Canadian Plastics February 2015

Canadian Plastics www.canplastics.com

FEBRUARY 2015

INJECTION MOLDERS’ BENCHMARK SURVEY

PROCESSORS TAKE

SELFIES 3D

printed cars are coming Polyform Inc. is really branching out Granulators vs. shredders: what’s the diff?

WAIT — you’re not purging your hot runners with CPCs?!

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Production efficiency counts! A broad perspective is essential: every day, some 3.5 billion high-quality plastic parts are produced on ALLROUNDER machines – so the utmost production efficiency is required. If you are seeking to produce that efficiently, we are the right choice.

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contents

Canadian Plastics FEBRUARY 2015 VOLUME 73 NUMBER 1

LOOKING BACK...

There was a slight shift in the mold, tool and diemaking cosmos in early 1991, and the May 1991 issue of Canadian Plastics identified it: Windsor, Ont. had officially become the city with the highest concentration of moldmaking shops per capita in North America. Our report on Windsor's booming moldmaking trade in that issue also noted that, as if to acknowledge the city's rise to the top, the upcoming Mold Expo show — which, until then, had always been held in the French moldmaking town of Oyonnax — was being relocated to Windsor. To the probable dismay of a lot of francophones, the show ran from October 7 to October 10 at Windsor's Cleary International Centre.

22

Number of the month:

$16.71*

*Average hourly wage paid to machine operators, excluding benefits.

(See pg. 17)

in every issue 4

Editor’s View: The 3D printing revolution is here

5

Ideas & Innovations: A toast! New polymer powder ensures high-quality beer

6

News: • Kal-Trading gets the paint out • Canadians among newest Plastics Hall of Fame picks • APMA, CAMM sign partnership deal • Supplier News & People

11 Executive’s Corner: From adversity to advantage 34 Technology Showcase 37 Plastics Data File 37 Advertising Index

www.arburg.us

37 Classified Ads 38 Technical Tips: • Eliminating surface blemishes on a cosmetic part (part 1)

13

28

cover story 13 INJECTION MOLDERS’ BENCHMARK SURVEY: An industry selfie Over the years, our annual survey has charted booms, busts and in-betweens. Whether you took the survey this time around or not, the latest results give you a chance to measure yourself against the competition. Buying intentions, utilization rates, markets served, operator wages — it's all here. features 18 GRANULATORS & SHREDDERS: A sizeable decision Size-reduction equipment can cost tens of thousands of dollars — which means you can't afford a mistake when choosing between granulators and shredders. Here's the thing, though: it doesn't always have to be one or the other.

22 PURGING COMPOUNDS: Hot runners? No worries You already purge your screws and barrels, but what about your hot runners? They need it, too, and using resin or regrind probably won't cut it. Are you ready to start doing it right with CPCs? 26 3D PRINTING: Revolutionary road?

The printed car is coming fast. Will it T-bone traditional auto parts making?

32 DOING IT BETTER: Polyform — foam home Family-owned out of Granby, Que., this supplier of EPS and EPP products for the construction, automotive and packaging industries is staying true to its roots by diversifying — and that means getting into recycling, too.

Visit us at www.canplastics.com www.canplastics.com

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February 2015 Canadian Plastics

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Canadian Plastics magazine reports on and interprets develop­ ments in plastics markets and technologies worldwide for plastics processors, moldmakers and end­users based in Canada.

editor’s view

The 3D printing revolution is here

U

nless you’ve been banged up in solitary confinement for the past decade or so, you’ve heard of 3D printing. Sometimes called additive manufacturing or rapid prototyping, the technology is as omnipresent these days as CGI robots in a Michael Bay movie. Originally developed for part prototyping and almost unknown outside of manufacturing circles, 3D printing is having a breakout moment as the world at large finally catches on to what the technology can do.

What can it do? It’s still an excellent method for rapid part prototyping, for sure, but it’s not just for that anymore.

It’s also for making real production parts — slowly compared with a process like injection molding, admittedly, but cost-effectively for very small volumes. For plastics molders, 3D printing offers potential in two areas. First, it provides a new means to produce plastic parts that either have part geometries too complex for conventional molding or that would be too costly to mold because of low volumes — a complementary process to injection molding. Second, it offers molders an opportunity to build mold inserts and other tooling components on their own.

As accuracy has improved and the size of printed objects has increased, parts makers are now applying the technology to any number of industries, including aerospace and defense, construction, healthcare and — of course — automotive (as outlined in our article beginning on pg. 26).

Some of the equipment manufacturers are on board with both feet. At the K 2013 show in Dusseldorf, you may recall, injection molding press maker Arburg unveiled the Freeformer system, an inkjet-type 3D printer that builds up parts droplet by droplet in thin layers. Arburg knows what it’s doing; as Dallas, Tex.-based RNR Market Research recently projected, 4

Canadian Plastics February 2015

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demand for 3D printing technology “is expected to grow the fastest of any plastics processing equipment type” through 2017. So don’t be surprised if more injection machine builders introduce 3D printing machines of their own in the coming years.

But the technology is already bigger than mere plastics processing, having now reached consumer-friendly price points and footprints. And it might just transform manufacturing, period.

Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing has been synonymous with factories, machine tools, production lines and economies of scale. If it goes global, 3D printing will remake all of that; desktop manufacturing will turn anyone into a do-it-yourself part maker, whether in the office, school or basement. In the same way as the Internet levelled the field, solving the challenges of reach and enabling everyone to play, 3D printing can transform me and thee into small-scale Henry Fords — with the opportunity, even as hobbyists, to make our own end-products without being embarrassed by the results.

But don’t take my word for it. On its own website, General Electric itself — a company that knows a thing or two — describes 3D printing as “the next chapter in the industrial revolution.” Personally, it’s a bit bewildering to think about manufacturing without such intermediaries as tooling, assembly lines or supply chains — kinda like watching the fast-food industry morph from Wendy’s drive-through lines into having the cow somehow slice itself up and place itself directly on your hamburger bun. But you can’t buck progress.

Getting back to plastics processing, if you want very small production runs, or to do more of your own mold building, 3D printing might be for you. And even if that’s not what you’re about, it’s probably not a bad idea to keep an eye on the technology. It never pays to ignore a revolution, after all. Just ask Marie Antoinette.

www.canplastics.com EDITOR Mark Stephen 416-510-5110 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: mstephen@canplastics.com ART DIRECTOR Andrea M. Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Steve Hofmann 416-510-6757 E-mail: shofmann@bizinfogroup.ca PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER Phyllis Wright SENIOR PUBLISHER Judith Nancekivell 416-510-5116 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: jnancekivell@canplastics.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Greg Paliouras 416-510-5124 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: gpaliouras@canplastics.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Anita Madden 416-442-5600, ext. 3596 Fax: 416-510-6875 E-mail: amadden@bizinfogroup.ca EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Tim Dimopoulos VICE PRESIDENT, CANADIAN PUBLISHING Alex Papanou PRESIDENT, BUSINESS INFORMATION GROUP Bruce Creighton HEAD OFFICE: 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON, M3B 2S9. 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-5134 CANADIAN PLASTICS is published 7 times a year by BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business­to­business information services.

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mstephen@canplastics.com

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15-01-22 7:40 AM

ideas & innovations

A TOAST!

New polymer powder ensures high-quality beer

T

here aren’t many valid reasons for an adult to throw an angry, frothing fit. Beer that’s gone bad might be one of them. You might want to raise your glass, then, because a German research institute is developing a new polymer powder that can quickly detect harmful microorganisms in beer before they spoil the brew.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam have developed a powder designed to simplify the microbiological tests that detect beverage-spoiling organisms such as bacteria and yeasts.

To guarantee a high-quality product, breweries monitor the production process very closely to prevent pathogens from entering into the beer during the brewing process. In the conventional method, beer is filtered in special equipment; the bacteria remain on a membrane and are then elaborately cultivated in a special culture medium before they can be examined microscopically. Problem is, this approach requires five to seven days to detect such harmful organisms, by which point it’s often too late to take action to save the brew.

The new polymer powder makes the monitoring process faster and simpler. The powder is added to the liquid sample, and its functionalised surface quickly and efficiently binds the bacteria as the pathogens adhere to the 100 to 200 micron powder particles. From the test to the reliable result takes a mere two to three days, the IAP team said.

Until now, breweries have also only been able to examine small sample volumes of up to one litre though membrane filtration. With the polymer powder, tests with 30 litres or more could be possible.

“Membrane filtration is not suitable for the quality control of beverages such as fruit juices, milk, cola and red wine, as they contain so much solid or suspended matter that the filter clogs quickly,” said IAP team member Dr. Andreas Holländer. So beer seems the sole end-target, alas.

The polymer is currently undergoing pilot plant testing and will be available later this year, Holländer added.

CPL Skoal!

©Getty Images/Polka Dot RF

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news

Kal-Trading gets the paint out Painted parts are the problem child of plastics recycling. The harmful effect of paint films in recycled material means that most painted parts are destined for landfill at the end of the product life cycle. It’s bad for the environment and — since processors are missing out on a potential source of reclaimed resin — bad for raw material costs.

Kal-Trading Inc. — a Mississauga, Ont.-based plastics recycler, compounder and distributor of prime virgin, virgin off-spec and reprocessed plastics — is doing something about it. In November 2014, the family-owned company installed a multi-million dollar system that turns painted parts — specifically discarded automobile bumpers — into near virginquality regrind suitable for almost any plastics application.

