Plastics packaging manufacturers and converters are under growing pressure to increase output while using materials and energy far more efficiently. Recycled materials are presenting another challenge, as variations in material quality can make consistent processing more difficult.
Systems manufacturers are responding with processing systems that give greater control over production while accommodating changes in materials and recycling requirements. The result is a closer relationship between machinery, materials and the processes used to turn them into finished products.
These themes will run through the 30th Fakuma international trade fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, from 12-16 October, where around 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries will present technologies spanning the plastics processing industry across the 12 exhibition halls.
Higher output from every cycle
Mindful of the need to increase production output, several exhibitors will demonstrate high-cavity moulds capable of producing dozens of components simultaneously.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, for example, plans to showcase beverage closure production on an all-electric IntElect S 280 using a 48-cavity mould from Austrian mould maker HTW Molds. The application brings together the injection moulding machine, mould, temperature control, cooling and material supply in a single production system.
“Requirements for modern injection moulding processes are continuously increasing, while applications are becoming ever more complex,” says Anatol Sattel of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag. “Successful projects today, therefore, depend on close collaboration between specialised technology partners.”
The system includes a Technotrans Weco 85 chiller using propane R290 as a natural refrigerant, along with Enesty Orca Plus water-management technology and Eisbär closure cooling and dehumidification. TotalEnergies is supplying the material.
The company will also demonstrate a transparent PC card box on an IntElect S 75, using variothermal mould temperature control and automated handling, as well as medical applications including 96-cavity PP closures and an LSR medical valve.
KraussMaffei is taking the high-cavity approach further with its new all-electric PX 160. A 96-cavity mould from Männer, a specialist manufacturer of high-precision injection moulds and hot-runner systems and part of the Spectrix group, will produce protective caps for insulin pens, combining high-volume production with the precision required for medical applications.
The company is also using its PX 80 to demonstrate how moulding, handling, quality control and material recovery can be brought together in a compact production cell, with an LRXplus robot handling the parts and the sprue being ground and returned to the process.
KraussMaffei is putting particular emphasis on using part data to control the moulding process. Its AQCplus system measures part weight after every injection moulding cycle and feeds the information back into the machine control.
Process control gets smarter
Changes in material density, including those caused by recycled materials, additives or fillers, can, therefore, be detected during production and the holding-pressure profile adjusted automatically.
AQCplus is said to complement the company’s APCplus system, which uses a viscosity index to monitor material behaviour. The combination is intended to eliminate random sample measurements by providing continuous process monitoring and automated correction.
The approach is part of a broader move towards process control that can react to changing production conditions rather than simply reporting them.
The same shift towards real-time process control is evident in extrusion. Promix Solutions, a Swiss plastics process-technology specialist, will demonstrate its Visco-P inline viscometer with closed-loop control.
The system measures melt viscosity directly in the production stream and automatically adjusts additive dosing when the measured value indicates that PET’s intrinsic viscosity is below the specified setpoint.
The system can also be applied to PP recycling, where chain extenders can be dosed to compensate for changes in material properties.
Arburg is another systems supplier focused on high-volume production at Fakuma. Its new Allrounder Trend machines include the Allrounder 1800e Trend, which will produce liquid silicone rubber closures using a 64-cavity ACH Solution mould.
The application is designed to produce around 9,200 closures per hour, with a Multilift Select 16 robot handling the parts and automated cavity separation and quality assurance built into the production process.
Arburg is also updating the controls used to set up and operate its machines. Its Gestica lite system provides artificial intelligence-supported navigation and search functions, while FirstShotAssist automatically calculates a data set from STL (stereolithography) data, helping to simplify the preparation of new moulding applications.
Automation moves beyond the machine
Engel will be demonstrating a similar combination of output, compact production and process intelligence with its all-electric E-mac 200, which will produce PP components for medical auto-injectors using a 32-cavity mould. The components weigh 0.396g and the cycle time is less than 10 seconds.
More significant for high-volume plastics production is the machine’s process-control technology. Its IQ weight control adjusts injection volume in real time to compensate for changes in melt viscosity, while IQ process observer analyses more than 1,000 process parameters. The system can identify deviations and provide recommendations to help maintain the process.
The Austrian injection moulding machinery manufacturer will also demonstrate a validation assistant that assesses the robustness of a process window using production data. The company says this can reduce the effort involved in process validation, although the necessary regulatory qualification requirements remain.
