It had to happen sooner or later. We’re talking about fiber optics vs. thermocouples: which sensor is better at monitoring melt-temperature during the injection molding process? For years, the all-important melt-temperature monitoring process was strictly a thermocouple thing. But leave it to a Chicagoland vendor (Okay, Futaba of Japan … but they’ve been in Schaumburg…
Filed Under:Plastic Injection Molding Methods , Uncategorized
Twenty years is a long time in the plastic injection molding industry. Even thought the internet age had already dawned in the ’90s, a shop floor manager working in that era would most likely have been still twisting knobs and staring at analog dials. Operators still consulted printed instructions to set up equipment by hand. Pneumatically driven…
Filed Under:Plastic Injection Molding Equipment , Uncategorized
Plastic as art? You’d get a lot of guffaws from the general public, which is more familiar with artistic materials such as oil paint and metal sculpture, even glass. But plastic? Puh-leeze! But the answer is “yes,” plastic can be the raw material for art, and we can prove it, as more and more designers…
Filed Under:Plastic Injection Molding News , Uncategorized
Even if 3D printing eventually usurps plastic injection molding — and that’s a BIG if — prototypes will continue to play an indispensable role in the production of plastic parts. Why? Simply put, prototypes are crucial to several steps which precede the actual production of parts. These include communications, engineering studies, market studies (to evaluate…
Filed Under:Plastic Injection Molding Methods , Uncategorized
Cooling time: is there any plastic injection molding company that wouldn’t like to reduce it, and thus reduce cycle time? After all, a typical production cycle for a plastic part is 30 seconds to a minute, but cooling takes more than half of that cycle time. Time is money, so lowering cooling time directly impacts the bottom…
Filed Under:Plastic Injection Molding Methods , Uncategorized
Andra Rush, founder and CEO of Detroit Manufacturing Systems, was a guest of Michelle Obama’s in the First Lady’s box at last month’s State of the Union Address. President Obama, noting Rush in the gallery, asked Congress to do more to “speed up growth and create more jobs” by encouraging programs that emphasize training and…
Filed Under:Uncategorized
It’s no wonder all-electric plastic injection molding equipment is growing in popularity. Why? Unlike traditional hydraulic injection molding machines, which use energy even when not producing anything, all-electric injection molding machines consume energy only when required for a specified product, and motor output is matched to load requirements. Instead of being driven by liquid, all-electric…
Filed Under:All-Electric Molding , Plastic Injection Molding Methods , Uncategorized
Do a quick Google search of “plastic injection molding“. Then do another for “plastic injection moulding” and you will come up with two very different results. “Moulding” is the European/world spelling of molding and thus generates more YouTube video results and links to off-shore plastic injection molding facilities, primarily in China and Asia. What’s the…
Filed Under:Uncategorized
Producing plastic parts for the medical industry is an exacting task. But it’s a business which gives our company tremendous satisfaction because we know the parts we supply are helping to improve or save lives. While healthcare is constantly changing, one fact remains constant: plastic-injection molded medical parts will be an increasingly important aspect of…
Filed Under:medical dental plastic supplies , Uncategorized
Every plastic injection molding company has a choice in how to feed material to their process in order to produce a marketable product with the properties they need. Heretofore, most processors purchased materials that were prefabricated into specialized pellets to produce the specific color and properties that they needed. It was a very simple process…
Filed Under:Plastic Injection Molding Methods , Uncategorized