“Scrap rates for painted bumpers have always been very high, because if paint gets mixed in with the recycled material the strength of the plastic declines, making it unsuitable for many applications; it also prevents a perfect finish from being achieved, making it unsuitable for appearance parts,” said Kal-Trading president Gobi Saha. “The crucial factor in this process is ensuring that the recycled and new materials are of equivalent quality, and the key to doing this is how much of the paint is removed.”

Traditionally, most paint removal systems use liquid, either chemical or water. Kal-Trading’s system — a seven-

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part machinery line — is a dry process that relies on friction to strip off the paint. “Liquid separation is messy and Gobi Saha shows off bumper part regrind involves adding on the Kal-Trading shop floor. something that’s touching your product, which then has to be removed,” Saha said. “A dry process doesn’t add anything — it just subtracts the paint — and brings the mechanical properties much closer to the original state.”

Going bumper-to-bumper

Close enough, indeed, that it might just allow automotive part makers to achieve one of the ultimate goals of painted part recovery: bumper-to-bumper recycling. “Recycled material from painted parts is generally of a lower quality than the original material, which is why damaged bumpers have previously been used only in parts of the vehicle that are not visible, such as underbody covers,” Saha said. “Our recovery system — which can process any polymer, as well as barrier materials and cross-linked foam materials — removes not only all of the paint, but also all metals and volatiles. Customers have the potential to use as much as 100 per cent of the recovered bumper material, mixed with virgin pellets, to make the same product.”

Sceptics out there have nothing to lose by trying the new technology, Saha added. “We purchased the reprocessing line on our own initiative and with our own funds, so customers aren’t taking any chances by giving us trial runs of their rejected bumper parts,” he said. “Our biggest customers have the opportunity to save millions of pounds of material and associated revenue costs.”

The paint removal line — which requires only one operator and is high-tech enough, Saha said, to be run through a Smartphone — is the first of a slew of new technologies that Kal-Trading is unveiling. “We’re installing new polymer separation and color separation systems in our plant later this year, and also introducing our own branded mechanical purging agent, our own recycled material compatibilizer, melt promoters, and our own desiccant product to the marketplace,” Saha said.

If it sounds like a leap forward for the 80 employee-strong firm — which is run by Saha and his spouse Kelly Saha, and located in a 135,000-square-foot plant and warehouse formerly owned by Rubbermaid Newell Co. — it is. “We started in 1992 as a small Canadian-based plastics company and,

......stay connected with

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15-01-22 1:47 PM

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by expanding our international presence, now work with clients all over the globe,” Saha said. “Our next step is to move beyond being a simple resin distributor and provide diverse products such as auto-certified prime resins, custom compounded resins, toll-processing and processing aids; and also to offer the capability to de-paint, de-metalize and de-volatize plastic scrap and turn it into reusable pellets. By 2016, no other company will be able to offer what we can.”

CPL

Canadians Terry Browitt, Manfred Lupke among new Plastics Hall of Fame picks Canadians Terry Browitt and Manfred Lupke are among nine industry veterans being inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame during the upcoming NPE2015 trade show in March in Orlando, Fla. Browitt served on the Quebec section board of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) for many years and as president in 1982-1983. He was elected the Quebec International Councilor of SPE and served on the executive committee for 11 years before becoming SPE president in 20012002 — only the second Canadian to do so after Ralph Noble in 1970. In 1976, BrowTerry Browitt itt founded Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.-based material supplier Terinex International Ltd. He retired in 2010, but is still an active director with the company.

Lupke is the president and CEO of Concord, Ont.-based corrugated plastic pipe maker Corma Inc., and a leader in the creation of equipment for this sector. Under his guidance, Corma has registered 848 patManfred Lupke ents in select countries around the world.

Lupke was the Canadian Plastics Industry Association Leader of the Year in 2007, and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

The other inductees are John Beaumont of Beaumont Technologies Inc., a founding faculty member of Penn State Erie’s Plastics Technology Program; William Carteaux, current president and CEO of the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) and a former top official of injection press manufacturer Demag Plastics Group; Robert DeLong of Blasformen Consulting, a major pioneer in blow molded dairy bottles; Eugen Hehl, co-founder of injection press maker Arburg GmbH & Co. KG; Edward Hunerberg of Uniloy Milacron, an expert in the field of structural foam molding; Donald Norwood, an inventor and retired chemical engineer formerly of Phillips Petroleum; and Dr. Maureen Steinwall, an employee training

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and motivation expert who has held a variety of high-ranking SPI positions over the years, including serving on the Board of Directors.

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APMA, CAMM sign partnership deal Two plastics-related Canadian industry organizations are collaborating to support the country’s automotive sector.

Effective January 1, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) and the Canadian Association of Mold Makers (CAMM) entered into what they described as “a collaborative working relationship,” in which they will partner in common industry initiatives such as advocacy, events and trade missions.

According to a joint statement, each organization will continue to operate independently and maintain its own membership roster, “however, through this collaborative relationship, members from each organization will have access to membership benefits in the other association and vice versa. [The collaboration] will strengthen representation to customers and government in the Canadian auto sector, and provide more effective support for member companies of each organization.”

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PEOPLE

Ted Callighen

Todd Castile

Bruce Chalmers

— The Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA), headquartered in Cambridge, Ont., has elected Ted Callighen as its new president for a two-year term.

— Madison Heights, Mich.-based mold technology provider DME Company has appointed Todd Castile as its new director of sales for Canadian Plastics the Americas.

1/2 pg 4c horizontal — Cincinnati, Ohio-based plastics processing equipment maker Milacron LLC has appointed Bruce Chalmers as chief financial officer.

— York, Pa.-based injection press maker Engel North America has G FEatUrES hired Louis Corriveau as account manager in Quebec and Eastern Canada. Corriveau is based in Montreal.

— York, Pa.-based Graham Engineering Corporation has appointed Patrick Johnsen to be regional sales manager for extrusion in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The extrusion division comprises Welex sheet lines and American Kuhne extruders and extrusion systems.

— Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery (France) S.A.S. has Access Easy access to shredding room named Gilles Mazzolini as its new general manager, taking over

O 900

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V-ECO 900

V-ECO 900

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O 1300

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V-ECO 1300

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V-ECO 1300

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O 1700

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O 2100

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O 900

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O 2100

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O 900

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O 1300

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O 1700

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O 2100

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O 900

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O 1300

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O 1700

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O 2100

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O 900

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O 1300

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O 1700

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O 2100

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Rotor bearing Large distance between rotor and rotor bearing for long-life of bearing

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8

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Patrick Johnsen

Gilles Mazzolini

Kevin McQuade

Kevin Moros

Bhavesh Patel

from Christian Lozé.

— Germany-based materials supplier Styrolution named former company president Kevin McQuade as its new CEO, replacing Roberto Gualdon.

— Size reduction equipment maker Weima America Inc. , headquartered in Fort Mill, S.C., has named Kevin Moros as its sales representative for Eastern Canada.

— Houston, Tex.-based chemical maker Lyondell-

Plastics Recycling It’s an Eat-or-Be-Eaten Business

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V-ECO 1300 V-ECO 1700 900 V-ECO

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V-ECO 2100 1300 V-ECO V-ECO 1700

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V-ECO1300 2100 •• V-ECO V-ECO 1700

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cutting geometry for maximum p06-10 News.indd 81700 V-ECO Wear

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PEOPLE (continued) Basell Industries has named Bhavesh “Bob” Patel, the former head of its international manufacturing business, to the position of CEO. Patel takes over from James Gallogly.

— Vienna, Austria-based extrusion machinery maker battenfeld-cincinnati has named Gerold Schley as president and CEO, replacing Michael von Cappeln.

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— Bolton, Ont.-based Husky Injection Molding Systems has named Gary Strickland as vice president, human resources.

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SUPPLIER NEWS — Toronto-based processing equipment supplier Plastic Automation Engineering Inc., headed by industry veteran Nick Doiu, has been named Canadian sales representative for South Korea’s LS Injection Molding Machines.

— Extru-tech Solutions Inc., headquartered in Brampton, Ont., has been named the exclusive Canadian sales representative of Italian extrusion machine manufacturer Luigi Bandera’s blown film lines and PET/PP, PVC pelletizing lines.

— Brampton, Ont.-based MSJ Sales and Distribution, headed by Jerry Shelley, is the new Canadian sales, service and distribution representative for robotic endof-arm tooling maker SAS Automation, which is headquartered in Xenia, Ohio.

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executive’s corner

From adversity to advantage

By Richard Martin, Alcera Consulting Inc.

G

reat leaders are also great survivors, in that they often thrive on chaos and adversity. While I certainly don’t believe in deliberately creating difficulties, there are nonetheless some principles that business managers can apply to turn adversity into advantage.

Keep things in perspective. In the day-to-day business world, things are rarely as bad as they initially appear. Odds are, if you’re facing adversity at all, it’s probably because you’re pushing yourself and your organization to achieve big things.

This is good.

Keep the big picture in view. The military has institutionalized this idea by giving every commander at every level a secondin-command. This way, the commander can focus on leading the troops and keeping his eye on the enemy and the evolving situation, while the deputy takes care of administrative manners and the “rear area”. How many civilian organizations do this? Not enough.

Stay calm. Ever heard the old adage that sailors get nervous when their officers start running? This is a very succinct way of saying that leaders should project calm and resolve, no matter what. You don’t want to rattle your employees, do you?

Build on core values and beliefs. David Neeleman, CEO of commercial airliner JetBlue, recently created a “Passenger Bill of Rights” that promises to compensate passengers for any major inconveniences caused by the company. By taking the core values and beliefs of the company this seriously, he sent an unmistakable message to his thousands of employees.

