Technology Days Returns

In an opening statement at the event’s press conference, Arburg Managing Partner Michael Hehl acknowledged the unique nature of Technology days, which had run annually without interruption since the company first invited customers to the Black Forest in 1999. “The special spirit of these days simply must be experienced live, on location and up close,” Hehl said. “For this reason, a digital version of the Technology Days was never an option for us over these last two years.”

Arburg invited customers from all over the world to once again see its newest technologies in action across more than 50 exhibits, as well as to witness how the headquarters has changed since it last opened its doors to outsiders. Some of those changes include its newest assembly hall, No. 23; its brand-new training center (which technically opened in March 2020); and other improvements, like the installation of a 5G network from Germany’s Telekom in its customer center.

Since June, Arburg has been a pilot customer for German communications company Telekom’s 5G campus network. During Tech Days, Arburg showed how critical machine data can flow quickly to various MES and IIoT networks with 5G speed.

Hehl noted that the completion of the last assembly hall marks the end of 14 straight years of continuous construction in Lossburg. While the hardhats will be going away there for the time being, Arburg did discuss other investments it is making outside Lossburg and internationally, including the reconstruction and renovation of its longstanding technology centers in Radevormwald and Rednitzhembach beginning in August, with expansions already recently completed in Paris and Queretaro, Mexico. Arburg’s finance director, Jürgen Boll noted that in 2021, the company invested Euro 26.1 million in infrastructure.

In the main display area of Technology Days, Arburg ran 34 separate All Rounder injection molding machines. Sustainability in the form of identifying products for reclaim post consumer and running recycled materials were highlighted, including the HolyGrail, Curve Code and R-Cycle labelling technologies. The company also processed post industrial and post consumer scrap in separate cells, as well as bioplastics.

On the additive manufacturing front, the company had six of its freeformer units running various materials, including PA10, PP and TPU, as well as a machine from the acquired company innovatiQ printing LSR.  

At the company’s new training center, which opened in March 2020 but had been unable to host students due to the pandemic, Arburg had four applications running including a ceramic part and a wood-fiber box, as well as an optical lens. The company noted that training was completely integrated into Tech Days for the first time, with 150 attendees participating in sessions. The new center has 11 separate training rooms on the floor above the training machine hall. All courses are paperless with students using tablets and each classroom featuring an 88-inch smart screen. As the instructor made changes on the All Rounder’s controller, the large screen in a classroom on the second floor was simultaneously altered, mirroring the machine for students’ benefit.