At the world’s largest plastics show in Dusseldorf last fall, hot-runner and controller manufacturers introduced a flood of new developments in speed, size, accuracy, and reliability.

If a better machine can help your company beat challenging economic conditions, you’ll probably find it at NPE. And finding it will be easier, thanks to our editors’ efforts to sift out of some 2000 exhibits the most significant news in injection and blow molding, extrusion, compounding, and thermoforming.

A new line of hot-runner valve-gate systems designed for high-pressure processes comes from Gunther Hot Runner Systems Inc., W.

A ready-to-go line of hot halves that are fully tested, wired, and ready to bolt onto the mold is new from Gunther Hot Runner Systems Inc., West Chicago, Ill.

As a sign of a growing trend, Gunther Hot Runner Systems, West Chicago, Ill., added to its website (www. gunther-usa.com) a Hot Runner Design Configurator that guides the user through building a virtual hotrunner system online.

Electrically driven valve pins, a low-cost alternative to valve-gating, mold-mounted temperature controllers, and new components for fast color changes are some of a host of new components and systems unveiled at the giant NPE 2006 show in Chicago this past June. (Some brand-new introductions since the show are also included in this report.) The news includes runnerless products aimed at everything from micromolding to shot weights up to 17.4 lb.

Thermal and mechanical testers, color and appearance sensors, vision inspection devices and CMMs—the NPE had them all in more compact, economical, and easy-to-use models.

Energy-saving all-electric machines will continue to be a big draw at NPE, where new designs or upgraded models will be found in virtually every press maker’s booth.

The internet is redefining the tool-design process. Some mold designers are finding that using the Web to manage a tool project can shorten lead times, cut costs, and make sure vital data get to all participants in a project.

Ultimate Control for the Toughest Molding Jobs

From complete hot halves to individual nozzles, a host of new products promise smaller gate vestiges, less maintenance, better temperature control, and lower cost.