1. Energy costs

This is by far the biggest crisis facing moulding firms today, and it’s a problem that isn’t going away. UK plastics processers have faced volatile and rising energy prices since 2021, and we are now paying one of the highest rates for energy across Europe – well ahead of Italy, Germany and Spain, for example. This makes it difficult for UK moulders to be competitive on an international scale; not just when quoting against European firms, but also those from the Far East.

This alone is crippling some businesses. The fact is that energy prices are now so high that even if they do come down, they will not drop to the levels we were used to seeing back in 2018/19, for example. Moulders must accept this and place energy efficiency at the top of their agenda. When considering investing in equipment, look for energy efficient technology as a priority, such as the FANUC all-electric ROBOSHOT injection moulding machine.

2. Reshoring

Reshoring has been a buzzword in the industry for a few years now, with many moulders bringing production back to the UK from the Far East and Europe to shorten the supply chain and close the loop. Following Brexit and the post-Covid supply chain crisis, there seemed to be a heightened appetite for British-made products, which could command a premium to account for the higher production costs associated with bringing work back to the UK.

However, the reality does not appear to have matched the expectation. Of the companies with whom I’ve had discussions, reshoring has not made the positive impact on their business that they had hoped for. In fact, increased UK staffing and energy costs have negatively affected overall productivity. For any home-grown moulding firms considering reshoring, the advice is to do your research thoroughly and speak to companies who have already followed this path – forewarned is forearmed.

3. People

The UK has an ageing workforce and an ageing population as a whole. In this sense, the plastics industry is no different. But the negative connotations surrounding plastics in terms of its green credentials means we are finding it particularly difficult to attract young people into the industry.

Mainstream media reports of plastic as being bad for the environment and damaging to the oceans have prompted an anti-plastic backlash among Gen Z. While nobody could argue against fewer single-use plastics, plastic products are essential to our everyday life and can last for years – from the tables and chairs we sit at in our favourite coffee shop, to the plane we take to reach our holiday destination, to the inhalers and medical devices that keep us healthy.

We need to showcase just how useful and essential plastic is to the next generation, and get them switched onto the exciting career opportunities that the sector offers, such as moulding, toolmaking, robotics, AI/smart factories and even the development of sustainable and/or biodegradable polymers. We must all strive to change the perception around plastics and encourage more young people to come onboard and join us – or the current skills shortage will only get worse.

4. Investment

As well as an ageing workforce, the plastics industry is also coping with an ageing field of injection moulding machines and other essential equipment. There is a tendency among moulders to run a machine for years and years, then repair it and carry on. However, investing in a legacy machine is risky – the bill to repair it will be extremely expensive and ultimately, you’re still left with an asset which consumes far more energy that today’s new models. This can be a costly strategy, albeit one that many moulders feel they have no choice but to follow.

With moulders struggling on a number of fronts – not least high energy costs – the industry would greatly benefit from a government investment strategy to support plastics firms to invest in new, energy efficient, highly productive and accurate machines. As well as helping the industry to become more environmentally sustainable, we will also be better able to compete internationally, creating more jobs, generating more revenue and ensuring a continued domestic pipeline of plastic production – which, as we saw during the pandemic, was literally lifesaving.

The smart choice

For moulding firms themselves, investing in an accurate all-electric injection moulding solution such as the FANUC ROBOSHOT, rather than patching up a legacy machine, will pay dividends for years to come. In addition, combining it with FANUC’s class-leading robotics, factory automation and smart production systems can turn your operation into a lean, data-driven, sustainable enterprise, future-proofed for decades.

The ROBOSHOT’s overall total cost of ownership (TCO) package is one of the best on the market. Its initial cost is comparable to rival all-electric machines, but where the ROBOSHOT really excels is in its cost of operation, maintenance, downtime and production – all of which are the lowest in the marketplace.

Paired with high second-hand value, the ROBOSHOT is the ultimate long-term, energy-efficient smart investment for moulders looking to reduce their energy consumption and invest wisely.

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A standout feature of Shibaura Machine’s exhibit will be a fully automated production cell, where the TVM900 6-axis robot will seamlessly integrate with the advanced EC75SXIII injection moulding machine. This live demonstration will showcase real-time production of plastic business card cases.

