03/07/2009 - ARBURG’s British subsidiary placed energy efficiency at the top of the agenda during an open-house event held on 16 June 2009. 32 representatives from different industry sectors attended where, in addition to a number of specialist presentations, energy-efficient machine concepts and specific energy measurement processes were presented. The focal point of the event was the presentation of the new HIDRIVE series with its energy-optimised high-performance machines.
 
Colin Tirel, Managing Director at ARBURG Ltd., officially introduced the new series in his opening presentation “HIDRIVE – an energy-efficient and high-performance hybrid injection moulding machine”, in which he outlined the concept and the advantages of the new HIDRIVE series. The hybrid ALLROUNDER H series with clamping forces ranging from 600 to 3,200 kN has been on the market since early 2009. These are high performance injection moulding machines with energy-efficient drive technology for thermoplastic processing with reduced cycle times. Accordingly, the new ALLROUNDER H machines bear the ARBURG “e²” energy-efficiency label. The concept behind the new H series is based on the powerful combination of tried and tested servo-electric and hydraulic components. The servo-electric clamping units originate from the electric ALLROUNDER A series and are complemented by hydraulic injection units from the ALLROUNDER S advance. This combination is further enhanced by performance-adapted hydraulic accumulator technology. Thanks to their generously sized injection units, ALLROUNDER H machines also boast a correspondingly high injection performance in relation to the clamping force. Consistent standardisation means that the HIDRIVE series combines two distinct advantages: These ALLROUNDERs offer customers extensive, technically high-quality standard equipment coupled with an exceptionally attractive price/performance ratio.

Stephan Doehler, ARBURG’s European Sales Director, explained the benefits of the new building opened at the Lossburg headquarters in March 2009 which will see the further expansion of customer service activities. All departments that come in contact with the customer are located closely together, so that they can be reached quickly, bringing together ARBURG’s wealth of expertise at a central location. At the heart of the new building is the 2,100 square-metre Customer Centre with machine and applications technology areas. Here, customers will find a representative cross-section of the whole of ARBURG’s injection moulding technology, with over 30 ALLROUNDERs, robotic systems and other peripherals, as well as complex production cells. The complete ARBURG product range is on show as a full-scale “exhibit and test object”. Extensive demonstrations and tests under “live conditions” can be conducted here to perfection. This simplifies the machine selection process and also makes it easier to carry out trials and acceptance tests.
 
However, specialist fields in processing are not neglected. The building provides separate areas for powder injection moulding and clean room technology, enabling the diversity of techniques covered by ARBURG machines to be displayed and tested in an ideal way. A further room contains production technology, including the ARBURG host computer system (ALS) and “Arburg Quality Control” (AQC).

Gary Blackett, Technical support engineer at ARBURG Ltd., compared hydraulic, electric and hybrid drive types. This was based on a study that used applications and tried-and-tested components to illustrate the various criteria that would help customers to make the right choice.
 
Guest presentations were in most cases focusing on the subject of efficiency; Ewan Addison from Carbon Trust spoke about realistic energy savings in today’s injection moulding industry. Jochim Jost from Koch Technik GmbH looked at the question of how the choice of the right peripherals can help avoid unnecessary subsequent costs. The final speaker, John Goff from consultants G&A, discussed how training could assist greatly in the overall efficiency of a company and presented a special learning software designed with the technical sector in mind, that ensured an optimised series of processing steps.

In order to provide a specific insight into an energy-optimised injection moulding process and to illustrate the presentation content, different ALLROUNDERs were presented to the participants. The main focus was on a representative of the new HIDRIVE series: an ALLROUNDER 570 H with a clamping force of 2,000 kN and a size 800 injection unit. The machine was fitted with a special measuring unit to show current energy consumption levels. Lids for the packaging sector were produced on this exhibit using a six-cavity mould.
 
A number of other injection moulding machines were exhibited: a cost-efficient automation solution consisting of a hydraulic ALLROUNDER 570 C GOLDEN EDITION with a clamping force of 2,000 kN and a size 800 injection unit together with a MULTILIFT V SELECT robotic system. This automated application used a four-cavity mould to demonstrate the production of CD cases and subsequent removal. A hydraulic ALLROUNDER 270 S with a clamping force of 350 kN and a size 100 injection unit produced a precision moulded part. Representing the ALLDRIVE series, an electric ALLROUNDER 420 A with a clamping force of 1,000 kN and a size 400 injection unit was presented. All machines were equipped with peripherals from Koch.

The visitors responded very positively to the open-house event. There was a unanimous expression of interest in more of such informative events on special topics encountered by injection moulding businesses on a daily basis.