The Automated Molding Shop Is Here; Are You Ready?

Molding 2019 has an entire track dedicated to automation, and for good reason. From 2013 to 2017, the annual sales volume of industrial robotics increased 114 percent, with the U.S. achieving a new record for installations—33,192—in 2017, marking the seventh straight year a new high watermark was set.

Those figures courtesy of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), which points out in its Industrial Robot Report 2018, that the U.S. is not alone in automating its manufacturing. Nearly three quarters of robot sales in 2017—73%—came in five countries: China, Japan, South Korea, U.S., and Germany, all of which compete with American molders for business. The U.S. learned a lesson coming out of the Great Recession according to the IFR:

Since 2010, the driver of the growth in all manufacturing industries in the U.S. has been the ongoing trend to automate production in order to strengthen the U.S. industries in both domestic and global markets.

On the morning of Wednesday, March 20, Molding 2019’s general morning session is dedicated to a topic of interest to all injection molders—Best Practices: Applying Robots & Automation.  That general session features six speakers from automation experts at industry leading suppliers. Topics covered include tips and best practices, collaborative robots, automating mold changes and more.

High-End Automation for High-Volume Consumables
Markus Klaus, Hahn Plastic Automation

Best Practices for Successful Robotics & Automation Projects
Dino Caparco, Yushin America, Inc.

Useful Tips on Applying Robots & Automation to Your Molding Process
Jason Long, Wittmann Battenfeld

Expanding Robots & Automation in the Injection Molding Industry
Steve Williams, Sepro America

How to Evaluate Collaborative Robots for Plastics Production
Andrew Jones, Universal Robots

Increase Press Productivity With Mold Change Speed, Reliability and Safety
Steve Nystrom, Staubli

Automation will feature in numerous other presentations of the three days of molding, including a talk on “Building a Turnkey LSR Molding Cell” from Greg Roembke of Roembke Mfg. & Design, as well as multiple presentation on inmold decorating in the Medium & Large Parts session.

If you want to automate more or automate better, make sure to come to Molding 2019.