The SXIII series is an all-electric line-up of injection moulding machines designed for high-speed, energy-efficient operation. With 16 different models tailored to varying tonnage requirements, the SXIII features the V70 controller for smooth integration, optimised cycle times and enhanced productivity.

The injection mould machine will collaborate with the TVM900 robot – one of Shibaura Machine’s comprehensive ranges of 6-axis robots. With a 900 mm reach and 20 kg payload capacity, robots in the TVM range offer rapid, smooth motion control and high repeatability.

Complementing this, the RoboPrint printing head will accurately transfer logos and designs onto the moulded plastic parts, demonstrating the potential of robotic integration for speed and efficiency.

“Robotic integration in injection moulding is transforming the industry,” explained Nigel Smith, managing director of TM Robotics, the premier Shibaura Machine robotics distributor in Europe. “By automating repetitive tasks, such as part handling, assembly and quality control, manufacturers can meet rising demand while maintaining consistent quality – all of which contribute to a faster return on investment.”

Dr. Georg Holzinger, executive vice president of Shibaura Machine Europe, added: “As a trusted Japanese manufacturer with over 75 years of experience, Shibaura Machine was one of the first to develop all-electric injection moulding machines in the 1990s. Today, its machines are engineered for unmatched precision, energy efficiency and reliability. This technology, working alongside our industrial robots, demonstrates our commitment to providing complete solutions for the plastics sector.”

Additionally, Shibaura Machine will showcase its TV1000 6-axis robot. With a 1,000 mm reach and 10 kg payload capacity, the TV1000 excels in material handling, assembly, machine tending and packaging applications.

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Injection molded parts tend to be produced in large volumes yet, at the same time, quality expectations are high. Even small cosmetic defects can be easily visible, while perfection in terms of form and dimensions is often critical in parts for applications like automotive components, electronic connectors, medical syringes, and surgical tools.

Contractors that specialise in this field can offer advantages such as cutting-edge design knowhow and process capabilities to OEMs that may have only limited in-house expertise and manufacturing capacity. With the potential for fast turnaround and economies of scale, they also need to ensure top-notch quality control and customer support. Yamaha has helped to raise the game in both respects with a solution bringing together the low-cost YK-XE SCARA, RCXiVY2+ vision system, and YRG electric gripper.

Quality control challenge

With an array of automated injection molding machines operated continuously, producing molded items at an extremely fast rate, shift workers were fully occupied palletising items as they were removed from the machines by high-speed take-out robots.

The established process flow involves these robots removing the freshly produced items from their molding cavities at the end of each cycle and placing them on a constantly moving conveyor. The conveyor transports the items towards the palletising station, dropping them into a collection box at the end of the belt. From this box, an operator picks the items one at a time to inspect visually and place in the pallet, discarding any that are seen to be defective.

The production team noticed that items could easily become damaged by impacts and rubbing when dropped in the box. Moreover, the box effectively randomized production, preventing the team from tracing any defective molding back to its cavity of origin. In addition, operators had little time to inspect each item, giving the possibility for defective units to be passed as OK and packed for shipping to the customer. They saw the opportunity to strengthen quality control in the factory while also addressing staffing challenges.

“Picking, inspecting, and palletizing the molded products, at a high rate, for the duration of a shift, is repetitive work that demands a high level of concentration. It’s not a popular job and this company was having difficulty finding people to work in those conditions,” comments Tatsuo Katakura, Sales General Manager at Yamaha Robotics FA Section. “A SCARA robot is the perfect starting point for a solution to quality control and automation challenges like this and our YK-XE range offers the opportunity to lower the cost of ownership by saving quality control overheads.”

Improving efficiency

Working with the customer to implement a solution, Yamaha engineers chose the YK400XE-4 from the low-cost, high-performance SCARA portfolio to take care of palletising the molded parts. Its 4kg payload capacity is ample for handling the small items and the arm structure, specially optimized for low vibration at high speeds, allows an extremely fast cycle time of less than 0.4 seconds; fast enough to keep pace with the work rate of multiple molding machines and take-out robots operating upstream.

With its arm length of 400mm, the YK400XE-4 has the perfect reach to pick items from the 300mm-wide conveyor and place them directly in the pallets that are 300mm deep and 400mm wide, as figure 2 also shows. Alternatively, the team could have chosen a SCARA from the YK-TW omnidirectional range.