When in doubt, go with your gut. Great leaders usually have well developed intuition, crafted over time from experience.

And when it matters, they listen to that little inner voice that tells them that some aspect of business just isn’t right.

Build on lucky breaks. In my previous career in the military, I commanded a peacekeeping force in Bosnia, and sometimes had my troops set up vehicle check points to control movement and to check for smuggling. One day, we set up some check points and the UN resident envoy congratulated me for my excellent use of a “decoy tactic” to quell an incipient demonstration by local military personnel that could easily have turned into a riot. I hadn’t intended it as a decoy tactic, needless to say, but I let him and everyone else go right on thinking I had because it enhanced my credibility.

Communicate and lead with emotion. Here’s an extreme example: in May 1940, during their darkest hour of WWII, Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave a speech to the British people. Did he explain how much trouble they were in? Not on your life. He told them instead that he had “nothing to offer but blood, sweat, toil and tears.” He didn’t sugar-coat the situation, in other words, and succeeded in rallying the spirits of millions of Britons.

Reinforce success and build on strengths. Famed management consultant Peter Drucker stressed the idea that managers should build on strengths rather than constantly attempting to correct weaknesses. In economic terms, this is known as “comparative advantage”, and it’s the fundamental logic underpinning international commerce and free trade. In short, think positive.

As a business manager, commit to applying these principles the next time you’re faced with a difficult situation. Even if you don’t quite hold steady at first, persistence will pay off.

Building resilience in yourself will make you a much more inspiring and effective leader.

CPL

Richard Martin is the founder and president of Montreal-based Alcera Consulting Inc. He speaks, teaches and writes on a variety of topics such as business strategy, risk management, leadership, organizational development and performance improvement. Visit www.alcera.ca.

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12.12.2014 10:39:35 15-01-22 7:50 AM

injection molder’s benchmark survey

AN INDUSTRY

SELFIE We asked Canada’s injection molders about their buying intentions, utilization rates, markets served, operator wages and a whole lot more. Here’s some of what they revealed. Call it a partial self-portrait of the country’s largest plastics processing segment.

By Mark Stephen, editor

©Getty Images/Thinkstock

F

The Injection Molders’ Benchmark Survey was sent to 470 people at injection molding shops throughout Canada, with one survey going to one respondent per facility.

We received 52 completed surveys. Because not everyone answered each question, the percentage values in the charts and tables might be given as a percentage of the respondents to that question, with the number of respondents given in parenthesis, for example (n=48). We thank the participants.

or a few years there, the Canadian Plastics injection molders’ surveys made for grim reading, reflecting everything from declining utilization rates to freezes on equipment purchases. Now, with Canada out of the worst economic downturn since the Depression, the manufacturing sector is beginning to look more like its old self. And how does the injection molding industry look? Let’s let some of the molders show us themselves.

SETTING THE STAGE Right off the bat, there’s a sign of stability: almost 59% of respondents this year said they worked in an I/M shop with 50 or more employees, compared to 60% reporting the same last year and 66% in 2013. This seems to show a continuing recovery from the employee downsizing that many companies www.canplastics.com

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February 2015 Canadian Plastics

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injection molder’s benchmark survey

AVERAGE MACHINE UTILIZATION RATE (%)

30

signals the return of the auto industry or not, auto parts molding was finally back on top last year — barely. Ditto this year, with 41.67% of respondents saying they serve the auto market, followed by 39.58% molding consumer goods, 33.33% making parts for the construction industry, 29.17% making packaging applications, 29.17% making medical parts, and 20.83% molding electrical components. Medical parts making is a much-hyped sector, as you’ve no doubt heard, but for three years now the number of respondents working in the field hasn’t moved much, either up or down.

The number of exclusive captive molders among our respondents isn’t bouncing around much, either: almost 12% of respondents this year said their shops were exclusive captive molders, compared to 9% last year and 12% two years ago. The largest number this year (28.89%) identified themselves as custom molders doing some proprietary work on the side, followed by exclusively proprietary molding (24.44%), exclusively custom molding (20%), and captive molding with some custom molding (15.56%).

(n=48)

25 20 15 10 5 0

15.38

23.08

25.64

20.51

10.26

5.13

0

90-100%

80-89%

70-79%

60-69%

50-59%

40-49%

< 39%

underwent during the Great Recession.

Fifty-five per cent of respondents to this year’s survey worked in shops that had either an ISO or QS9000 standard, with another 15% of respondents saying their shops are in the process of becoming certified. That’s almost exactly equal to the 60% that had it and the 10% that were getting it last year.

Here’s one you can always take to the bank: the majority of respondents — 61.11% — work in Ontario, but we also heard from Quebec (19.44%), British Columbia (11.11%), Alberta (2.78%), Saskatchewan (2.78%), and Nova Scotia (2.78%).

MARKETS SERVED

50

40

30

20

10

0

To the surprise of few, if any, our surveys over the recession recorded a steady decline in the number of shops that molded automotive parts. In 2009, the majority of our respondents actually reported consumer goods as a main market served; two years later, that number had grown to over 65% of respondents. Whether it

MARKETS SERVED BY YOUR PLANT (n=51)

Automotive 41.67% Consumer goods 39.58% Construction 33.33% Packaging 29.17% Medical 29.17% Electronic 20.83% Other 16.67%

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Canadian Plastics February 2015

CPL Feb2015 p13-17 IM Survey.indd 14

WHAT CATEGORY BEST DESCRIBES YOUR PLANT? (n=51) Custom molding with some proprietary 28.89%

Exclusively custom molding

Captive molding with some custom Exclusively 15.56% captive molding 11.11%

20%

Exclusively proprietary molding 24.44%

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY Whatever they’re making, business for most our respondents is picking up. Thirty-four per cent said business volume improved in 2014 by more than 10% compared to 2013, 23.68% reported a bump of between 6% to 10%, and 7.89% said it was up by between 1% and 5%. That’s good news any way you slice it, since it reinforces similar improvements reported by respondents last year after a whopping 77% of them reported a “significant” business downturn in the dark days of 2009. Furthermore, 39.47% of respondents this year anticipate a business volume increase of more than 10% during 2015, 15.79% expect an improvement of between 6% to 10%, 26.32% expect a bump of between 1% and 5%, and 13.16% expect things to hold steady. If we do the math, therefore, we find that only 5.26% expect their business to decline in the next 12 months.

Utilization rates are holding steady with last year’s results.

This year, 38.46% of respondents report utilizing more than 80% of their machines; last year, 38.90% hit the same mark. Another 46.15% from this year’s group had a utilization rate of between

www.canplastics.com

15-01-22 7:53 AM

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injection molder’s benchmark survey

WHAT THEY’RE DOING IT WITH

BY THE NUMBERS

According to our survey, commodity and engineering resins still make up the vast bulk of what’s being processed at Canadian I/M plants, with 77% of respondents using commodity and 68% using engineering resins. But specialty materials and biopolymers have their customers, too: forty per cent of respondents mold at least some parts with specialty resins and 15% report using bio-based materials.

Average number of employees per shop

62

Average hourly rate paid to machine operator, excluding benefits

$16.71

60% and 79%, which compares favorably with 38.94% saying the same last year. (The low-water mark for utilization rates, in case you’re wondering, was our old friend 2009, when an anemic 4% of respondents utilized more than 80% of their machines. Ouch.)

This is all well and good, but here’s the big question for the machinery suppliers: will these utilization rates whet the molders’ appetites for new equipment? Maybe.

Almost 35% told us their shops plan on

Yes, we bought at least one I/M machine in 2014

55.26%

Yes, we’ll buy a new or pre-owned I/M machine in 2015

34.50%

buying injection molding machines in 2015, with half of those — exactly 50% — saying they’ll be on the lookout for new machines, which is basically a repetition of the 53.88% saying the same last year. Additionally, 42.11% of this year’s respondents said they were unsure about adding either new or pre-owned molding machines during the next 12 months, but didn’t rule it out.

On the auxiliary equipment front, it gets better. Approximately 63.16% of

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injection molder’s benchmark survey

80 respondents this year plan on buying auxiliary equipment during 2015, and another 36.84% aren’t sure. 70In other words, not one respondent said they absolutely 60 aren’t going to buy. Also, 35.14% definitely plan on buying linear robots in 2015, with another 32.43% at 50 least considering the possibility; and 16.22% will be on the hunt for six-axis articulated robots, with perhaps 40 that same 32.43% at least considering it.

PURCHASING PLANS FOR 2015 (%) Don't Know Yes No No Don’t know

Yes

30



Injection Molding Machines (n=48)

Auxiliary Equipment (n=48)

Linear Robots (n=47)

32.43

51.35

16.22

32.43

32.43

35.14

36.84

0

63.16

42.11

23.68

20

As interesting as they are, stats about machine utilization only tell part of the injection molding industry 10 story. Wages tell another side. According to last year’s survey results, the average hourly wage paid to 0a machine operator was $13.75, excluding benefits; the average was $15.06 two years ago. Both were drops from the higher wages reported by respondents before the Great Recession. So how did 2014 compare?

Slightly better, at least from the workers’ perspective. Averaged out, the hourly machine operator wage, excluding benies, this time around registers at $16.71. Maybe the recession-era cutbacks really CPL are behind us.

34.21

PEOPLE POWER?

