Star Automation Inc.

Hot buttons at the show will be multi-component molding, in-mold labeling/decorating (IML/IMD), in-mold assembly, medical molding, liquid silicone rubber (LSR), micro-molding, and high-speed packaging.

Freudenberg Household Products (FHP), Germany, known in the U.S. for its line of O-Cedar mops, brooms, dust pans, etc., has joined forces with Spanish injection molder SP Berner Plastic Group, S.L., to form a joint venture company called FHP Berner U.S.

If you’re walking around your plant one day and hear an echo, you might want to listen closely.

An inspired combination of automation, ISO certification, use of certified resins, and strict adherence to a rigorous set of time-honed manufacturing standards are among the chief factors giving the Rodon Group, a 54-year-old custom molding operation in Hatfield, Pa., the confidence to boast that it can beat the pants off of Chinese part pricing, and Mexican pricing, too.And it’s not an idle boast.

The recent NPE 2009 show in Chicago saw the debut of dozens of new and enhanced robots for injection molding. The vast majority of the new models were all-servo types, though some economized by mixing servo and pneumatic axes. These new robots emphasized higher speeds, heavier payload capacity, longer reach, and more intelligent controllers that make programming and troubleshooting easier than ever. Telescoping arms and dual arms were very common among the new entries, as well.

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 three-axis servo robot for part or sprue handling will be produced in China by Star Automation of Japan (U.S. office in Menomonee Falls, Wis.). The new CZ-700 model will be built at Star’s Shenzhen factory, which previously produced only pneumatic robots.

A new line of hybrid servo/pneumatic robots suited to presses from 50 to 550 tons comes from Star Automation Inc., Menonomee Falls, Wis.

Injection molding robots introduced at NPE pushed the work envelope for speed, reach, payload capacity, ease of programming, and ability to handle more sophisticated tasks.

Most of the news at the show is in fluid-circulating mold-temperature-control systems.

If the big show in Chicago was any indicator, linear servo drives and jointed-arm designs may be the next trends in robots for injection molding.Injection molders visiting NPE 2000 last June may have glimpsed the future of injection molding automation.

From micro to maxi, from simple sprue pickers to sophisticated six-axis models, NPE had it all. A raft of new robots, faster and smarter than ever, will help make automation an irresistible choice for U.S. molders.

The newest crop of robot automation for injection molding machines, displayed recently at the Platex show in Osaka, Japan, and the Plast-Ex Show in Mississauga, Ont., continue the trend toward six-axis jointed-arm models and improved servo-driven, beam-mounted units seen at last year's NPE show in Chicago. The latest introductions also include new controls for servo-driven robots, new units designed to work in palletizing cells, and a range of new sprue pickers in servo and pneumatic models.