Fakuma 2023: Arburg Extends Hybrid Range, Introduces New Service

As the company continues to celebrate its centennial, Arburg will mark the anniversary at Fakuma 2023 with the premier of the Allrounder 520 H — the second tonnage with the new hybrid machine technology to be presented by Arburg this year. In addition, the company will unveil arburgSOLUTIONworld, a new service to customers to help them save energy, increase operational efficiency, and address the shortage of skilled workers.

Starting at Fakuma, Arburg will add the size 520 machine to the size 470 hybrid Allrounder launched earlier in 2023. The machines combine an energy-efficient and precise electric clamping unit with a powerful and dynamic hydraulic injection unit, coming in Comfort, Premium and Ultimate performance variations.

At Fakuma, an Allrounder 520 H Premium will use a 1+1+1 mold to produce an Allrounder machine base from ABS at a scale of 1:18. The Moldlife Sense computer system from Arburg’s partner Hack enables mold monitoring and communication between the machine and mold via an OPC UA interface.

Arburg experts will be providing advice on the mega topics of energy, efficiency, and labor shortages as part of the new arburgSOLUTIONworld. This new interactive exhibition space is built around a 4-m (13-ft) high LED column. Here Arburg’s Action Plan: Energy will provide showgoers with energy advice, machine updates and consumption measurements to help them save resources and energy.

The Arburg ALS host computer system, along with individual processes and customer-specific manufacturing solutions, will be demonstrated, as well as the company’s digital services, including arburgXworld customer portal and smart assistance functions from the Gestica control system.

Also at the stand, an Allrounder Golden Electric 470 E with a Yaskawa six-axis robot will be process post-consumer recyclate (PCR) into toy dolphins, while a vertical Allrounder 375 V machine will overmold inserts with post-industrial recyclate (PIR) based on a glass-fiber-reinforced PA 66/6 to make ready-to-use bicycle tools. Tool cases, familiar to K 2022 visitors, will be molded using Arburg partner Leonhard Kurz’s Recopound material, made from post-industrial recyclate (PIR) PET films. In addition, an ISCC mass-balanced material from Covestro will be applied in the case produced via a turnkey system using a hybrid Allrounder 920 H with a clamping force of 5000 kN (562 tons).

Arburg notes that its stand will also feature a wide range of automation solutions from simple part removal with various linear Multilift robotic systems to complex handling with Yaskawa and Kuka 6-axis robots. Arburg will use production of a tire lever will show how digitalization and automation can be used to mold parts efficiently and with 100% traceability. A turnkey system with a vertical Allrounder 375 V and a 6-axis robot mounted in a space-saving hanging position will produce the bicycle tool. The Arburg Turnkey Control Module (ATCM) Scada system and Invisible Tracing from partner Detagto allow each product to be traced and identified.

An Allrounder More 1600 equipped with two electric injection units will demonstrate energy-efficient 2K molding, producing a container made PBT and LSR. The LSR dosing unit from Reinhardt Technik is integrated into the Gestica control system via OPC UA and the Euromap interface 82.3.

Positioning it as an energy and resource efficient alternative to thermoforming, an all-electric Allrounder 720 A Ultimate packaging machine will mold inmold labelled (IML) round cups with a wall thickness of only 0.37 mm using injection compression molding. An IML process designed for the medical market will be presented using labeled centrifuge tubes. Partners Kebo, MCC Verstraete, Beck Automation and Intravis are also involved in this joint project built around an electric Allrounder 520 A running an 8-cavity mold.

On the additive manufacturing side, a high-temperature Freeformer 750-3X, Arburg’s largest compact 3D printer, with a build space of 330 by 230 by 230 mm (13 by 9 by 9 in) and a discharge rate of 57 cm³/hr (3.5 in³/hr), will be printing air diffusers from aerospace-approved Ultem pellets. In addition, a innovatiQ LiQ printer for printing LSR will also be presented.

An additional 10 injection molding exhibits on partner stands at Fakuma will include: an Allrounder 1300 T rotary table machine that produces vegetable slicers by overmolding metal blades with ABS (Maschinenfabrik Lauffer, Hall A3, Stand 3008); an Allrounder 470 H hybrid machine that uses an 8-cavity mold with a special laser surface to produce closure caps from recycled PP (Barnes Group, Hall A1, Stand 1208); and an electric Allrounder 370 A that processes solid silicone into cable ties (ACH, Halle A4, Stand 4307).