Articulated Robots (n=47)

VIEW SURVEY RESULTS ONLINE

Can’t get enough of statistics? The complete 2015 Injection Molders’ Benchmark Survey results are available at: www.canplastics.com/survey/archives/IMSurvey2015.pdf

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granulators & shredders

SIZE REDUCTION 101 If you’re unclear about the differences between a granulator and a shredder, at least you’re not alone. “The distinction between the two technologies is often misunderstood, and many processors don’t even use the word ‘granulator’ — they refer to that process as ‘grinding’, which can mean a lot of things,” said Jim Hoffman, regional vice president of sales with Rapid Granulator Inc. So here’s a quick recap. Granulators have the ability to reduce certain materials to a very small particle size, usually three-eighths of an inch thick or smaller. The machines can be classified generally into two groups: beside-the-machine models used to grind relatively small volumes of sprues, runners, off-spec parts and edge trim from film lines for immediate recycling back into the process; and central granulators, which are bigger and more powerful — often located in a room separate from the production floor — and used to size-reduce large volumes of scrap, often from multiple processing lines or molding cells. “Generally, granulators operate at high speeds with relatively low torque,” said Vincent Carpentieri, size reduction sales manager with The Conair Group. “Even socalled ‘low-speed’ granulators have rotors that turn at upwards of 190 rpm, and standard speed granulators operate at 400 to 500 rpm or more.”

Shredders, on the other hand, tend to operate at lower speeds — between 100 to 130 rpm — with high torque that allows them to chew through almost anything, taking large 18

Canadian Plastics February 2015

CPL Feb2015 p18-21 Grans_Shred.indd 18

DEC

components down to random, smaller components, normally in the range of one-inch big or larger.

They can be provided in single-shaft designs that cut down against one or more stationary bed knives, or dualshaft models that employ two counter-rotating shafts that cut against each other to shred scrap.

“Dual-shaft models are thought to be more efficient in shredding bulky scrap, but are more complex and more prone to shaft damage,” Carpentieri said. “Single-shaft models typically provide a larger, more robust rotor and utilize stationary bed knives for shredding, simplifying service and offering heavier duty operation. Single-shaft shredders are generally regarded as more productive on rigid plastic as well as film and fibre materials, and these are the units that are rapidly gaining popularity in the plastics industry.”

Photo Credit: The Conair Group

or many of us, granulators and shredders can seem interchangeable, kind of like all those Kardashian sisters we’re always hearing about. Actually, the two sizereduction technologies are quite different. And unlike the Kardashians, each is useful, provided you select the one that’s right for your needs. Buying a shredder when you really needed a granulator, or vise versa, could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in the purchase of a machine that simply won’t work for your application, or won’t provide the production rates that your processing requires. And since successfully reclaiming their scrap can make the difference between profit and loss for many processors, there’s simply no room for mistakes when it comes to reducing it.

We get it, which is why we canvassed some of the experts on how to select what you really need — and how to combine the two technologies when necessary.

FACTOR 1: VOLUME So how does a processor decide between the raw power of the shredder and the finesse of the granulator? “There are four main factors that will likely enter into the decision: volume, density, feeding method and the required final condition of the material,” said Greg Parent, Canadian sales representative for Vecoplan LLC. “Usually, a combination of two or more of these will make the determination.”

When it comes to volume, there really is no minimum throughput rate for a granulator. “The only real limitation is the size and configuration of the feed opening and cutting chamber, and the need to avoid over-feeding and jamming of the rotor,” Vincent Carptentieri said. “To prevent jamming, granulator manufacturers typically configure their machines to take smaller bites of the scrap and use heavy flywheels and highhorsepower drive motors to power through thick sections, but rotor damage and jamming are always a potential issue.”

Shredders, by contrast, don’t normally work efficiently at extremely low throughput rates — and sometimes get “starved” and won’t work at all. “With single-shaft shredders in particular — which use a horizontal hydraulic ram to drive scrap material into the cutting area at the intersection of the rotor and the stationary knives — the more scrap there is in the feed bin and the heavier it is, the easier it is for the ram to push it forward into the rotor,” said Madison Burt, vice president of sales with Weima America Inc. “So even if a granulator can handle high

www.canplastics.com

15-01-22 7:58 AM

granulators & shredders

Photo Credit: The Conair Group

ECISIONS volumes of scrap material, for a volume-only application it’s probably worthwhile to consider whether a shredder might be an equally effective solution.”

FACTOR 2: DENSITY Some scrap material can put a real strain on size-reduction equipment. Take purgings, which can be several inches thick and weigh up to forty pounds. “Putting a large purging in a granulator can potentially damage the machine,” said Mike Cyr, president of Rotogran International Inc. A way around this is to cut the purging into smaller pieces first, using a band saw or a similar tool. But that’s extra work. Tossing purgings in a shredder, however? No problem. “A whole binfull of purgings can be dumped in the open hopper of a shredder and the machine will reduce them into scrap very efficiently,” Cyr said.

Lightweight materials are an entirely different matter. “In an undensified form, a bale of crushed laundry detergent bottles can bounce around in a shredder so that cutting efficiency goes way down,” said Vincent Carpentieri. “Those same lightweight bottles would pose no problem, however, if they were conveyorfed to the tangential cutting chamber of a granulator.”

So if you need to process high-volumes of heavy, dense scrap — purgings or otherwise — and you want to avoid laborintensive prep work before granulation, you might want to consider using a shredder.

FACTOR 3: FEEDING METHOD Using a shredder doesn’t require much operator involvement.

“Plastic scrap is simply dumped into a hopper mounted above the shredder’s cutting chamber. Tippers, inclined conveyors, forklifts — whatever works best in your particular situation can be used to load the hopper. When material falls into the cutting chamber, the operator pushes a button and it’s done,” said Greg Parent. “A hydraulic ram travels laterally in a channel built into the bottom of the cutting chamber and pushes material into the rotor. When the ram is retracted, the weight of the scrap in the

Size-reduction equipment can cost tens of thousands of dollars — which means you can’t afford a mistake when choosing between granulators and shredders.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t always have to be one or the other.

By Mark Stephen, editor

top of the hopper tends to force it down into the feed channel, where it can be again pressed forward by the ram.”

Granulators need a little more attention. “It’s not recommended that a processor dump an entire Gaylord of material into a granulator, since flooding the cutting chamber with scrap can cause power levels to spike and may even cause the rotor to jam,” said Jim Hoffman. “Most granulators need to be meterfed by hand, by robot, by conveyor or by some other special feeding mechanism.”

All else being equal, then, processing scrap through a shredder may involve less labor than through a granulator.

FACTOR 4: FINAL MATERIAL CONDITION This is the big one. Probably the single greatest difference between a granulator and a shredder is seen in the form of the scrap after size-reduction. “The size of the pieces created by a shredder is partially determined by the size of the holes in the classifying screens, which can range from as large as two inches in diameter to less than half that size,” said Mike Cyr. “That means that the shredded product is likely to be considerably larger than standard regrind, and there will probably be a wide variation in particle size and shape, and a lot of dust and fines as well. The final product is similar to torn paper, and is definitely not granulate.”

All of which doesn’t matter if the material is going directly to a recycler for resale. If the material is going to be returned to the molding machine or extruder in a blend with virgin pellets, however, the shredded scrap may need to go through a secondary granulation process to reduce it to a much smaller optimal size and uniformity. This is where a granulator comes in mighty handy. “A well-designed granulator, kept in good mechanical condition with sharp blades, is the best tool available to produce consistently uniform granulate that is as close as possible to that of virgin pellet-size,” said Jim Hoffman.

TWO-STAGE SOLUTION With that last point in mind, here’s the thing: just because www.canplastics.com

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February 2015 Canadian Plastics

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granulators & shredders

What you might be looking for: a two-stage “stack system,” with a hopper feeding into a shredder, which then feeds directly into a granulator.

Photo Credit: Vecoplan LLC

granulators and shredders operate differently, complete with different advantages, doesn’t mean a processor has to choose one or the other. In the majority of cases in which the goal is to put process-ready regrind back into your system, the best bet is to combine the two technologies for the maximum benefit of each doing its own thing. “Use the shredder to perform the coarse sizereduction task, and then channel the scrap into a granulator for final sizing to yield a consistent, uniform feed material,” said Mike Cyr. “A shredder alone won’t give you production-ready regrind, unless you’re willing to pay a lot of money for a low-yield, poor quality result.”

Which we don’t recommend. And don’t forget to consult your equipment supplier as a good first step. “A sizereduction specialist will be able to help you analyze your situation and make the

best decision for your particular process needs,” said Madison Burt.

And if a poor result is what you’re after, we suggest you watch the Kardashians. CPL RESOURCE LIST The Conair Group (Cranberry Township, Pa.); www.conairgroup.com; 724-584-5500 Dier International Plastics (Unionville, Ont.); www.dierinternational.com; 416-219-0509 Industries Laferrière (Mascouche, Que.); www.industrieslaferriere.ca; 450-477-8880 Rapid Granulator Inc. (Cranberry Township, Pa.); www.rapidgranulator.com; 724-584-5220 Dier International Plastics Inc. (Unionville, Ont.); 416-219-0509 DCube (Montreal); www.dcube.ca; 514-272-0500 Rotogran International Inc. (Toronto); www.rotogran.com; 905-738-0101 Vecoplan LLC (Archdale, N.C.); www.vecoplanllc.com; 336-447-3373 Greg Parent; 416-678-0154 Weima America Inc. (Fort Mill, S.C.); www.weimaamerica.com; 888-440-7170

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purging compounds

HOT RUNNERS? NO WORRIES You already purge your screws and barrels, but what about your hot runners? They need it, too, and using resin or regrind probably won’t cut it.

Are you ready to start doing it right?

