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How Centralized Resin Drying Systems Work and When You Need One
There’s a lot going on throughout the floor of a plastics plant—primary processing machines, such as injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, or other machines. Then there’s the material, which is often stored at machine-side locations. There are the auxiliaries needed for temperature control and cooling, including water supplies, pipe or...
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Injection Molding Processing: The Basic Guide to Using Auxiliary Equipment
What is injection molding? Injection molding is the most widely used form of plastics processing worldwide. The process involves the injection of heated, liquefied plastic into a temperature-controlled mold under high pressure. After the plastic fills the mold, it cools and solidifies into finished part(s) which can be easily removed...
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Ways To Save Energy In Plastics Processing
As manufacturing has became more intensely competitive, plastics processors are looking at auxiliary equipment that can reduce energy consumption, make better use of raw materials, reclaim scrap and improve process yield. Today, these initiatives take on new significance as “sustainability” becomes the watchword for consumers and manufacturers alike. Not all...
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Design Effective Vacuum Loading & Conveying Systems: 12 Do’s and Don’ts
Delivering adequate supplies of the right resin material to production equipment is what vacuum conveying, feeding, and loading systems are all about. But while the goal of these systems is straightforward, their design and implementation require considerable thought. So, what are the best-practices for designing vacuum conveying systems? Where do...
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Lessen the pain of the labor shortage by leaning into your equipment supplier
If you’re feeling the pain of the labor shortage at your facility, you’re not alone. Most plastics processors today experience high turnover amongst their front-line operators and maintenance staff. The skilled labor shortage caused problems prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic has only exacerbated the issue further. This single roadblock...
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How to Know if You Need “Smart” Size Reduction Controls
“Smart” equipment controls and the future of Industry 4.0 are definitely hot topics in the plastics industry right now. But, according to my colleague Alan Landers, realizing the vision of Industry 4.0 – the seamless exchange and processing of data using intelligent machines that can self-adapt and optimize processes autonomously – is...
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The New Common Control Interface and How it Helps You
Computerized controls have brought a lot of benefits to the plastics processing industry. But the trouble is, there are a whole lot of different types—different control platforms and human-machine interfaces (HMIs). And, when different pieces of equipment have to work together—like the different pieces of auxiliary equipment that support plastics...
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The Vision vs Reality of Industry 4.0 for Plastics Processors
How close are we to realizing the full vision of Industry 4.0? To understand where we are on Industry 4.0, take a look back to where we came from, which is Industry 3.0, where machinery of all types adopted computerized controls. Digital controls brought tremendous advantages in terms of the...
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Need Space to Expand? Mezzanine Space Might Help You
No processor ever plans to run out of floor space. More often, space problems are the sign of a growing business. The addition of even a few primary processing machines, together with needed auxiliary equipment, material handling and feeding, robots, and perhaps some value-added assembly or packing operations can consume...
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What are Temperature Control Units and How Do They Work?
A temperature control unit or "TCU" is exactly what the name implies: a device that is used to regulate the temperature of an injection molding, blow molding, extrusion or other plastics process within a narrow range in order to ensure the quality and efficiency of that process. Unlike a chiller...
By A.J. Zambanini 
By Chris Weinrich 
By Nick Paradiso 
By Brian Dowler 
By Dave Miller 
By Matt Shope 
By Alan Landers 
By Mike Simons 
By Jim Fisher