At the Twentieth International Exhibition for Plastics and Rubber in Düsseldorf, Germany (also known as K Show) scheduled to open on 19 October 2016, KraussMaffei, a world-leading manufacturer of plastics and rubber processing equipment, together with its own three brands KraussMaffei, KraussMaffei Berstorff and Netstal, will showcase numerous Plastics 4.0 solutions and unique products and technologies in its 1,750-square-meter exhibition hall.
Netstal will exhibit its newest high-efficiency injection-compression molding (ICM) technology applied to stack molds at K 2016. The ICM procedure provides significant savings in cycle times as well as material and energy consumption, and increases the quality of products at the same time. Using a stack mold significantly increases the level of output. KraussMaffei will demonstrate the advancement of the ICM technology at K 2016 by applying this technology to the production of 425-gram margarine boxes made from polypropylene (PP) on an ELION 2800-2000. The box is manufactured with a cycle time of five seconds, weighing only 10.7g. Meanwhile, Netstal will also showcase the ingenious in-mold labeling (IML) technology.
"As the technology driver in the injection molding industry, Netstal has long thought well beyond the machines. The question always arises as to how we can further optimize performance, quality and efficiency to the benefit of our customers,” said Markus Dal Pian, Netstal's Vice President for Marketing & Sales and Head of the Packaging Business Unit. “In the end, the customer expects outstanding quality of the produced parts, lowest possible unit costs and optimized overall operating costs of the system,” added Dal Pian. In the sample production of a yogurt container, the purchasing price of the injection molding machine has an impact of just 4 percent on the calculation of the unit costs; if an IML system is added, the machine component drops even further to merely 3 percent.
K Show in Germany, a grand exhibition of international plastics and rubber industries, has been widely recognized as the largest international exhibition for plastics and rubber over the past half a century. The triennial exhibition has been held successfully for 19 times. The year of 2016 will witness the twentieth show.