By Mark Stephen, editor

Photo Credit: DME

O

K, so we all know about flushing — and usually the less said, the better.

Plastics processing is an exception. A processor’s top priority is to have the highest possible productivity by utilizing the least amount of capital.

That’s fine in theory, but it can go wrong in so many different ways, one of which is dark to light color changes, with dark color contaminating the lighter colored part. Blame it on inadequate flushing — in other words, the machine wasn’t purged properly.

In many situations, the origin of the streaking is in the hot runner system, a complicated piece of tooling that on occasion allows for dead spots in which color hangs up. The goal for injection molders is to purge these dead spots fast and efficiently.

And while it’s safe to say that the concept of using a commercial purging compound (CPC) has been embraced by many plastics processors, using a CPC to clean injection molding hot runner systems still has a whiff of the taboo about it. “Purging hot runners is a different conversation than purging screws and barrels, which most processors are comfortable with,” said Jeff Lewis, sales manager with Slide Products Inc. “Hot runners are still considered a bit of a black art, and processors can be reluctant to get too involved with them.”

Exhibit A in this theory is the skittishness of some processors to put anything other than resin or regrind through their hot runners. The result is a lot of wasted time. “There are many molders who, when performing a color change, simply keep cycling either virgin material or the next material through the hot runner until the previous color contamination has gone away,” Lewis said. “This can take hours, and sometimes an entire work shift, to accomplish. And even when using inexpen22

Canadian Plastics February 2015

CPL Feb2015 p22-25 Purging.indd 22

sive regrind, the material cost might be minimal but the machine downtime is significant.”

Some processors don’t even go that far. “I still see torches being kept besides processing machines to unclog nozzle tips through direct heat,” Lewis said.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. More and more suppliers are formulating grades of CPCs designed for hot runner use, and the suppliers say these products are generally more effective in removing color or carbon contamination than using resin, regrind or home-made purging compounds.

Intrigued? Then here’s the right way to use a CPC in your hot runners.

GRADE SCHOOL A good beginning is to remember that not all CPCs are suitable for purging hot runners. “It’s important to always check with the CPC supplier before attempting to purge a hot runner system,” said Eric Procunier, product development manager with Sun Plastech Inc. “It’s likely that a CPC supplier will have a range of grades, so make sure that the grade you’re using is suitable for the task.” Fine, but how? “Select a CPC that works within your processing range, and that leaves low residue so that it lends itself to quick and efficient purging,” said Christie Giles, coowner of World Class Technologies LLC, which carries the MagnaPurge line. “Also, keep in mind that not all purging compounds are going to remove heat-sensitive resins, which more and more molders are processing these days.” Another point to be aware of is that some CPCs can be used with either a closedmold or open-mold method of purging (more on which below).

Next, verify if there are any hot runner gate clearance requirements for the CPC being used. “If the CPC has any type of filler, it will likely require larger gate clearances,” said Eric Procunier.

“A glass-filled CPC is not recommended for purging most hot runner systems due to gate clearance restrictions or potential

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purging compounds

damage to nozzle tips. Also, any effective CPC will remove carbonized resin or colorants, which could potentially block gates if their clearances are too small.”

It’s also important to be aware of any hot runner design issues that might prevent the CPC from performing at its best. “Hot runners not designed for color changes may contain dead spots or sharp angles that will be difficult to clean unless the CPC has an expanding agent that allows it to get into those areas and purge effectively,” said Andy Reeder, sales manager for Moulds Plus International, which carries the UltraPurge line.

Having settled on the right CPC, it’s often recommended to purge the screw and barrel before the hot runners, especially when purging a machine for the first time. “This ensures that any color and carbon build-up in the barrel doesn’t get pushed into the hot runners and make cleaning that much more difficult,” said Austin Watkins, marketing manager with Neutrex Inc., which carries the Purgex line.

If the processor is certain that the screw and barrel are relatively clean, Watkins continued, it may be acceptable to start cleaning the hot runners without purging the screw and barrel so as to save time and

material. “But when in doubt, always clean the screw and barrel first,” he said.

A BIG DECISION It would be nice to report that there’s one ideal procedure for purging any and all hot runners, but that would be a lie. CPC suppliers recommend different methods according to a range of needs. “Some CPCs can be used with either a closed-mold or openmold method of purging, and the method chosen depends on the resins processed, the mold design and the cleaning difficulty,” said Eric Procunier. “Open-mold purging is usually sufficient for molds with fewer cavities, while higher cavitation molds benefit more from closed-mold purging.”

In the decision between open-mold or closed-mold purging, the moldability of the CPC plays a role, as well. “Closed-mold purging basically involves molding a part from the CPC material itself, and processors have to be careful because not all CPCs are moldable; some CPCs can damage the surface of the tool, while with others the parts can get stuck in the cavity,” said Andy Reeder. “A benefit of producing an actual part from the CPC on a high-cavitation tool, however, is that you can tell from examining that part if you’re getting proper

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TIPS FOR A BETTER OPEN-MOLD/CLOSED-MOLD PURGE OPEN-MOLD: › Extrude the CPC through the hot runner system starting at a medium velocity, then increase screw speed to the maximum safe level to achieve maximum cleaning. › Once the CPC is flowing adequately through all the gates, inject air shots with the mold open.

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CLOSED-MOLD: › Inject the CPC using short shots whenever possible (approximately 50 per cent shot size) to decrease the possibility of parts sticking in cavities. If a short shot cannot be molded for any reason, then it’s important that the shrinkage rate of the CPC be similar to that of the processing resin to avoid parts getting stuck in the cavities. › Use a CPC grade that’s compatible with the processing resin being molded because greater compatibility ensures less residue is left behind by the CPC. › Spray the cavities with mold release between cycles. › Turn off pack and hold velocities and pressures, but do not adjust pack and hold time. › Eject CPC parts immediately while still warm.

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525 525 East East Stop Stop 1818 Road Road Greenwood, Greenwood, ININ 46142 46142 317.887.0729 317.887.0729 • fax: • fax: 317.881.1277 317.881.1277 www.AdvantageEngineering.com www.AdvantageEngineering.com Represented Represented inin Canada Canada By: By:

Source: Sun Plastech Inc.

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February 2015 Canadian Plastics

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purging compounds

RESOURCE LIST Moulds Plus International (Santa Ana, Calif.); www.ultrapurge.com; 714-708-2663 Neutrex Inc. (Houston, Tex.); www.purgexonline.com; 281-807-9449 Slide Products Inc. (Wheeling, Ill.); www.slideproducts.com; 800-323-6433 AceTronic Industrial Controls Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.acetronic.com; 905-564-7227 Sun Plastech Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.); www.asaclean.com; 800-787-4348 World Class Technologies LLC (Midway, Ky.); www.magnapurge.com; 859-226-0036

A HOT TIP FOR HOT TIPS

“Thermal gate or hot tip systems form a small, solidified cold slug or ‘bubble’ of resin at the gate tip that acts as an insulator — an accumulation of resin that makes it very difficult to purge, since the processor is often merely removing layers and not displacing the entire slug of resin,” said Nancy Mitchell, technical product manager with Shuman Dyna-Purge. “The problem can often be solved by installing heat-resistant nozzle tip insulators or inserts — but not all hot runners work well with tip insulators. In these situations, purging will be improved by increasing the temperature at the tips by 50-100°F (28-56°C). This will reduce the viscosity of the resident resin, making it easier for the high-viscosity purge to push out the lower viscosity resin. With these tip designs, it may also be necessary to take off the cavity plate after purging and remove the slug of resin from the tips with a clean, soft cloth. Inspect the cavity plate and remove any additional resin from the plate before reinstalling it.”

Shuman Dyna-Purge (Buffalo, N.Y.); www.dynapurge.com; 866-607-8743

Photo Credit: Husky Injection Molding Systems

flow moving through all the gates.”

Now that you have a sense of how to do it, how often should you do it? Again, there’s no one right answer. “A shop that performs frequent color changes on its machines should purge the screws, barrels and hot runners every time they go from dark to light colors,” Christie Giles said. “Even a molder that runs the same part constantly and never changes out of that color should still have a preventative maintenance program in place, established through a range of variables, to purge the hot runner system. Purging more often than necessary just wastes expensive material, so talk to your CPC supplier to find the right schedule for your needs.”

The goal, after all, is to flush the hot runners, not your money down the drain.

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3D printing

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD? The printed car is coming fast.

Will it T-bone traditional auto parts manufacturing?

By Mark Stephen, editor

S

ci-fi film buffs might remember a late-80s movie called The Fly, in which a scientist develops a machine that instantaneously transfers matter from one location to another through space. “It will change the world as we know it,” he tells an awe-struck reporter. 3D printing — also called additive manufacturing — feels a bit like that: from printed houses to printed violins to printed shoes, it might just change the way we make things, permanently.

Take the automotive industry. One day, millions of car parts could be printed as quickly as newspapers and as easily as push-

ing a button on the office copy machine, saving months of development time and millions of dollars. To call the technology revolutionary doesn’t seem like an overstatement. “Disruptive” might be another way to put it, since it threatens to boot the status quo of automobile manufacturing — which hasn’t really changed much in the century since Henry Ford’s first assembly line — right out the window.

Whether it’s revolutionary or disruptive — or both — plastics processors taking the long view might want to start getting ready for the arrival of the printed auto part.

LOCAL MOTORS JUST 3D-PRINTED A CAR LIVE AT AN AUTO SHOW To modify Johnny Cash, Local Motors has moved the 3D printing industry a little farther down the line.

