Customizable Robot and Molding Machine Maintenance Packages

Injection molding machine and automation supplier Engel is offering care maintenance packages to its customers as a service. The company says the six individually configurable maintenance packages can help customers whose internal maintenance capacities are insufficient to meet the need for routine preventative and scheduled maintenance operations.

The packages range from a baseline inspection, including a safety check, to predictive and proactive maintenance. The six variations differ in terms of the maintenance scope, according to Engel, but with all of them, the machine and robot checks are tailored to the individual configuration of the respective plant. Proactive measures mean irregularities can be detected at an early stage and tackled on a scheduled date, before equipment failure.

Engel says its global service technicians follow uniform maintenance schedules, so that depending on the package, regular checks include areas like leakage and wear monitoring; critical machine and robot functions; testing the clamping force distribution on the mold-mounting platens; and a sensor check to detect drift and keep the operating point stable.

The care proactive maintenance package utilizes Engel’s in-house e-connect.monitor for predictive and proactive maintenance of the screw. With the help of ultrasound, the screw’s condition is determined while it’s still in the press through the closed barrel filled with molten plastic. With this technology, screw replacements can be planned, reducing machine downtime to a minimum.

Every care maintenance package service call concludes with a detailed report on the condition of the injection molding machine or robot. The report points out the potential risks and identifies countermeasures before symptoms come through in production. This prevents rejects, premature wear and damage to the production unit, as well as the associated unplanned downtime and increased maintenance costs.

A company spokesperson said the care service can be performed on any Engel injection molding machine regardless of age. In terms of robots, it is available Engel’s linear robots. Service typically starts with an inspection of our current process settings, which can be done remotely. After that, the customer receives a report detailing potential improvements and any factors the service team notices that might be causing a problem during production. With this information in hand, the customer can then choose to continue with Engel’s remote optimization service or schedule on-site support. The remote services are available for machines connected to Engel’s e-connect.24 remote service and online support offering, which is available beginning with the CC200 controller generation.