Automation serves one main purpose: to generate cost savings. Most moulding facilities have made upstream processes, such as resin material handling, automatic. The injection moulding process itself is highly automated. However, once the mould opens, many plants use direct and indirect labour to add value, to package, and to move parts. The post-moulding operations therefore remain the biggest area for cost-saving potential. Moulders will need to use technology and automation to achieve quality and low-cost goals. The automation will need to be flexible to adapt to shorter product life cycles, shorter runs and quicker product introductions.

There are few complete technical sources of information available for plastic injection moulders to use relating to automation. However, there have been articles written on various components of the technology. This review has been compiled by researching and analysing technical references. The overview is not an attempt to describe robot design theory and engineering, which can be found in engineering publications, but is intended to describe the basics of the technology and to explain how to put the technology to use. The review is supplemented by an indexed section containing several hundred abstracts from the Polymer Library, providing useful references for further reading.

Key features:

About the Author...
John Mallon has acted as an application expert and manager for automation in the plastics injection moulding industry for 17 years. He has designed or directed thousands of installations of robots on moulding machines during his career. Presently, he is the president of Yushin America, Inc., a leading US supplier of automation for the plastics injection moulding industry. Mr. Mallon has visited several sites in the USA, Japan and Europe, working with end users and suppliers of automation.

Mr. Mallon is a senior member in the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)/Robot International Association. He has authored several papers for the SPE, the SME and the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI), and for trade publications on automation for the plastics injection moulding industry. He has acted as a consultant and legal expert witness. He has a B.S.M.E. from the University of Rhode Island, USA.

Contents

Introduction