Arburg's presence at the 25th Fakuma represents a great deal for the plastic processing goliath: evolution as opposed to revolution, highly practical solutions and the fact Arburg has incomparable industry clout.
Arburg
Arburg
Allrounder 920H
The size of the stand alone is statement-making, taking up something of a village in terms of scale and the first thing that catches your eye when you come to the booth is the mammoth hybrid Allrounder 1120 H. A truly gigantic machine first seen at K 2016 and returning to Fakuma with its sister the hybrid Allrounder 920 H, which is being presented for the first time in a new design with the new Gestica control system.
Both large machines with clamping forces of 6,500 and 5,000 kN respectively, are the stars of the Arburg stand and have already attracted long queues for the plastic products they are producing (stepping stools in the iconic Arburg green and housings).
Opening the press conference on Day One of the trade fair, Managing Partner of Arburg Michael Hehl stated that Arburg has taken pride in its Fakuma presence and in bringing these exciting members of the Allrounder family to the show because in Fakuma, Arburg is undoubtedly invested.
"For us, this anniversary is very special, because not only have we always been the largest exhibitor, we also co-founded the Fakuma," stated Hehl.
"When Paul E. Schall presented his idea to my father Eugen Hehl back in the day, he was immediately attracted to the concept of a trade fair on Lake Constance: practical relevance combined with professional expertise, a great location on the German, Austrian and Swiss border, and a family atmosphere. And this recipe for success continues to be highly successful today."
Hehl added that at the Fakuma, Arburg is focusing evolutionary not revolutionary highly practical solutions, which customers can use immediately to increase the efficiency of their production.
To this end, the two highlights of the stand are the two big Allrounder machines in the new design and with the new GESTICA control system.
ARBURG GmbH + Co KG
Arburg
Gestica
The hybrid Allrounder 1120 H has enabled Arburg to extend its clamping force range by 30 per cent, to 6,500 kN. And the new machine has been successfully used by pilot customers and can be ordered by customers worldwide from the start of the Fakuma 2017 onwards. The Allrounder 920 H with a clamping force of 5,000 kN is the next machine size in the new design and with the new Gestica control system. This "new look" hybrid machine is celebrating its premiere in Friedrichshafen.
The new design boasts a modern colour pallet and shape along with practical additions such as ways to simplify set-up and work sequences, colour-variable LEDs to indicate operating status and a large safety door.
Gamify plastics processing
When presenting the innovative Gestica control system feature developed by Arburg. Managing Director Technology and Engineering Heinz Gaub repeated 'gamify' over and over again.
"'Gamification' is [an] important aspect; in other words, the injection moulding machine of the future will be operated intuitively, responsively and easily – almost like one of today's video games," he explained.
Gestica features a high-resolution full HD screen in 16:9 format, industry-compatible multi-touch technology and one-click ergonomic hardware keys. To give it the "look and feel" of smart mobile devices, Arburg also brought external GUI (Graphical User Interface) designers on board as experts. Integrated operating gestures make the handling of the new control system more intuitive and efficient.
"We will take the next steps with our control system of the future, the GESTICA, which is operated by gestures and has the look and feel of mobile devices and assists the operator with a large number of assistance systems and software applications," explained Gaub.
The control panel is tilted for ergonomic efficiency, as well as being height-adjustable. With the Easyslider control element, movements can be simply and precisely controlled and displayed via variable-colour LED technology during set-up. Acceleration and deceleration can be controlled with a "swipe of the finger" along a bar at the edge of the screen. The data records of the new Gestica and the proven Selogica control systems are fully compatible and the hierarchical structure and graphical programming system remain unchanged.
Robotics
Both large machines are integrated in production cells and equipped with a Multilift V 40 at the Fakuma 2017.
ARBURG GmbH + Co KG
Arburg
Allrounder 920H with Gestica technology.
The linear robotic system in cantilever configuration is designed for use on large Allrounder machines from the 630 to 1120 series. The high load-bearing capacity of 40 kilograms makes it possible to achieve high part weights and also offers greater flexibility in the design of the gripper sequences and layout. The vertical axis is mounted on the front of the moving X-axis. This prevents interfering edges and offers greater freedom in mould and gripper design.
Turnkey solutions
The two large machines on show at Fakuma demonstrate Arburg's turkey expertise. The hybrid Allrounder 1120 H is producing the folding step stool fully automatically. The eight individual PP parts are handled by the Multilift V 40 linear robotic system and assembled ready for use by means of a six-axis robot and assembly station within the injection moulding cycle. In a cycle time of 60 seconds, a final product weighing 1,092 grams is produced "ready to use".
The hybrid Allrounder 920 H is producing a 710-gram housing made of glass-fibre reinforced PA 6 in a cycle time of around 75 seconds using a sophisticated sequence and gripper concept enables integrated packaging in boxes.
The Multilift V 40 removes the parts and stores them at an interim station. As soon as five housings are ready, they are transferred by the gripper as a single group, packed in a cardboard box and removed via a conveyor belt.
