrate functions in one machine. The keyword: magnetisation. We are proud of how reliably the Arburg machines perform even when faced with complex manufacturing processes.” Nevertheless, in case of any issues, in addition to the excellent and highly trained service team, there is also the option of using the self-help function of the arburgXworld to remedy malfunctions and machine failures.
After such a long pause, for Pascal Laborde it is all about the direct contact: “It's important to meet both existing and potential new customers, but also representatives of trade organisations and plastics associations," says the head of Arburg France. And the “FIP-Transform” offers the ideal opportunity to do just that. Laborde wants to give customers the chance to get to know Arburg even better and establish even closer ties with the global player from Lossburg. He will therefore bring along a special digital highlight: “We will also present our arburgXworld customer portal in detail in Lyon. This is where all digital services of Arburg can be found in one place.” Customers have almost unlimited possibilities to access up-to-date information on the machine fleet, and to start and monitor machines, for example. Equally, 24/7 service requests can be made or online spare parts ordered – on all digital devices.

Facing environmental challenges head-on
Another focus of this trade fair will be the matter of the environment with all its aspects, including the topic of the circular economy. Exhibitors will present the latest technologies and solutions at the “FIP Valorize”. Indeed, for Arburg, this topic has been an important part of the company's philosophy for years. The company has introduced the arburgGREENworld programme to combine its efficiency, environmental protection and circular economy measures, which have already been underway for decades.

A trip to the FIP 2022 in Lyon should definitely be worth it. Of course, visitors will have to follow the corresponding Covid-19 rules. For more information, go to www.f-i-p.com/en/.

Covering an exhibition area of over 34,000 square metres, Plastimagen 2022 is the most comprehensive and important in-person specialist plastic event in Latin America. It is precisely geared towards the needs of the thousands of visitors (22,000 the last time the event was held) searching for innovative plastic solutions for their companies.

Latin America: growing potential in the high-tech sector
Guillermo Fasterling, Managing Director of ARBURG S.A. de C.V., is therefore rightly excited about the upcoming trade fair: "Mexico and Latin America in general are the markets offering very high and growing potential for Arburg, not least in the high-tech sector. The markets are slowly but surely emerging from the enforced pause caused by the coronavirus pandemic and are picking up again. For Arburg, the entire region is dominated by the automotive and medical technology sectors, but the packaging industry is quickly making up ground. In terms of technology, high-speed machines are in great demand here, which is why our exhibits are geared towards these."
Frank Eberhardt, Head of Applications and Technical Support at ARBURG S.A. de C.V., also views digitalisation as being another important factor: "High-end technology is gaining in importance in Mexico and Latin America too. Here in particular, the need to expand and create added value by using state-of-the-art machine technology in combination with digital platforms such as ALS and arburgXworld is really coming to the fore. But the need to provide qualified help and support in relation to sales, application technology and service still remains important, as the covid restrictions of the last two years have demonstrated. Personal support remains an important factor driving success. That’s why we are delighted that Plastimagen 2022 will be an in-person event."

High performance: hybrid Packaging-version Allrounder with IML application
The first exhibit at the trade fair – a hybrid Packaging-version Allrounder 570 H with a clamping force of 1800 kN and a size 800 injection unit – deals with a high-performance application. To ensure rapid in-mould labelling, the machine is fitted with a docked automation cell from Campetella which combines several robot systems in a compact space. This enables four thin-walled yoghurt pots to be produced in a cycle time of around just two seconds.
The first of the two robots reaches into the mould from the side and applies the labels in the cavities. The vertically operating feed system is extremely fast and compact. Maximum product hygiene is provided by the integrated tilting axis which stacks the containers on the conveyor belt with the opening facing downwards once they have been removed from the mould.
The second robot, which has an electric servo axis, is specially geared towards pick-and-place applications. It takes the stack off the conveyor belt and places it in a storage box. The robot cell is also linked to a transfer station for a driverless transport station that picks up the boxes of finished products and transports them to a storage area.

High precision: four transparent PMMA espresso cups
Four espresso cups are injection-moulded in a cycle time of 31 seconds on an electric Allrounder 470 A with a clamping force of 1000 kN. The material used is a transparent PMMA with a shot weight of 120 grams. This project resulted from a collaboration between Arburg, the Technical University of Darmstadt and Staeubli. The mould was optimised for quick mounting and water adaptation. The machine is equipped with a Multilift Select with a load of six kilograms for removing and setting down cups on a conveyor belt.
Both exhibits work with the latest Arburg Gestica controller generation which uses smart technology and a digital network to combine a whole host of intelligent functions on an intuitive screen – enabling complex requirements regarding machine, mould, robot and peripheral technology to be managed with ease.

Digitalisation in quality assurance and customer support
Arburg’s portfolio at the trade fair is also being enhanced by two demo versions of the ALS Arburg host computer system and the arburgXworld customer portal. Here, attendees will get to see how the two systems can be used to retrieve, adapt and update quality, production planning, technology management and service management features across a company’s entire fleet of machinery and on all digital devices. Specialists in both applications will be ready and available to answer any specific questions directly. The subsidiary’s service employees will also be in attendance to respond to questions from customers and interested parties.

How do you economically produce thin-walled containers using top-quality recycled material and with maximum output? By having several specialists combine their well-founded expertise. This is what has happened in France as part of the Thin Wall Integra collaborative project. The collaboration pursues several objectives simultaneously, namely the high-volume processing of recycled material into thin-walled containers in a way that is fully automated, fast, and of a consistently high quality.

Arburg’s subsidiary in France has teamed up with Collomb, a mould maker specialising in thin-walled containers, Pagès Group, a robotics expert for packaging, Verstraete, an IML label manufacturer, Koch-Technik, a material flow specialist, and Borealis, a raw materials supplier, to present Thin Wall Integra as a new one-stop shop concept for the production of thin-walled five-litre buckets.

Jointly developed concept
The jointly developed concept is based on a fully automated injection moulding cell around a hybrid Allrounder 720 H in packaging version with a 1-cavity mould. The complete cycle only takes around five seconds. In addition to the injection moulding machine optimised for fast cycles, the sequentially operating robotic system is also a top performer. The handling system with telescopic arm that engages from the rear side of the machine first loads the mould with the IML labels. The robotic system then removes the labelled buckets and stacks them on a deposit mat. The stacks are then automatically picked up by a robot for palletising. The two robot technologies used make the system particularly compact. The recyclate is continuously fed in via an automatic conveyor system.

Strengths of the collaborative partnership
The Thin Wall Integra partners contribute their specific expertise at every stage of the project to demonstrate state-of-the-art technology to manufacturers of thin-walled containers, while also ensuring the necessary quality and meeting the tight deadlines of the packaging industry.
In addition, the joint project is in line with the ecological aspects of plastics processing that are so important today. The product has a proportion of 55 per cent recycled material, and its ‘ecological design’ enables material savings of up to 35 per cent. Added to this are the simplified stackability of the buckets and the use of ‘HolyGrail 2.0’ labels, which make it easy to recycle the materials used by type.
The fully automated project system is specifically designed for high-performance packaging applications that require speed, precision and efficiency, as well as ease of maintenance. After its premiere on 30 November, the Thin Wall Integra project is also be on show during an open day at Collomb in Oyonnax on 12 January 2022.