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Press release
MSV 2015: Arburg provides practical
demonstration of high-volume, singleunit batch production

Combined: injection moulding and additive
manufacturing turn high-volume parts into one-off
items

Transparent: Industry 4.0 technologies network
the production of individualised office scissors

Industrial additive manufacturing process: Arburg
Plastic Freeforming (AKF)
Lossburg. Combining injection moulding, additive
manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies makes it
economically viable to produce and individualise
large-volume products in single unit batches in an
automated, digitally networked cyberphysical
production system. Arburg will use a production line
for individualised office scissors to demonstrate just
how such a flexible integrated production set-up can
work on Stand 20 in Hall G1 at the MSV trade fair in
Brno, Czech Republic, from 14 to 18 September 2015.
Dr. Daniel Orel, Managing Director of Arburg's Czech
subsidiary in Brno, believes that the company has chosen
the perfect exhibit for the MSV 2015: "Industry 4.0 is
currently a hot topic in the Czech Republic. The MSV
File:
ARBURG 81901210
Date: 25/8/2015
Characters: 3,852
Words: 597
ARBURG GmbH + Co KG
Press office
Susanne Palm
Dr Bettina Keck
PO Box 1109
72286 Lossburg
Tel.: +49 (0) 7446 33-3463
Tel.: +49 (0) 7446 33-3259
Fax: +49 (0) 7446 33-3413
[email protected]
This and other press
releases are available for
download from our website
at http://www.arburg.com/
press
trade fair has also decided to focus on this topic this year.
Our networked process chain is certain to hit the mark
here. As a pioneer in Industry 4.0, we can already show
visitors what many other companies are still only talking
about. This is another opportunity for us to prove our
superior expertise."
Combining injection moulding and additive
manufacturing
Individualised high-volume production: the process chain
shown by Arburg at the MSV 2015 squares the circle by
combining injection moulding and additive manufacturing.
The production cycle starts at the injection moulding
station. Here, visitors to the stand can choose between
scissor versions for left and right-handed users, with
pointed or rounded ends. The required version is recorded
on a smart card, via which production release for the
injection moulding process takes place. The overmoulding
of the scissor handles is performed on an electric
Allrounder 370 E.
Human/robot cooperation
The injection moulding machine is equipped with a linear
Multilift V robotic system, which is permanently monitored
via a light curtain. In order to enable flexible and fast
product changes, human and robotic system work
interactively hand-in-hand: The operator places the
desired scissor blank directly into the gripper. The robotic
system then transfers the insert into the mould. The cycle
time for overmoulding the handles in PP is around 60
seconds. A DM code is then applied by laser. This means
that every product becomes an information carrier that
identifies itself to the machine during the process and
supplies information for the next production step. The
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finished scissors can be measured at a testing station.
This process and quality data are stored centrally in the
ALS Arburg host computer system and can be retrieved
on a part-specific basis via the individual DM code.
Individualisation of moulded parts using the
Freeformer
At the Freeformer station, individually configurable
lettering made from PP can be applied onto the handle of
the scissors in an additive process. This takes around two
minutes at a layer height of 0.21 millimetre. The end
product of this highly flexible manufacturing and
processing operation are scissors in single-unit batches
featuring individualised lettering.
With the Freeformer, fully functional plastic parts can be
produced directly from 3D CAD data using standard
granulates, without the need for a mould. The two
standard discharge units allow two components to be
processed. This also means that it is possible to produce
parts with different colours, hard-soft combinations or
water-soluble supports that can be removed at a later
stage.
Transparent, traceable production
The Arburg host computer system (ALS), which integrates
the various autonomous stations and records all the
relevant production data and test results before
transmitting these to a central web server, plays a central
role in the entire manufacturing process. Visitors can use
mobile devices to retrieve the product, process and quality
data for their personal scissors from the producing-specific
website on the cloud by means of the DM code.
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Images
ARBURG_35207-03 Freeformer.jpg
Arburg will demonstrate how injection moulding and
additive manufacture can be combined at the MSV 2015
trade fair.
ARBURG_37987-01 Office Scissors.jpg
Individualising high-volume parts: the Freeformer can
apply individually configurable lettering made of PP to
office scissors in an additive manufacturing process.
Photos: ARBURG
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About Arburg
German machine manufacturer Arburg is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of
injection moulding machines with clamping forces between 125 and 5,000 kN. This is
complemented by robotic systems, customer- and sector-specific turnkey solutions and
further peripherals. An innovative additive manufacturing system was added to the
plastic processing range in 2013.
The company places the topic of production efficiency at the centre of all its activities,
taking into account the entire value-added chain. The objective is to enable the Arburg
customers to manufacture their plastic products, whether one-off parts or high-volume
production, in optimal quality and at minimum unit costs – e.g. for the automotive and
packaging industries, communication and entertainment electronics, medical
technology, or the white goods sector.
An international sales and service network guarantees first-class, local customer
support. Arburg is represented by its own organisations at 32 locations in 24 countries
and by trading partners in more than 50 countries. The machines are produced
exclusively at the parent factory in Lossburg, Germany. From a total of around 2,400
employees, around 2,000 work in Germany. About 400 further employees work in
Arburg’s organisations around the world. In 2012, Arburg became one of the first
companies to gain triple certification: to ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment)
and ISO 50001 (Energy).
Further information about Arburg can be found at www.arburg.com.
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