By transferring the molded pieces directly from the conveyor to the pallet, the engineering team achieved two important goals. Firstly, items are protected against damage as they are no longer dropped into the collection box. Moreover, the SCARA can automatically associate the position of each item as it is placed in the pallet with its originating cavity ID. Recording this information can help the company strengthen quality control and drive improvement initiatives, as well as provide traceability information for customers if required.

Easy to integrate vision

To track items as they move along the conveyor, and thus calculate the position for the SCARA to pick each one from the correct location, the team turned to Yamaha’s RCXiVY2+ vision system. This system is conceived to integrate easily with the SCARA and is controlled from within the RCX robot controller. “Unlike conventional approaches that often require specialized computer vision expertise, the project team in this case was able to integrate the camera and accomplish the complete system setup independently within a short timeframe,” observes Tatsuro Katakura.

Yamaha has created special vision instructions that simplify programming for robot engineers. Directly integrating vision in the RCX controller saves coordinate conversion, which is often needed when mapping third-party vision data and robot point data, and it’s easy to calculate position whether the camera is in a fixed position or mounted on the robot. The robot program also controls the camera optics and lighting system.

“The RCXiVY2+ system has powerful features built in, including conveyor tracking for accurate high-speed pickup, random part-position searching, on-the-fly adjustment for orientation, and OK/NG judgement,” adds Katakura. “There is also a special blob detection function, which is up to 10 times faster than conventional edge detection, to quickly position the robot when picking up irregular shaped items.”

To complete the project, the team chose a YRG series gripper from the large selection of off-the-shelf accessories available directly from Yamaha. Like the RCXiVY2+ for robot vision, these electric grippers are controlled from the main RCX340 multi-axis controller and designed to be easy to use, requiring no data exchange with the host system. Leveraging full electric control of the gripper, the team was able to quickly configure and optimize parameters including speed, positioning, and gripping force, with sensor-free detection in the event of mis-gripping or dropping.

By accomplishing this project, introducing a robot to palletise injection-molded components has improved quality control, increased efficiency, and enabled the business to introduce traceability, which had been impossible to achieve before. The project team was able to highlight the advantages of the new system within the company, seeking the green light to expand the solution to other lines in the future.

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Showcasing itself as a ‘one-stop’ supplier of advanced and sustainable all-electric injection moulding systems, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag will release its machine status systems to the Italian market. Connected to both the compact IntElect automotive exhibit, as well as the multi-component IntElect Multi machine, the modular myConnect platform provides the tools to constantly monitor machine parameters and production data, from anywhere.

Designed to minimise disruptions and maintain production schedules, the wide variety of different functionalities will be demonstrated at company’s dedicated digitisation terminal. Visitors will be able to see live data being captured from both IntElect production cells.

With the four-day event expected to attract over 60,000 visitors, general manager Paolo Zirondoli highlights the importance of the Italian market and sector opportunities. “Packaging and medical are continuing to perform strongly and consumer goods remains as important as ever. All of these industries are catered for by our all-electric IntElect machine series. Demand for these efficient machines remains high.”

Zirondoli adds that customers are increasingly seeking complete production packages including machines and integrated robotics, citing that they want “everything from a single source”. Corroborating the value of being able to now source robotics designed specifically for injection moulding machines, he adds: “The SAM is our in-house robot series. Fully integrated into the production cell, customers now benefit from a small injection moulding footprint comprising robot and material handling technology.” This will be the first presentation of SAM Automation to the Italian market.

With the industrial standardised IO-Link communication system, intelligent sensors and actuators can be connected to the automation system. This means the SAM series fully meets future Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing requirements. Additionally, the robots all incorporate the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s myConnect web-based software solution. Giving customers direct access to a wide range of fully networked support services to help better manage inefficiencies, reduce costs, optimise total cost of ownership, troubleshoot errors and minimise downtime.

Featured on the PLAST booth is an IntElect 130/520-560 equipped with a SAM-C5 ‘handle and place’ robot. Manufacturing an automotive gear stick cover, the cell features a synchronised conveyor belt. Every element of the injection moulding process is enclosed within the low height production cell that is up to 50 percent smaller than conventional fully-enclosed cells.

