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.

A new process-monitoring system that utilizes PC-based Process Data AcquisitionModules (PDAM) was shown at NPE 2009 by Syscon-PlantStar, SouthBend, Ind.

WEB EXCLUSIVE Syscon-PlantStar of S.

A new PC-based shop-floor assembly tracking system is available to supplement process and production monitoring of the molding machines making the parts for assembly.

The ability to see production data for a specific machine from any point on the manufacturing floor is a new capability added to the PlantStar real-time production and process monitoring system from Syscon-Plantstar International, South Bend, Ind.

A new manufacturing execution system (MES) and upgrades to an entry-level production monitoring system were introduced at the NPE show by Syscon-PlantStar, Div. of Syscon International, South Bend, Ind.

A new manufacturing execution system (MES) and upgrades to an entry-level production monitoring system were introduced at the NPE show by Syscon-PlantStar, Div. of Syscon International, South Bend, Ind.

Web-based or wireless monitoring, combined temperature and pressure sensing, cost-saving modularity, and better ways to display and report process and production data are some of the advances in control and monitoring that will be presented at this year’s NPE.One development that could have the broadest implications is Watlow’s new EZ-Zone ST modular “integrated architecture” for temperature control loops.

It’s the power to run your plant and machines better and more profitably. Today’s process and production monitoring systems put that information in the palm of your hand.

Visitors to NPE can get a taste of how the Internet will serve as a gateway connecting processors to their process or linking customers to their orders.

In the next few years, molders will find process and production monitoring easier and less expensive than ever before. At least that's the promise of a new communications standard that allows molding machines to connect directly to a host computer via Ethernet and other networks.