AlphaMAC All-Electric Extrusion Blow Molders Come to U.S.

AlphaMAC of Italy, a member of the Italian IMA Group, will be marketing its all-electric continuous-extrusion shuttle blow molders in North America through IMA Dairy & Food, based in Leominster, Mass. (imadairyfood.com). AlphaMac was launched in 2019 and was acquired in 2020 by IMA Group, which owns a number of brands of automated packaging machines.

AlphaMAC (alphamac.it) builds only all-electric machines. Among its special features are 26:1 L/D extruders, which are said to provide more stable processing of high levels of regrind or PCR. The single-parison machines have B&R control interfaces and are said to offer very high specific energy efficiency up to 0.27 kWh/kg. They offer quick mold changes with a built-in support crane.

AlphaMAC offers single- and double-station shuttle machines for packaging with clamp force of 12 to 32 tons, stroke of 500 to 1000 mm, and dry cycle from 3.0 to 4.0 sec. A larger series (single and double station) for more industrial applications such as jerrycans ranges from 28 to 32 tons, 750 to 800 mm stroke, and dry cycle of 3.8 sec. The machine pictured is the Alpha 30S with 32-ton clamp and 750-mm stroke. It can produce containers up to 30 liters at up to 120 bph. It has an integrated quality-control station for “zero defect” production and a built-in robot arm for product takeout. Options include in-mold pressure control to detect macro holes or container malformation (with immediate rejection); weighing station with gross and net-weight measurement; horizontal deflashing to ensure collection of trim by gravity, especially with sunken handles; twin post-cooling stations; pressure-decay leak detection; multi-camera vision inspection for black specks and other esthetic defects; and a scanner to check neck ovality and diameter, handle shape and dimension, and detect flash in sunken handles or residual material inside the neck.

Industry 4.0 capabilities on AlphaMAC machines include remote monitoring and troubleshooting, including vibration monitoring for predictive maintenance; and data collection from the machine and auxiliaries such as the blending/feeding system and inline leak tester. Data presented includes machine status and alarms, OEE and fault analysis.