“Coupled with total machine control, full mechanical and software integration, a protective flap to safeguard operators, plus extendable doors, the result is a compact production cell that is delivered fully CE-certified,” reports Zirondoli.

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The Stäubli Fluid Connectors stand at this year’s exhibition will feature a range of different products and technologies including energy connection, process automation, robotic tool changers, end-of-arm-tooling, quick mould change solutions and mould temperature control.

Of special interest to visitors to the Stäubli Fluid Connectors stand will be the latest in Magnetic Mould Clamping Technology – QMC123, the result of the recent strategic partnership between Stäubli and Mag Autoblok-Tecnomagnete.

The combined expertise of the two companies has taken the capabilities of magnetic clamping technology to a new level, with enhancements and improvements across a number of key areas. Also on show will be examples from the company’s comprehensive range of Automatic Robotic Tool Changers and End-Of-Arm-Tooling (EOAT).

With a heritage of collaborating with companies in the plastics industry for more than 60 years, Stäubli Fluid Connectors is recognised as having unrivalled expertise across all areas of the sector. Stäubli provides a comprehensive range of solutions that save time at every stage in the injection moulding process, increasing productivity, efficiencies, and profitability.

Businesses within sectors such as automotive, white goods, home appliances, packaging, IT, electronics, building construction and many more rely on the quality, performance, and reliability inherent in Stäubli’s product offering.

Stäubli’s stand can be found in Hall 4, Stand Number H32 where the company’s experts will be on hand throughout the show to offer advice on how Stäubli products and solutions can improve and enhance plastics manufacturing processes.

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In many cases such temperature differences are caused by the production process. Injection moulding applications are ideal for this, for example, because the produced parts come out of the machine here at a relatively high temperature.

At the German Rubber Conference DKT in Nuremberg, two Austrian companies presented a possible solution in this area. Austrian company Maplan is an internationally active manufacturer of injection molding machines. With 230 employees worldwide, the company produces approximately 280 elastomer injection molding machines and presses per year, 99% of which are exported to more than 60 countries. In early July 2018, the injection moulding specialist presented an application in Nuremberg that included a Flir A-Series thermal imaging camera.

For the Nuremberg trade fair DKT, Maplan planned the on-site production of give-aways for trade fair visitors. The company produced customisable rubber luggage tags in an extrusion line; they were then repositioned by a robot and labelled using an inkjet printer.

As with many other projects, Maplan worked closely with Reliste as the integrator to implement this automation solution. Reliste has offered high-quality products to its customers in the Austrian market for more than 45 years, while the Reliste Vision Group, founded in 2008, works as an integrator for Flir thermal imaging cameras in the automation sector.

In the planned system, the weak contrast ratios between conveyor belt and product initially proved to be a challenge. In a conventional pick and place application, a robot was to remove the luggage tags from the conveyor belt and position them for printing with an inkjet printer, which was ultimately to personalise the tags for the stand visitors.

The robot should receive the information as to where the product is on the conveyor belt from a camera. But with light-grey luggage tags on a light-grey conveyor belt, doubts quickly arose about the functional stability when using a visual camera.

Reliste proposed an unusual but pragmatic solution: “Instead of a conventional visual camera for product recognition, we proposed a Flir thermal imaging camera,” explains Thomas Trauttenberg, managing director of Reliste.

Analysis of complex-shaped components

The model Reliste recommended was a Flir A615, which offers 640 × 480 thermal resolution. “The thermal imaging camera does not use visual light, but the heat radiation resulting from the extrusion process for reliable product detection. The solution convinced us because it was very simple and worked right from the start,” adds Maplan’s technical manager Rudolf Eisenhuber.

“The high thermal imaging resolution of the Flir A615 also enables quality analysis, which we would like to demonstrate with more complex injection moulded parts in the future.”

For the future, Maplan and Reliste are considering the possibility of additional evaluation of thermal information for rubber injection moulding machines. The use of a thermal imaging camera could also provide additional information about the quality of a product. This method is particularly interesting for complex shaped components. In this regard, Flir thermal imaging technology could contribute to optimising the injection moulding process.