In September 2014, the Phoenix, Ariz.-based manufacturer of low-volume, crowd-sourced automobile designs unveiled the Strati, a full-size 3D-printed electric car. Though it took years to conceive, the Strati — which is Italian for “layers” — was printed on the floor of the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago in about 44 hours with printing and routing equipment brought in just for the occasion. Nearly everything but the electronics, powertrain and suspension was layered

together using a fast-drying carbon fibre-infused plastic. Consisting of fewer than 50 parts — compared to between 5,000 to 6,000 parts in conventional vehicles — the car was assembled in two days, with the non-printable parts such as the battery, tires, wheels, motor, wiring and glass windshield added into the chassis. For good measure, the company printed a second car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January 2015.

Named for the fact that the vehicles can be printed locally and run on local fuel, Local Motors expects the Strati electric car to be available by 2016 for between US$18,000 and US$30,000. The two-passenger car is

Day-by-day: A photo diary of the three-day build of Local Motors’ Strati 3D-printed car at IMTS 2014 in Chicago in September 2014.

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CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO In truth, 3D printing technology is not a new concept; it’s decades old and is used mostly by engineers and designers to make prototypes, since it can quickly and accurately build a plastic representation of the product. Which is a big deal, as any part designer knows. “Traditional manufacturing processes can be time-consuming, as every part needs to be designed and then fabricated, and the methods for fabrication can require expensive molds and machinery,” said Doug Angus-Lee, rapid prototype account manager for 3D printing with Oakville, Ont.based Javelin Technologies. But what if the part isn’t perfect or doesn’t fit? Enter 3D printing. “During the design process, being able to touch and hold a 3D-printed part can mean being able to spot issues well before spending money on building a mold or setting up expensive machines,” Angus-Lee continued.

“It also replaces hand tooling, which can take days or weeks to make just one part. Instead, that part can be 3D-printed in a matter of hours. Once the part has been proven, it can be manufactured using traditional methods, saving huge amounts of expense in the design phase.”

The technology’s utility is already well-known in the auto industry. The Ford Motor Company, for example, has been on board since day one. In 1988, Ford purchased the third printer ever sold, and since then it has 3D-printed over half a million parts for prototype vehicles.

As Ford’s growing involvement illustrates, recent developments in 3D-printed auto parts are on an order of magnitude more ambitious than even a few years ago.

To take one example, the full-size 3D-printed Strati, from auto maker Local Motors, was premiered in September 2014 to international media attention. Although not the world’s first 3D-printed car — a distinction that belongs to a lightweight hybrid vehicle known as the “Urbee”, short form of Urban Electric — the Strati is, for the moment, in a class by itself. (See sidebar.) If you think it’s a potential game-changer, you’re right. “The most significant impact of the Strati is that it challenges the status quo of auto manufacturing,” said Alex Chausovsky, an analyst with industry forecasting firm IHS Automotive. “It showed that it’s no longer necessary to produce vehicles from tens of thousands of parts using sophisticated and costly assembly lines.”

Getting back to the more established automakers, the development of the engine cover for the all-new 2015 Mustang is one of Ford’s most recent uses of 3D printing, and also one of the company’s largest printed auto parts. Ford also employs 3D printing to quickly produce a wide variety of prototype parts, shaving months off the development time for individual components used in all of its vehicles. Parts being printed include everything from various vents and ductwork for the air conditioning system to the engine block. Complete truck grills can be printed all the way down to the knobs and switches for the interior controls.

It’s not hard to understand why the auto giant is bullish on

initially expected to have a top speed of 40 mph and a battery that lasts between 120 and 150 miles. The cars can be printed in what Local Motors calls a “micro-factory,” a 40,000-square-foot space that contains everything needed to design, build and sell a car. The company is partnering to open two such micro-factories this year, one in Knoxville, Tenn., and another near Washington, DC. The DC location is where Local Motors says the first fleet of 3D-printed cars will be sold.

Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Local Motors.

OW

3D printing

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3D printing

11 22 Day-by-day: A photo diary of the three-day build of Local Motors’ Strati 3D-printed car at IMTS 2014 in Chicago in September 2014 (continued).

3D printing, along with just about every other carmaker on the planet. “With traditional methods, an engineer would create a computer model of an intake manifold — the most complicated engine part — and wait about four months for one prototype at a cost of US$500,000,” said Paul Susalla, Ford section supervisor of rapid manufacturing. “With 3D printing, Ford can print the same part in four days, including multiple iterations and with no tooling limits, at a cost of US$3,000.”

Another benefit of 3D printing is that it can help find ways to create parts that flat-out couldn’t be manufactured through traditional means. “Being able to test the strength of parts with better,

stronger designs and of different materials can lead to much lighter vehicles that are more fuel-efficient,” said Doug AngusLee. Again, Ford is a case in point. The newly unveiled Ford F-150 pickup is over 700 pounds lighter than previous models due in part to these design innovations, the company said.

And there’s even an environmental upside. “Using fewer materials and localising production closer to the end-use markets are both eco-friendly practices,” Alex Chausovsky said.

Other environmental benefits of localised 3D printing include the elimination of some carbon emissions that would result from transporting products to production facilities, he added.

This localization is actually a two-fer, since there’s also an economic savings from sourcing materials right where the car will be driven.

DRIVING PAST THE HYPE But for all the advancements and all the hype, it’s probably best not to expect too much too soon from 3D-printed auto parts.

“While the benefits of 3D printing for the auto industry are clear, it will still take time for widespread adoption to take hold,” said Doug Angus-Lee. “The ultimate goal is to be able to directly 3D-print plastic parts for automotive applications, and the industry is not there yet. There are very few actual end-use parts that are being 3D-printed at present.”

Manufacturing speed — or rather the lack thereof — is the main inhibitor, with items regularly taking hours to print, even days. “Today, 3D printing is not fast enough for the high-volume direct production manufacturing we do,” said Harold Sears, Ford additive manufacturing technical specialist. As technology evolves with time, however, you can bet on that changing. As Alex Chausovsky noted, 3D printing speeds are already doubling about every 18 to 24 months. But there are limits.

“Processors can speed up printing times 28

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3D printing

Day-by-day: A photo diary of the three-day build of Local Motors’ Strati 3D-printed car at IMTS 2014 in Chicago in September 2014 (continued).

by making the layers thicker, but as soon as they do so they lose surface finish quality,” said Doug Angus-Lee. “Also, a material like ABS can only be extruded at a certain speed before you start to destroy the properties of the part.”

Speaking of properties, part strength can also be a concern. Injection molding provides a very even strength across the part, as the material is of a relatively consistent material structure. “In 3D printing, however, the part is built in layers, which means it has laminate weaknesses, as the layers don’t always bond as well in the Z-axis as they do in the X and Y plane,” Angus-Lee said.

In the end, whether 3D printing will ever revolutionize the

automotive industry in the way the assembly line did remains to be seen. “Many have referenced this technology as ushering in a third industrial revolution,” said Harold Sears. “While that is yet to be determined, what we do know is manufacturing is continuing to go digital, the speed of these technologies is increasing and the variety of materials is expanding — all of which leads us to believe 3D printing presents a great opportunity for overall manufacturing.”

As you might recall, that whole matter transportation thing didn’t work out too well in The Fly. Despite some challenges ahead, the future of 3D printing looks a lot more promising.

CPL

PURGING PERFECTION What does purging perfection look like? Industry leadership, decades of innovation, outstanding customer service, technical expertise and product that’s effective every time. When your work has to be perfect, trust the leader. Trust Dyna-Purge. Request a free sample of Dyna-Purge and see for yourself.

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Photo Credits: Photos courtesy of Polyform Inc.

doing it better

POLYFORM:

FOAM HOME

Family-owned out of Granby, Que., this supplier of EPS and EPP products for the construction, automotive and packaging industries is staying true to its roots by diversifying — which means getting into recycling, too.

By Mark Stephen, editor

M

ore and more, it feels like it’s a polystyrene foam world and we just live in it. From insulating concrete in home construction to beer koozies by the pool, expanded polystyrene (EPS) and expanded polypropylene (EPP) are everywhere.

Including landfills, unfortunately, where they pile up faster than Justin Bieber’s royalty cheques — more than almost any other post-consumer plastic, in fact. It’s a problem that Granby, Que.based plastics processor Polyform Inc. decided to tackle when it opened a recycling facility in 2011. The results have been good enough to win the company some serious accolades — and recycling isn’t even what it does best.

FINDING ITS NICHE Polyform was founded in 1963 by Jean-Louis Béliveau as an aluminum mold maker, and began injection molding polystyrene foam products five years later. Fast forward to today, and the family-owned company is a leading supplier of EPS and EPP products for the construction, automotive and packaging industries. The firm has three divisions — industrial, insulation and 32

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A single Nudura ICF block (above), and stacked in a housing build (top).

environmental — with over 150 production lines, and a total of 1.1 million square feet of building and factory space in eight different locations in Canada and the U.S., not including a new facility in Alberta that’s set to open in the spring of 2015.

If you’ve heard of Polyform, odds are it’s because of its flagship product offering, Nudura. “Nudura is an ICF — insulated concrete form — formwork construction system for concrete, consisting of foam blocks stacked one on top of the other, with rebars inserted throughout, to create a monolithic wall that’s hurricane-proof,” said François Beauchesne, Polyform’s vice president of sales and business development. “In North America, Polyform is a major manufacturer of permanent ICF, and we sell Nudura in over 36 countries globally for use in hotels, movie theatres, schools, shopping malls and more.”

