Lights Out, Pristine Production In
The numbers beggar belief and the business belies description—Medical Components of America has six full-time employees, six injection machines and lights-out production that’s gone five years without shipping a bad part or missing a delivery.
Tony Deligio
Senior Editor, Plastics Technology
Protolabs Launches Revamped Digital Quoting Platform
Initially unveiled in Europe, the new digital manufacturing platform will be coming to the U.S. in early 2021, bringing greater speed and flexibility to quoting of injection molded, CNC machined, and 3D-printed parts.
Cincinnati Process Technologies (CPT) Partners With Predictive Maintenance Sensor and Application Supplier
CPT has joined with IoT Diagnostics to bring a slate of Industry 4.0 technologies to the plastics market.
Time Still to Register For PT Tech Days
It’s free. It’s online. It’s scheduled every Thursday through December. And you can register now to hear technology experts address a wide range of topics in plastics processing.
Digital Manufacturing Network Offers ‘Radical Transparency’ Over Multiple Processes, Providers & Continents
Fictiv now offers complete visibility of complete value chain from design upload to production, quality, shipping and pricing for metal and plastic prototypes and production parts from a “Digital Ecosystem” of 250+ partners in the U.S. and Asia.
Clear Your Calendars for Plastics Technology 'Tech Days'
Beginning Oct. 8, we will be bringing exclusive, live, online technical content on a wide range of processing topics that you can access for free.
Industry 4.0 Universal Communication Standard Coming for Laboratory Equipment
In Germany, work is underway to develop a standard to allow all sorts of laboratory equipment to communicate with higher-level computer systems and ultimately with manufacturing.
PT Tech Days Continue to Inform
Register now to hear technology experts address a wide range of topics in plastics processing. And access our archives to tune in to what you may have missed. It’s free.
Jim Callari
Editorial Director, Plastics Technology
Fakuma Show Goes On (Digitally) for Wittmann Battenfeld
Self-contained inline scrap integration; medical, LSR, and packaging Cells; an MES Upgrade and more to be introduced virtually.
Injection Molding: Milacron Expands Industry 4.0 Platform
In a series of webinars, plastics machinery manufacturer Milacron revealed details of its M-Powered suite of Industry 4.0 tools, including expanding functionalities.
Material Handling: System Automatically Tracks Changes in Resin Inventories, Simplifies Dispensing
Alternative to the use of single-component batch blenders for resin inventory measurement of up to 500 different user-specified resins or flowable powders.
Auxiliaries: Sensor Kits Enable Non-Computer-Controlled Auxiliaries to Connect to Cloud Platform
User-installed sensor kits are now available for use not only with Conair auxiliaries on the SmartServices platform, but with a range of competitive auxiliary equipment.
Automation: Predictive Maintenance, Cleanroom Versions & Recycling of Energy Chains
igus reports a number of recent developments in automation components.
Industry 4.0: Wittmann Battenfeld Makes OPC UA Compatibility Standard
Citing the impact of the coronavirus on the need to digitize manufacturing, Wittmann Battenfeld announced that effective April 1, newly ordered peripheral equipment complies with OPC UA communication protocols free of charge.
Despite COVID-19, ERP Software Keeps Molder Working—Even from Home
ERP platform’s remote access, real-time operations overview, and transparency into production output and customer demand help custom molder weather coronavirus.
Tony Deligio
Senior Editor, Plastics Technology
Small, Family-Run Vermont Molder Pioneers in ‘Lights-Out’ & Industry 4.0
Going back 37 years, T&M Enterprises dared to push available technology far beyond the risk tolerance of much larger firms.
Coping with Coronavirus: What If You Can’t Get a Tech Service Visit?
‘Social distancing’ for service technicians? Online remote servicing to the rescue!
Injection Molding: Free Customer Portal Offers Parts Ordering & Service Assistance
AburgXworld portal offers both free and fee-based apps for a wide range of tasks.
Germany’s IKV to Build ‘Smart Factory’ R&D Center
Germany’s leading plastics institute bids to be a world leader in Industry 4.0 technologies.
How Smart a Granulator Do You Need?
Some processors see value in grinders that communicate on a network, report preventive-maintenance data, order spare parts, and provide complete maintenance instructions.
Bigger, Faster, Lower-Cost Robots at K 2019
Three, four, five and six axes; high speed and high payload capacities; low-cost models; and collaborative robots made news at K. There were also QMC systems and AGVs.
'10 Things We’re Seeing in Machine Shops Right Now'
Metalworking shops and plastics plants make for interesting comparisons of their responses to the COVID-19 challenge.
Matthew Naitove
Executive Editor, Plastics Technology
Testing: New Test & Inspection Systems for Tamper-Evident Caps
Pull-off tester, slitting inspection, and pinhole detection for beverage and other TE closures.
Recycling: New Software Allows Real-Time Remote Access
The system is available for the complete Starlinger product range and has been designed with this portfolio in mind, but machines of other manufacturers can be integrated as well.
Injection Molding: New Electric Presses Are Industry 4.0-Ready
Nissei’s upcoming NEX-V Series will have OPC-UA protocol standard in its new controller, ready to integrate with auxiliaries.
Hot Runners: Controller Adds Industry 4.0 Functionality, Set-Up Assistant
The latest iteration of Meusburger’s profiTEMP+ hot runner controller supports EUROMAP 82.2 for data exchange between injection molding machines and hot runner controllers.
Learn from Injection Molding’s Thought Leaders: Register Now for Molding 2020
The world’s premier injection molding technical conference comes to Chicago, March 17-19.
Heating/Cooling: Temperature Control Features Larger Pump, Higher Temperatures
Engel expanded its e-temp line of temperature controllers at K 2019 with the XL variant, offerings higher pump capacity and greater heat output.