Page 53 - Plastics News Issue December 2024
P. 53
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
A detailed knowledge of the energy consump- do mold changes last, or how long did an unex-
tion and the distribution of energy in each step pected maintenance take.
of the molding cycle gives you information to
optimize the process. Some times excessive It is also hard to find the budget to invest in quick
packing pressure or back pressure can drasti- mold change systems, but a deeper look into the
cally increase energy consumption. statistics may show you how to justify it. Also, if
you need to upgrade your automation system, it
Also, it is important to understand when it is may be wise to start understanding the time lost
preferrable to increase energy consumption in by failure in peripheric equipment.
the electric resistances on the barrel to reduce
viscosity, and thus reduce pressure demand. As A frequent cause for downtime is color change
everything in molding, there is an optimum bal- or resin change. Many companies are still reluc-
ance and it is worth to invest time finding the tant to use purging systems. Purge seems to be
sweet spot. more expensive per pound than PEAD, for ex-
ample, but the performance of each material is
Increase Uptime totally different. An important practice in every
technical molding is to use purging compound
This may seem obvious, but some companies do suited to the resin and process temperature you
not monitor the downtime in their machines. It is are using.
often hard to find reliable statistics on how much
Source – Plastics Engineering
December 2024 PLASTICS NEWS 53
