KraussMaffei Reviews Highlights of Competence Forum – KraussMaffei Highlights Competence Forum - Arhive
KraussMaffei Reviews Highlights of Competence Forum
More than 1,800 visitors attended the KraussMaffei Competence Forum in Munich, Germany, on 6-7 June to celebrate the company’s 180th anniversary under the theme ‘Technology Pioneers – from Tradition to Innovation.’
“The KraussMaffei Competence Forum was a great success,” states Dr Frank Stieler, CEO of the KraussMaffei Group. “The broad spectrum of ground breaking machines and technologies that we were able to show our customers at our in-house trade show made it a unique event indeed. It was very well received by the visitors.”
An injection moulding machine for each decade
Visitors were offered a total of 25 machine presentations. In injection moulding machinery alone, there were 18 exhibits (about one machine per decade) that presented live applications within the clamping force range 25-1600 tons. Among these were the new PX 25 and PX 320, with which KraussMaffei is expanding its all-electric series by adding two clamping force sizes, one lower and one higher. The PX 25 demonstrated micro-injection moulding of liquid silicone (LSR). A radial sealing ring was produced with an intricate undercut and a weight of only 0.15 g. The bigger machine, with a clamping force of 3,200 kN, was displayed together with the IMD SI DUO film feed. This is said to enable the world’s first independent positioning of two single-image designs, which increases output using multi-cavity moulds, but also enhances production flexibility.
Additional highlights were the GX 650 with the new speed option, thermoplastic lightweight construction with FiberForm technology, ColorForm applications in piano black, and new technologies for fibre glass direct feed or for direct compounding.
Reaction Process Machinery’s anniversary
KraussMaffei’s Reaction Process Machinery division was also celebrating an anniversary of its own: 50 years ago a special clamping unit with two rotation axes for processing polyurethane was introduced to the market for the first time. Visitors were able to see the highlights of the last 50 years on a timeline. The exhibit was accompanied by numerous live applications. The biggest visitor attractions included the new iPul pultrusion system, which produced a hollow chamber profile based on glass fibre and a polyurethane matrix, and the PUR foaming system with new multi-colour mixing head. Visitors also witnessed fibre-reinforced lightweight construction ready for large-scale production on the fully automated wetmoulding system.
Extrusion technologies
Live systems from the pipe and profile manufacturing sector were on display. Visitors were shown the TCP (Thermoplastic Composite Pipe) pilot line which demonstrated the precise wrapping of a base pipe with fibreglass tapes for high-pressure applications in the oil and gas industry. In addition, the newly developed three-layer pipe head produced a three-layer pipe with a functional inner layer made from PA 12.
Experiencing Plastics 4.0
At numerous exhibits, the KraussMaffei Group presented its entire Plastics 4.0 product line to illustrate the possibilities of Industry 4.0 in plastics processing. Highlights included the new MES system, MaXecution, and the live application of the DataXplorer on the GX 650 FiberForm system. With its microscopic view, it records up to 500 signals on the machine, including the organic sheet heat-up time. All injection moulding machines were equipped with the intelligent APC plus (Adaptive Process Control) machine function, which provides extreme weight consistency of parts and the highest process reliability.
KraussMaffei is launching its Digital Service Solutions business unit on 1 July. This will deal with service and aftermarket and link classic and digital activities.
Photo provided by KraussMaffei
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