Injection Moulding Asia Country Focus
Taiwan’s machinery makers gear up for smart manufacturing Last year, Taiwan generated more than US$1.9 billion in revenue from the plastics and rubber sector, positioning the country as the world’s
sixth largest exporter of machinery. According to Trading Economics, Taiwan exports soared
to a record high US$30 billion with a 17% sales increase from the plastics and rubber industries alone in 2016. It is against this backdrop that Taipeiplas 2018, the biennial trade show for
plastics and rubber machinery that was founded
FCS will showcase its latest HE-300 all-electric machine at the show, seen here being developed at its plant in Tainan
in 1986, will be held from 15-19 August 2018 in
At a press conference for journalists recently, FCS CEO Alan Wang said that about five sets of the iMF4.0 had been installed by customers in Taiwan. The new system will be shown on the new FA-160 standard toggle hydraulic machine and HE-300 all-electric machine. The FA standard servo energy-saving model features Keba’s electronic control systems and is combined with the iMF 4.0. Other upgrades include an increased tiebar space for wider moulds, injection velocity as well as higher system and injection pressure for moulding products like household parts. The mould clamping has also been increased by 30%, for a more uniform clamping distribution, lower machine platen deformation and smoother mould closing/opening operation. It also boasts improvements on the injection unit: with the machine allowing higher accuracy without the need for additional sensors and equipment. Meanwhile, FCS developed its first all-electric machine ten years ago but did not commercialise it due to high costs. It will now introduce a 300-tonne HE-300 model at the show, with Keba controls and Italian Phase servomotor; as well as the Japan-made injection screw from NSK. It will be exhibited with in-mould labelling processing thinwall (0.6 mm) 100 ml ice cream containers in 4+4 cavities. The PP containers will be produced at 4,000 pieces/hour in a 6-7 second-cycle, says FCS. The stack mould doubles production output and uses a mould cavity flow balance module for monitoring to adjust the parameters. The mould sensor from Futaba of Japan is embedded near the product being produced; with the information (temperature and pressure) monitored to see if the process is at an optimum stage. FCS will also have an in-house display of a dual-platen machine, with two opposite injection units facing each other, and an injection blow moulding machine, which is a new machine product from the company.
Taipei.
FCS enters the “intelligent manufacturing” realm According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the exponential sales growth is attributed to Taiwan Smart Machinery 4.0, which combines web-based synergies of data sharing, IoT, with robotics and artificial intelligence. While European countries have their Industry 4.0, Taiwan has its Smart Machinery 4.0, which combines human intelligence with automation and process and helps companies to increase speed to market, with precision and accuracy. Thus, injection moulding machine maker Fu Chun Shin Machinery Manufacture Co. (FCS) will take this route for its exhibits at Taipeiplas, by launching its iMF4.0 (intelligent ManuFactory 4.0). The iMF production management system is based on the cycle time management and introduces the concept of mould, machine and material management, as well as OPC communication protocol to achieve displays of overall equipment efficiency information and defects, too.
FCS will have an in-house showing of a new model of its two-platen LM series
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