Industry 4.0 on the Molding Shop Floor

To explain to a consumer the Internet of Things—Industry 4.0’s preferred U.S. name—experts talk about refrigerators that order milk when the current bottle is out. So what’s the practical-impact equivalent in injection molding?

 

This April in Charlotte at the Molding 2017 Conference and Exhibit, thought leaders from across the injection molding supply chain will offer up practical examples of the tangible impact Industry 4.0 is already having on the industry, as well as predictions about where it’s headed.

 

Speakers from suppliers of injection molding machines, auxiliaries, sensors, molds, software and even training, as well as injection molders themselves, will let attendees see the latest smart equipment and what’s going on within today’s smart factories.

 

Here are the Industry 4.0 highlights.

 

4.0 Explained—The 30,000-ft view
Presenters from equipment suppliers Arburg, Engel, Wittmann Battenfeld and Piovan have presentations that will put the buzzword in context with the injection molding industry as well as dive into specific application examples:

 

Industry 4.0 Used In the Real World

Juergen Giesow, Arburg

 

Smart Factories: The Future of Plastics Production with 4.0 Connectivity & Condition Monitoring

Jim Mitchell, Wittmann Battenfeld

 

Making Sense of Industry 4.0

Joachim Kragl, Engel

 

Industry 4.0: Process Control and Production Output Optimization

Giorgio Santella, Piovan

 

Data Empowering Operations
At the heart of Industry 4.0 are data. The smart factory not only collects all the data it can from its process and equipment, it acts on it (or, preferably, the machinery acts on it automatically). Here too multiple speakers will address how data are the fuel source that ignites (and keeps running) the Industry 4.0 engine.

 

Liberating Data from Existing Equipment

Willem Sundblad, Oden Technologies

 

Machine Wearables for Predictive and Prescriptive Maintenance

Steve Braig, Prophecy Sensorlytics

 

Intelligence Applied to Molds: Predictive Maintenance to Achieve Zero Downtime

Juan Francisco Caro Martin, IML Solutions

 

Measure Moisture in Your Pellets in Real Time

Gene Flockerzi, Moretto

 

Update on New Kind of Melt Sensor for Process Control

Mike Durina, Md Plastics

 

Reimagining Injection Molding
Finally, there will also be multiple speakers looking at how Industry 4.0 and the data behind it can reshape molding, from the design and launch of a part to the management and tracking of melt during molding to how to go about training today’s process technicians for tomorrow’s technology, as these proposed advances become reality.

 

Leveraging Digital Manufacturing to Accelerate Time to Market and Reduce Risk

Jeff Schipper, Proto Labs

 

Pellet to Gate Control: The Value of a Holistic View of Melt Management

Bruce Catoen, Milacron

 

Training for Today’s Technology

Robert Gattshall, KraussMaffei

 

Read more about the complete Molding 2017 agenda and register today to save.