Offering fully-integrated deployment from a single supplier, the new SAM-C (Sumitomo. Automation. Machine) proprietary robot series succeeds in delivering the smallest injection moulding footprint comprising robot and material handling technology. Enabling plastic manufacturers to deploy UKCA conforming automation solutions into production lines faster, more intelligently, ready to perform the application specific tasks and address labour shortages without any time-consuming customisations.

Responding to increasing demands from the medical, healthcare, aerospace, automotive, electronics and packaging sectors, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has intentionally focused its efforts on developing scalable units with more automation functional elements. Already available in four payload sizes – three, five, ten and 20 kg – the ‘handle and place’ SAM-C robots are designed specifically for injection moulding machines with clamping force sizes between 50 and 500 tons, and for standard applications with cycle times of 10 seconds and higher. Further robot kinematics and functional elements will roll out in the next couple of years.

Customers benefit from process and system technology from a single supplier source, complete with hardware and software control integration of robot technology into the injection moulding unit and production-optimised robotic mechanics fully customised to Sumitomo (SHI) Demag machines. All at a very attractive price to performance ratio.

Aside from robotics, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has paid specific attention to the conveyor belts and safety features. What’s more, the company has applied pragmatic manufacturing solutions tailored to the injection moulding process, including handling, storage and buffer systems.

Robots to relieve workforce pressures

Highlighting the importance of value, managing director Nigel Flowers expands: “For many of our customers, automation is helping them to address the skills and recruitment challenges. Acute staffing shortages continues to be a real pain point. Even smaller UK firms are now recognising the possibilities and how robots can help keep the wheels of the sector turning, with minimal human intervention.”

As a scalable solution, the new SAM series fills an important gap offering a good return on investment through increased output, enhanced quality, repeatable precision and reduced waste.

With the industrial standardised IO-Link communication system, intelligent sensors and actuators can be connected to the automation system. This means the SAM series fully meets future Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing requirements. Additionally, the robots all incorporate the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s ‘myConnect’ web-based software solution. Giving customers direct access to a wide range of fully networked support services to help better manage inefficiencies, reduce costs, optimise total cost of ownership, troubleshoot errors and minimise downtime.

Customers that may have previously ruled out robots in the past, Nigel’s advice is to re-examine the value to performance benefits afresh. “The addition of SAM into the Sumitomo Robotics portfolio offers customers an altogether different proposition. And now within the UK we have Richard on hand to provide local engineering guidance and on-site support.”

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It is the task of robot manufacturers to better inform the marketplace that automation can enhance their productivity and efficiency, while remaining competitive. For the plastics and injection moulding market, investing in automation certainly doesn’t automatically lead to the depletion of a human workforce. Instead, robots should be seen as a means to do more with the equipment plastics manufacturers currently have.

Consider this as an example. In the past, most end users opted for a classic Cartesian X-Y gantry-style robot to unload parts from a moulding machine. Today, the technology is available to improve and add to this basic operation. By using a ceiling-mounted six-axis robot, for example, taking a product from the moulding machine, there is an opportunity to do more work with the specific part you are taking out. While doing this process, the robot allows you to inspect, assemble or pack the product.

TM Robotics has recently expanded its six-axis robot range, which includes the introduction of the TVM six-axis range, a machine that has been designed to meet the growing demand for this type of automation. The machine’s lager payload and longer reach enables TM Robotics to offer a solution for the unloading and loading of larger machines in the plastics sector, like integration of larger injection moulding machines, of which Toshiba Machine is a market leader.

Ceiling mounted robots are also a growing area for this marketplace. They are particularly advantageous because they minimise the space required. If you have a ceiling-mounted SCARA, for instance, you can use it in a much tighter, compact area than you could if it were floor-mounted. From an efficiency point of view, if you have the robot mounted over a conveyor, you can use a smaller and quicker robot, again increasing productivity.

SCARA robots have been particularly successful in the plastics industry as a means to unload the moulding machine. TM Robotics has recently assisted in the launch of Toshiba Machine’s latest SCARA model to the market, the THE400 SCARA.

Automation can be a big investment, so it is no surprise that the marketplace wants to make sure it gets more bang for its buck, so to speak. However, the cost of automation is quickly becoming more competitive. Customers in the plastics industry want to see more dexterity in their robots. They want to use the robot for inspection, take the part from the moulding machine, pick up the part, show it to the vision camera and, if it is good, move it downstream.