In addition to Nudura, Polyform offers a wide range of insulation products used for the renovation and new construction industries. Chief among these is the Hydrofoam 360 brand of individually molded four-foot by four-foot insulating panels.

“Hydrofoam 360 has a multi-anchor design on the panel surface

www.canplastics.com

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Photo Credits: Photos courtesy of Polyform Inc.

doing it better

for installing hydronic heating pipes for hot water for residential and commercial projects,” Beauchesne said. “The panels are overlapped and nestable with four sides, which allows for greater efficiency during installation of each panel and better sealing of the insulated surface after installation.”

The company’s success with construction-related products sometimes overshadows its product offerings for the automotive and packaging sectors — which are nothing to sneeze at. “What people don’t always appreciate about Polyform is its involvement and expertise in the automotive industry, which dates back more than 20 years,” Beauchesne said. “We’ve been making bigger investments in this sector lately, though, since we believe that EPS and EPP are going to be crucial elements in lightweighting cars going forward.” At present, the company makes interior automotive parts for headrests, doors and — you’ve seen these when changing a flat — EPP spare wheel wells in vehicle trunks. “The next step for foam bumpers is to add foam inserts to make them even lighter and more efficient as energy absorbers, and this is another area we’re concentrating on,” Beauchesne said.

The company also offers a slew of packaging solutions for a range of business sectors. “We can create EPS assemblies with wooden slats for household appliances, EPP returnable platforms for the automotive sector, molded EPP anti-static packaging for electronic parts and corrugated plastics in either EPS or EPP,” Beauchesne said.

A BETTER FOAM RECYCLING MOUSETRAP Polyform’s expertise in EPS and EPP made it particularly wellsuited to appreciate the difficulties in recycling plastic foam, which has always been a big-time lagger when it comes to postuse recovery. “Foam is recycled in Europe because Europeans approach recycling as a philosophy,” Beauchesne said. “In North America, recycling is a business, and foam’s biggest advantage — the fact that it’s lightweight, made of between 90 to 95 per cent air — becomes its biggest drawback, since all of this air has comparatively little value.

For this reason, almost no recycler wants to touch EPS and EPP — they prefer denser, more profitable plastics.” The unfortunate result? More than 100 Canadian and U.S. cities have either banned foamed polystyrene or are currently working on ordinances to do so in efforts to “solve” the problem of EPS and EPP products piling up in landfills.

Polyform had a better idea. “Since it isn’t cost-effective to buy post-use EPS and EPP because of the low cash value, we had to find a way to make the recovery process at least pay for itself — which we were able to do by receiving these materials from our customers at no charge at the end of product life cycle,” Beauchesne said. “We don’t engage in this because it’s a money

maker for us or because we want to become plastics recyclers, we do it simply to divert polystyrene from landfill sites — it’s good for the environment and good for the reputation of the material.”

Still, for a non-profit, the recycling operation hasn’t done badly. It became successful enough, in fact, to necessitate Polyform opening a dedicated 40,000-square-foot recycling factory four years ago, and won the company a Sustainability Award from the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) last year.

“We receive product from a variety of sources — customers, local Ecocentres and more — and then clean, sort and reprocess it, recovering virtually 100 per cent of the material,” Beauchesne said. “But we recycle a lot more than just expanded foam, including plastic tarps for boats and rigid plastic like skids, bus signs and electoral signs. The recycled material all goes back into manufacturing Nudura construction products, and any surplus material is sold on the market. Projects of this type could be an alternative to banning polystyrene foam packaging.”

In November 2014, Polyform partnered with the City of Montreal and the CPIA when Montreal’s LaSalle Ecocentre polystyrene recovery and recycling pilot program — which saw the recovery of more than two and half tonnes of the material between October 2013 and September 2014 — was extended for five years. “The company is proud to participate in this program,” Beauchesne said. “Our recycling centre recycles up to five million kilograms of plastics every year, including the polystyrene containers and packaging found regularly in homes throughout Montreal. These containers and packaging represent another source of recycled content.”

If you think diversifying into new automotive, packaging and recycling initiatives is taking Polyform away from its roots, think again. “Early on, our founder Jean-Louis Béliveau implemented a vision that he called ‘practical innovation’ — innovation that serves the purpose of making the product better, not just innovation for its own sake,” Beauchesne said. “We’re still following this approach today, and it’s a big factor in our success.”

Sounds like a good reason to raise a glass in toast — beer koozie definitely included. CPL The Hydrofoam 360 material up-close (left), and after installation (below).

www.canplastics.com

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technology showcase

AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT

Material-use data is automatic with SQL Server link The Conair Group is harnessing the power of Microsoft SQL Server to help plastics processors track how much resin, regrind, color and additives they’re using.

Each Conair TrueBlend SB2 touch-panel control (Version 1.08.0 and newer) has the ability to communicate directly with a computer hard drive using SQL Server software and a standard Ethernet TCP network. When the control is first connected with the new database in the SQL Server, it will automatically create all of the data tables and data relationships required. Then, as the blender operates, it will periodically add data to the tables in the database. Once set up, the system operates automatically, continually adding to the database.

To make use of the data, users can implement Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services and write a “query” that generates the desired report. Companies with experienced SQL users may choose to write their own queries, or Conair provides standard query templates in system documentation which then can be installed into SQL Server Reporting Services.

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Sorel Forge is introducing SF-2050® and LQ40, prehardened mold steels of 38-42 HRC for improved wear resistance and ease of polishing as alternatives to hardening steels in many applications. By providing material innovations, Sorel Forge proves they can contribute to tooling improvements for the plastic industry.

sorelforge.com

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Mold Materials : SF-HOLDER 28-34 HRC SF-2000® 30-34 HRC SF-2000® HH 34-38 HRC SF-2050® 38-42 HRC SF-2000® LQ36 (ESR) 34-38 HRC SF-2000® LQ40 (ESR) 38-42 HRC

Processors who want to take advantage of the SQL Server reporting capabilities built into their Conair blenders receive a pass code to unlock the data-export port on each blender. An installation guide leads the user through the installation of SQL Server software if it is not already installed within the organization. If it does not already exist, however, Microsoft SQL Server Express software is a free download.

The Conair Group (Cranberry Township, Pa.); www.conairgroup.com; 724-584-5500 Dier International Plastics (Unionville, Ont.); www.dierinternational.com; 416-219-0509 Industries Laferrière (Mascouche, Que.); www.industrieslaferriere.ca; 450-477-8880

Hopper Bank handles multiple resins With an integrated central conveyance system, the new Hopper Bank from Dri-Air Industries is designed to provide an easy-to-use, convenient and flexible solution for molders running multiple resins.

Quick-change manifolds allow for switching from one hopper to the other or connecting multiple machines to one drying hopper. Closed-loop conveyance and line purge keeps material lines clear and resin dry at the throat where a compact JIT receiver is the only press-mounted component.

Systems are available for up to 10 machines, and easyto-use rotary selector switches or color touchscreens provide for fast set-ups.

Hopper Banks include separate temperature controllers for each hopper to allow for drying of different materials at different temperatures. A central dryer provides dry air to the hopper bank, and shut-off valves are included to isolate the hoppers that aren’t in use.

The Hopper Banks are available with hopper capacities from five to 600 pounds, and quantities from two to 12 hoppers.

Dri-Air Industries Inc. (East Windsor, Conn.); ww.dri-air.com; 860-627-5110 Wesco Services (Brampton, Ont.); 416-823-0537

www.canplastics.com

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technology showcase

INJECTION MOLDING

Expanded simulation capabilities for better results Moldex3D R13 simulation software for injection molding, from Moldex3D, has been further extended, making it even easier to identify potential sources of error in the process, tool or component, and to evaluate and implement a cost and quality optimal design.

The new upgraded software offers improved predictive capabilities regarding weld lines, which are now displayed as real 3D results, to help the user identify potential mechanical weaknesses, as well as choose the appropriate venting method.

During the warp analysis, the user is not only able to visualize in-plane shrinkage but also out-of-plane warpage due to the specific pressure volume temperature distribution and the different temperature effects across the thickness.

The software optimizes mold compensation or pack path design and coolant temperature controls to eliminate part deformation. Stress analysis functions are used to simulate the mold deformation behavior from pressure and mold thermal loading effects in the filling and cooling stages. Another important advantage is that potential process-induced mold effects can be determined.

Also, Moldex3D R13 provides the potentiality to predict the fibre length and fibre concentration distribution when considering screw-induced fibre breakage and shear-induced fibre migration behavior in the molding process. This allows the user to evaluate the quality and strength of their plastics even more accurately when using fibre-reinforced materials.

Moldex3D Northern America Inc. (Farmington Hills, Mich.); www.moldex3d.com; 248-946-4570 Compuplast (Mississauga, Ont.); www.compuplast.ca; 905-814-8923

EXTRUSION

High-output PS foam line Film and sheet extrusion machinery supplier Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. has introduced a new high-output PS foam sheet extrusion line with outputs up to 700 kg per hour.

The key feature of this line is a newly designed innovative cooling screw that guarantees both efficient cooling of

the melt and highly uniform melt temperature distribution in the secondary extruder. This not only allows extrusion to occur at elevated outputs, but also creates advantageous properties within the foam structure, such as an increased proportion of closed-cells, improving the overall strength of the foamed sheet.

The system uses tandem extruders to produce foamed PS sheet between 1.2 and 5.0 mm thick, and up to 1,270 mm wide. It’s completed with two turret winders that wind rolls up to two meters in diameter; however, Macro also provides the option of slitting the tube once to create one large sheet that can be wound on a single winder, simplifying the start-up and roll transfer processes, and reducing operator requirements on these processes.

Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.macroeng.com; 905-507-9000

Increased energy savings with high-speed unit battenfeld-cincinnati has extended its machine portfolio by adding an adiabatic extruder which offers energy savings of 10 per cent compared with previous high-speed models — which already used 25 per cent less energy than conventional extruders with the same output rates.

The new high-speed 34D-long single screw extruders — used for PP, PS, APET, CPET, PLA and PE processing, as well as in PC sheet lines — have a screw diameter of 75 mm, and can reach outputs of up to 1.8 t/h and operate with screw speeds of up to 1,500 rpm.

In addition to its low energy consumption, the processing machine stands out by an extremely low noise level in operation and a 10 per cent higher specific feed rate.

Also, the machine’s heat emission to its environment has been reduced considerably by the new process technology concept, significantly improving production conditions, especially during the summer months. battenfeld-cincinnati USA (McPherson, Kan.); www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com/usa; 620-241-6843

HOT RUNNERS

Blown fuse notification and more Hot runner controls from Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd. now offer a unique “blown fuse” notification feature, designed to indicate when a fuse is blown and allow for quick repair. www.canplastics.com

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Also, an “amps” feature allows the user to check on heaters to see if they are about to fail or have failed.

Hamilton’s hot runner controllers have cards that are universally compatible with other hot runner control systems. Control cards, mainframes and complete systems are in stock, and the company offers a prompt repair service for cables.

The controls come with 10-foot-long cables in a DMEstandard configuration. Custom configurations and cable lengths are available. Mobile carts are an option for ease of movement from machine to machine.

Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.hamiltonpsl.com; 905-568-1133

New tool-based molding technology for superior control Synventive Molding Solutions has unveiled activeGate, its new tool-based molding technology designed to help provide superior control over the molding process and enable the production of higher quality parts than were previously attainable with traditional hot runner systems.

Synventive’s activeGate products employ position, pressure and temperature sensors within the hot runner and mold cavities to provide independent melt flow control at

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each individual gate.

The new activeGate family of products includes numerous Synventive technologies, including Dynamic Feed injection pressure control, allowing for independent pressure control at each gate; eGate electronic control, which gives users complete control of pin movement and superb process repeatability; SynFlow hydraulic two-speed pin control, eliminating surface defects through high control levels of the pin’s opening velocity; and nuGate pneumatic control, enabling precise, independent control of pin movement on the more commonly used pneumatic valve gate systems.

Together, the activeGate family of technologies gives users the ability to mold the highest quality parts through precise control over the process. Benefits include higher quality surface finishes, higher production rates, decreased scrap, faster mold start-ups and the ability to mold parts with complex geometries.

Synventive Molding Solutions Canada Inc. (Toronto); www.synventive.com; 416-428-4693

DECONTAMINATION

Metal separators increase machine productivity

The processing of recycled material and regrind is often complicated by contamination with metal particles — these can cause unwanted downtime of the expensive injection molding machines and hot runner systems of the mold due to damage or clogging.

Using metal separators to remove metal particles is the most reliable method to prevent machine downtime and quality defects — and the Protector metal separator from S+S Separation and Sorting Technology GmbH is well-suited for the job.

Installed directly above the material inlet of an injection molding machine, extruder or blow moulding machine, the Protector detects all magnetic and non-magnetic metal contamination (steel, stainless steel and aluminium) even if they are embedded in the product. Metal contamination is then removed by the “Quick Valve” reject unit.

With its slim and sturdy design, the Protector is a good fit for tight spaces.

The high-temperature version the Protector ensures perfect processing of the 90°C to 110°C hot granulate. External interference is compensated by the Auto-learn function, and preset operating parameters ensure superior ease of operation.

S+S Separation and Sorting Technology GmbH/S+S Inspection Inc. (Bartlett, Ill.); www.sesotec.us; 224-208-1900 DCube (Montreal); www.dcube.ca; 514-272-0500

www.canplastics.com

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©somchaij/Getty Images/iStockphotos

technology showcase

technology showcase

MATERIALS

©somchaij/Getty Images/iStockphotos

New products showcase “customer-centric” innovation Nova Chemicals Corp. is offering three new resins based specifically on “customer-centric” research and development.

SURPASS CCs757-A HDPE resin, developed for still and sparkling bottled water applications, features a superior combination of physical performance, processing and organoleptic properties. The physical properties are designed to provide stiffness, enable lightweighting and support ultrafast cycle time requirements in injection and compression molding.

SCLAIR 2610CC HDPE resin was designed for dairy and other non-carbonated beverage closures. It includes good environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR) properties, warpage resistance and product performance reliability. In addition, the resin has proven to have superior processability that can shorten molding cycle times.

Finally, SURPASS RMs245-U resin is the company’s newest rotational molding product, with next generation performance for large rotomolded tank applications. Featuring superior melt strength, stiffness and industry-leading ESCR, the HDPE resin incorporates a suite of performance properties to produce tanks of up to 20,000 gallons, as well as smaller tanks and other rotomolded parts.

Nova Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Alta.); www.novachemicals.com; 403-750-3600

plastics data file Wittmann Innovations

Innovations — Wittmann’s quarterly newsletter — offers plastics processors detailed insight into ways to improve their businesses with news and application stories covering Robots and Automation, IML, Injection Molding Machinery, Material Conveying, Drying and Blending, Granulation and Temperature Control. It is available in print and on-line.

Wittmann Canada Inc., 35 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4C2 • Tel: 1-888-466-8266 www.wittmann-canada.com Get free information from the companies that interest you most.

Contact the company directly using the telephone number, e-mail address or website listed above.

classified ads

To place your classified ad here, contact: Greg Paliouras, Associate Publisher at 416-510-5124 or gpaliouras@canplastics.com

advertising index Advertiser Absolute Haitian AceTRONIC Arburg Athena Automation Ltd. Atlas Copco Auxiplast Inc. Canadian Plastics CanPlastics TV videos Chillers Inc. Conair Dyna-Purge Engel Erema North America Inc. IMS Ingenia Polymers Corp.

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Advertiser Novatec Paulson Training Programs Plastic Process Equipment, Inc. Process Heaters Inc. Progressive Components Purgex div. of Neutrex, Inc. Rechner Automation Rotogran International Shred Tech Sorel Forge UltraPurge Unique Tool & Gauge Inc. Vecoplan, LLC WEIMA America Inc. Wittmann Battenfeld

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Website www.novatec.com www.paulsontraining.com/ www.ppe.com www.processheaters.ca www.procomps.com www.purgexonline.com www.rechner.com www.rotogran.com www.shred-tech.com www.sorelforge.com www.ultrapurge.com www.unique-tool.com www.vecoplanllc.com www.weimaamerica.com www.wittmann-group.ca

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technical tips

Eliminating surface blemishes on a cosmetic part (part 1)

By John Bozzelli, Injection Molding Solutions

B

lack specks, streaks and color mixing errors are the most commonly recurring problems that mar the surface of highly cosmetic injection molded parts. Three likely culprits causing the surface issues are resin degradation, equipment contamination and/or process miscues. This is a big topic, so I’ll break it up into parts. In this column, I’ll discuss resin degradation.

Specks can occur due to contamination of the polymer or from resin degrading in a dead spot in the screw flights carried through by the current resin shot. Streaks are derived from screw contamination like degraded material in a dead spot or from the wrong choice of screw mixing. Color mixing can be poor due to a problem between the base substrate and the colorant or because of screw mixing.

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resin under a light to see if there are specks. Sample the bag, Gaylord or hopper at different depths with a sampling wand.

Take around two pounds for the inspection, loading it onto a light (white) 12-inch by 18-inch tray, with good background lighting. If the specks are imbedded in the pellets, then contact the resin supplier. If the specks are on the surface of the pellets, inspect the material handling supply lines. If there are excessive fines, filter them out with a fines separator.

Checking the coloring agent is another preventative step. Is the carrier compatible with the base resin? Be aware that there is no such product as a “universal carrier” for a colorant. The carrier must be compatible with the resin or coloring or the physical properties will be compromised. Is the correct letdown ratio being used? Using a higher-than-quoted letdown ratio in an attempt to get perfectly colored parts is costly. Use of more color is more expensive than resin, and it’s a sure way to deflate profit margins.

Check that the resin is being dried according to the resin producer’s specifications. Too high a temperature degrades the resin and/or causes a color change; too low a drying temperature does not dry the resin properly, and during processing the moisture depolymerizes the resin. A simple process step is not to leave a machine with resin running idle for any significant period of time.

Another way to check the material is to purge a shot. It’s important to check a shot that was developed with appropriate backpressure and melt temperature. Use about 1,000 psi of backpressure to completely fill the screw melt channel, which minimizes the chance of material being left behind in a void or dead space in the screw. The backpressure limit can be less than 1,000 psi if you’re using a resin sensitive to degradation. If the “purge patty” is produced under the correct process conditions, look for specks. If the purging is clean but you’re still getting specks when you mold, then look further downstream. If the barrel and screw are not the source, then the degradation must be occurring in the hot runner. If the purging showed an increased amount of specks or streaks, or indeed a “carbon shower” of specks or streaks appeared on the part surface, then that’s a good indication that the screw design is to blame.

In the next column, we’ll look at equipment contamination as a source of surface blemishes.

CPL John Bozzelli is the founder of Midland, Mich.-based Injection Molding Solutions, a provider of training and consulting services to injection molders, including LIMS and other specialties. He can be reached at john@scientificmolding.com or visit www.scientificmolding.com.

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