The move towards complete production systems is also central to Husky’s presence at the show.
The company will present an integrated approach, combining injection moulding machines, hot runners and mould control, with applications covering thin wall and thick wall containers, pails and buckets, cutlery and other packaging products.
The emphasis is on coordinating the different parts of the production system rather than treating the injection moulding machine, hot runner and mould as separate technologies.
Integrated systems, smaller footprints
That approach becomes particularly important when processors are seeking to use recycled materials while maintaining the appearance and performance expected from packaging.
Oerlikon HRSflow will show off its Stargate HRS hot-runner technology for PP and r-PP applications, alongside its Xp valve-gate nozzles for thick-walled packaging.
One of the applications will produce transparent cosmetic jars using Eastman’s PET Cristal One Renew. The project with Cromes and Technicaps is aimed at high-end refillable packaging and combines a demanding visual specification with recycled-content material.
The PET material can contain recycled content by mass balance of up to 100 per cent, while the packaging has wall thicknesses of up to 12 mm.
Oerlikon HRSflow says customers have reported reduced part wall thicknesses, lower component weight and significant reductions in cycle time compared with conventional production.
“Less than a year after the official market launch of Stargate HRS, we’ve already received many positive reports from customers who have achieved reduced part wall thickness, lower component weight and a significant reduction in cycle time compared with conventional production,” says Matteo Badella, global sales director for pac-med, consumer goods and logistics at Oerlikon HRSflow.
The example highlights one of the difficulties facing packaging manufacturers as they increase recycled content. New materials are only commercially viable if they can be processed consistently and reliably.
Connecting productivity with circularity
Other developments are targeting the challenges of sorting and recycling. Sun Chemical’s new near-infrared detectable masterbatch is carbon-black-free and designed to improve the sorting and recyclability of plastics in automated recycling streams.
The technology is designed to improve the sorting and recyclability of plastics in automated recycling streams. It is intended to help recover material that might otherwise be difficult for automated systems to sort.
Meanwhile, CMG Granulators, an Italian manufacturer of plastics granulation and recycling equipment, will showcase the G26-60 and S30-50-ET2 at Fakuma.
The G26-60 is part of the company’s G26 series, which comprises three basic models available in more than 30 versions. Its features include a super-tangential cutting chamber, adjustable rotor knives and a high-strength side plate construction, with the machine offering an indicative throughput of 160 to 260 kg/h depending on the material and application.
CMG is also highlighting the quality of the regrind produced, with the company’s Fakuma messaging noting that “not all regrind is the same”. Consistent particle size and reduced dust are identified as important factors in assessing the subsequent use of recovered material, alongside cleaning, maintenance and operational continuity.
The S30-50-ET2 will address film and edge trim generated during extrusion, with its ET2 configuration designed to recover edge trim at the source. CMG says the solution can be configured according to the material, scrap characteristics and feeding and discharge requirements.
Hot stamping
Surface decoration is also being adapted for greater use of recycled and alternative materials. Leonhard Kurz will demonstrate hot stamping using thin-film technology designed for recyclable products and suitable for finishing recycled materials, alongside its Recosys rPET, produced by processing PET carrier residues into post-consumer recycled material for new applications.
Its EcoLayer FX technology is designed for surface decoration on substrates made from natural materials and plastics, including talc, cellulose or limestone in combination with PP, while preserving recyclability.
The different technologies demonstrate how recycling is becoming increasingly connected to the wider processing operation. Consistent regrind affects processing stability, while changes in recycled material can increase the need for real-time process monitoring. At the packaging end, material selection, decoration and product design also have to take account of sorting and recycling requirements.
Across the technologies being presented the emphasis is less on any single development than on how different parts of the production process can work together.
High-cavity moulds are increasing output, while automation and machine intelligence are being used to maintain quality. Integrated systems are bringing machines, moulds and auxiliaries closer together, while developments in materials and recycling are creating new demands for process control.
For packaging manufacturers, that combination is particularly significant. The sector needs to produce very large quantities of consistent parts while responding to demands for lower material use, recycled content, greater resource efficiency and more sophisticated product design.
The 30th Fakuma is likely to provide a broad view of how processors and technology suppliers are responding to those demands, from the mould cavity to the recycling line.