At TM Robotics, we want to ensure the marketplace understands these potential benefits. Robots should be seen as a job saver, not a job taker. It is our role to ensure that the productivity, efficiency and economic advantages of automation are clear.

Visit the TM Robotics website for more information

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Both Fanuc and Hi-Tech have partnered together on a broad portfolio of automation solutions for the plastics industry, over the years, notably but not exclusively focussing on the development and delivery of turnkey cells for Fanuc’s ROBOSHOT series of all-electric injection moulding machines.

Visitors to the stand will be able to attend a special presentation to commemorate Hi-Tech Automation’s 25th anniversary.

Gary Probert, Director at Hi-Tech Automation, comments: “After a difficult 18 months for the plastics sector, we are delighted to not only be returning to Interplas, but to be able to mark the occasion by celebrating 25 years on from when we were founded.”

Customisation will be a key theme of Fanuc’s stand, highlighting how automation can be tailored to suit any and all requirements across the plastics sector. On display will be Fanuc’s newest lightweight collaborative robot, the CRX-10iA, which is compatible with Fanuc’s ROBOSHOT range. At Interplas, this versatile collaborative robot will be used to dispense hand sanitiser to customers, illustrating its capacity to operate alongside humans in a safe and precise way.

In addition to this, Hi Tech Automation’s standard range of modular multifunction cells suitable for the Fanuc Roboshot range from 50T to 450T, will be accompanied by a dedicated information portal outlining where automated solutions can be utilised within the plastics industry.

David Raine, key account manager at Fanuc UK and Ireland, comments: “Hi Tech Automation has been one of our key systems integrators over the years for our ROBOSHOT machines, and we’re delighted to be celebrating their 25th anniversary at what is sure to be a really vibrant event.

“Trade shows such as Interplas offer a great way to get to grips with the latest technology and learn what companies such as FANUC and Hi Tech can offer for your future automation plans. The fact that we are able to use our latest cobot to safely dispense sanitiser is testament to the progress our industry is making and we are very much looking forward to seeing everyone there.”

Visit the Fanuc website for more information

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It is the task of robot manufacturers to better inform the marketplace that automation can enhance their productivity and efficiency, while remaining competitive. For the plastics and injection moulding market, investing in automation certainly doesn’t automatically lead to the depletion of a human workforce. Instead, robots should be seen as a means to do more with the equipment plastics manufacturers currently have.

Consider this as an example. In the past, most end users opted for a classic Cartesian X-Y gantry-style robot to unload parts from a moulding machine. Today, the technology is available to improve and add to this basic operation. By using a ceiling-mounted six-axis robot, for example, taking a product from the moulding machine, there is an opportunity to do more work with the specific part you are taking out. While doing this process, the robot allows you to inspect, assemble or pack the product.

TM Robotics has recently expanded its six-axis robot range, which includes the introduction of the TVM six-axis range, a machine that has been designed to meet the growing demand for this type of automation. The machine’s lager payload and longer reach enables TM Robotics to offer a solution for the unloading and loading of larger machines in the plastics sector, like integration of larger injection moulding machines, of which Toshiba Machine is a market leader.

Ceiling mounted robots are also a growing area for this marketplace. They are particularly advantageous because they minimise the space required. If you have a ceiling-mounted SCARA, for instance, you can use it in a much tighter, compact area than you could if it were floor-mounted. From an efficiency point of view, if you have the robot mounted over a conveyor, you can use a smaller and quicker robot, again increasing productivity.

SCARA robots have been particularly successful in the plastics industry as a means to unload the moulding machine. TM Robotics has recently assisted in the launch of Toshiba Machine’s latest SCARA model to the market, the THE400 SCARA.

Automation can be a big investment, so it is no surprise that the marketplace wants to make sure it gets more bang for its buck, so to speak. However, the cost of automation is quickly becoming more competitive. Customers in the plastics industry want to see more dexterity in their robots. They want to use the robot for inspection, take the part from the moulding machine, pick up the part, show it to the vision camera and, if it is good, move it downstream.

At TM Robotics, we want to ensure the marketplace understands these potential benefits. Robots should be seen as a job saver, not a job taker. It is our role to ensure that the productivity, efficiency and economic advantages of automation are clear.

Visit the TM Robotics website for more information

See all stories for TM Robotics