Plastics Industry Automation

Automation in the Plastics Industry involves robots, cobots, molding cells, part pickers, and end-of-arm-tooling.

Five Ways to Increase Productivity for Injection Molders
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Five Ways to Increase Productivity for Injection Molders

Faster setups, automation tools and proper training and support can go a long way.

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ESSENTIAL READING

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best practices

What to Look for in High-Speed Automation for Pipette Production

Automation is a must have for molders of pipettes. Make sure your supplier provides assurances of throughput and output, manpower utilization, floorspace consumption and payback period.    

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How to Automate High-Precision ‘Micro’ Insert Molding

What does it take to automate a horizontal injection molding cell to handle micro-sized inserts and molded parts? General-purpose top-entry robots and tooling may not be up to the job.

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How to Plan and Implement Automation in an Injection Molding Plant

There is no “one size fits all” solution in automation. When considering what it would look like in your plant, hone in on the staff, products, space, and goals that are specific to you and the automation system that you will be installing.  

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Automation

AUTOMATION—PART 2 When to Consider Six-Axis Articulated-Arm Robots

Extraordinary versatility suits articulated-arm robots to a wide variety of operations, from loading inserts and unloading parts to decorating, assembly and testing. They also pair well with Cartesian robots. Many mounting options and improved speed and ease of programming add to their flexibility.

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Automation

How to Make Your Pneumatics ‘Smart’

Emerson’s Avantics Smart Pneumatics Analyzer digitizes the analog pneumatic environment and monitors and analyzes key operating data.

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Implementing Automation Systems: How to Do It Right

If you’re thinking of putting a complex automation system for high-volume consumables into your plant, consider these tips on making sure both you and your supplier are ready to give it the best chance of success.

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NPE2024: The Plastics Show
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Latest Automation News And Updates

industry 4.0

Smart Granulator Control Integrates Size-Reduction Systems, Enables Predictive and Knife Maintenance

NPE 2024: Conair’s New SG Control is available for its Viper Granulators

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Automation

Conair: Going All In on AI

A dozen new products debut at NPE, but the company says new AI-based conveying technology is the true game changer.  

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NPE

AI Manages Resin Drying Airflows and Throughputs for Energy Savings

NPE2024: Optional feature automates the process of maintaining process-ready resins at perfect temperatures and varied throughputs, while preventing overdrying and realizing significant energy savings.  

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NPE

Coiling System Features Automated Spool Removal

NPE2024: Designed for wire and cable and tubing, system is equipped with a Yaskawa cobot for automated spool removal.  

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NPE

Advanced Inspection of Bottles and Labels

NPE2024: Intravis shows new system for full label inspection on round, randomly oriented bottles; and redesigned bottle inspection system with more modular design.

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NPE

Pipe Extruder, Die Heads Plus a Cobot Demo

NPE2024: Milacron is debuting updated extruder, control and die head packages. Also demonstrating how cobots can be used to automate pipe production.

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New 2024 Twin Screw Report
Konica Minolta
We Love Powders NPE
Make Every Pellet Count
New Tinius Olsen VectorExtensometer testing

Featured Posts

Automation

Processing Megatrends Drive New Product Developments at NPE2024

It’s all about sustainability and the circular economy, and it will be on display in Orlando across all the major processes. But there will be plenty to see in automation, AI and machine learning as well.

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NPE

Real-Time Production Monitoring as Automation

As an injection molder, Windmill Plastics sought an economical production monitoring system that could help it keep tabs on its shop floor. It’s now selling the “very focused” digital supervisor it created, automating many formerly manual tasks.

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Thermoforming

Cobot Creates 'Cell Manufacturing Dream' for Thermoformer

Kal Plastics deploys Universal Robot trimming cobot for a fraction of the cost and lead time of a CNC machine, cuts trimming time nearly in half and reduces late shipments to under 1% — all while improving employee safety and growth opportunities.

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Automation

Choosing the Right Projects to Automate

What are the strategies and upfront work that go into identifying production problems that could benefit from an automation solution?

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Ensuring Repeatability: The Key to Effective Injection Molding Automation

One of automation’s key promises is repeatability: the same movement to the same location, time and time again. But to achieve that, all elements involved — robot, machine, EOAT, mold — must be in and stay in alignment.

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System Offers 'Lights Out' Mold-Channel Cleaning & Diagnostics

New system automatically cleans mold-cooling lines—including conformal channels—removing rust and calcium, among other deposits, while simultaneously testing for leaks, measuring flow rate and applying rust inhibitor.

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New Tinius Olsen VectorExtensometer testing
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FAQ: Automation

There is no “one size fits all” solution in automation. When considering what it would look like in your plant, hone in on the staff, products, space, and goals that are specific to you and the automation system that you will be installing.

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