Arburg functional integration
Dr Walther, does functional integration contribute to sustainability or perhaps stand in its way?
Functional integration is an important building block for greater sustainability. It includes both enhanced component functionality and the interlinking and consolidation of process steps. The aim is always high quality while keeping unit production costs to a minimum. High plant availability, high output and stable processes are also important factors in this context, since they ensure that resources such as energy or materials are not wasted. That is all part of production efficiency, a quest we have been pursuing for many years.
In what industrial applications are functionally integrated processes particularly attractive?
It depends on the product and the quantity. For example functional integration allows components to be made that would not otherwise exist. The profitability of automation with interlinked manufacturing steps normally increases with the size of the batch. And the complexity of turnkey installations is constantly increasing. At the same time, however, there is also a trend towards greater flexibility, because batch sizes are getting steadily smaller and products are changing more and more quickly. In such cases it may be worth automating subprocesses. Unit production costs are always the decisive factor. Generally speaking, functional integration is attractive for industries with series manufacturing.
How can the functions of processes be consolidated?
As I say, there are different approaches to functional integration. On the one hand, several functions can be brought together in a single component. But on the other, some steps can also be eliminated or integrated into the manufacturing process. Or a combination of the two.
We have shown this, for example, with the automated manufacture of the ready-to-use LED light strip in a single production step. LEDs and resistors are inserted into the mould. The housings and lenses are both injected, as also are the strip conductors, made from a conductive plastic constituent, to contact with the electronic components. That does away with all the assembly steps, such as inserting the lamps or wiring.
Components with an appealing texture or articulated ones and insulating or magnetic products can be manufactured by appropriately combining materials with different properties. Hard and soft, matt and shiny or transparent and opaque can for example be combined to make high-grade fittings, switches and handles for vehicle interiors. In many cases, these combinations have sustainable effects such as reducing production times, energy consumption and waste. Combinations of hard and soft plastics in particular have become a trend in our industry.
Can you give an example of lightweight construction using different plastics?
At Fakuma 2014 Arburg together with its partners Krallmann and Ruch Novaplast will be showing a practical application of the new particle-foam composite injection moulding (PCIM) process. It works like this: the first step is to create a component from particle foam using a compact foaming system integrated into the injection moulding cell. A six-axis robot then inserts this foamed part-product into the injection mould, where a thread is moulded on in a positive bond. Such composite parts, in this case a foamed part with a moulded plastic component, can then in a further step be integrated into a foamed housing as standardised parts so that leads can easily be connected with an effective seal.
With this PCIM process we have therefore combined two technologies that did not previously have very much in common. This opens up new applications in lightweight construction and heat insulation in particular. One might for example think of large components such as car bumpers that can be securely assembled.
Are functionally integrated components more expensive than conventionally produced ones?
Functional integration is always examined before a component is made, to see whether it is cost-effective. If a conventional production method is to be replaced by an alternative, the new process must be cheaper in terms of overall costs. There are a lot of arguments involved, such as greater process reliability and product quality, greater output and/or the time also saved in logistics if several successive processes are replaced by just one. The demand for our functionally integrated turnkey installations shows that the calculation often turns out in favour of the high-tech solution.
Where are the markets for this kind of functional integration? Do they tend to be in the highly industrialised countries?
In terms of the products made on injection moulding machines, there are hardly any differences. But if you consider the level of automation, the western world – Europe and the US in particular – attaches greater importance to automated processes than does Asia for example. But that is clearly changing. We are getting more and more enquiries for such automated systems from Asia because efficient production is growing in importance there too, and that means the cost of the machinery alone is no longer decisive.
