A centre for easier injection moulding

In order to support the launch of new products by the injection moulders of Central Italy, Arburg and Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy) have established the EiM (Easy Injection Moulding) Tech centre, with the aim of studying, developing and optimising plastics injection moulding applications. The project has been designed by Massimo Natalini, from Università Politecnica delle Marche, together with Antonio Simonelli, representing Arburg in central Italy, and is meant to create an innovative high-technology centre of excellence supporting local converters through four specific areas of activity: training; technical assistance; development of new projects and injection moulding applications based on the idea-to-moulding concept; industry 4.0.

As far as training is concerned, the structure will organise injection moulding courses aiming at spreading the knowledge of cutting-edge process control techniques and their application to practical cases in companies. The training courses will be held by university professors and experts from the plastics sector, provided directly by the parts involved in the project, at the Engineering Faculty of Università Politecnica delle Marche. Theory will be explained in classrooms, while practical concepts will be explored “on-board”, by using special equipment available in the university’s laboratories. The training activity will be structured in form of seminars and workshops, the duration and time schedule of which will be decided from time to time, according to the participants’ needs. The courses will be open to industry technicians as well as to university students interested in the topics addressed.

The technical assistance area will provide a consulting service aimed at the study and improvement of injection moulding processes. This will give companies the opportunity to outsource their plants testing, industrialisation and optimisation activities, allowing them to introduce new production technologies into their facilities, with the guarantee that, based on specific non-disclosure agreements, the new concepts developed will remain strictly confidential.

Based on the idea-to-object concept, the centre will represent a point of reference for the development of new products and applications. The industrial research preliminary stages, including feasibility study (through FEM and CAE analyses), prototyping and product validation testing, will be carried out by a highly specialised, flexible structure able to meet even the needs of SMEs, representing a substantial part of the Marche’s and, more generally, of the central Italian industry. The centre will also take care of the project industrialisation procedure, introducing the use of state-of-the-art injection moulding techniques, with the objective of making production processes more efficient and providing moulded parts with a higher added value, all with absolute confidentiality.

Finally, within the industry 4.0 area of activity, the centre will develop automated manufacturing cells, which will be able to produce quality products without any human intervention. For example, it will be possible to integrate industrial robots and displays which will handle, control and pack the moulded parts, ensuring  their monitoring during the entire production cycle. Training courses are also provided for the personnel who will operate the automation solutions developed.

The new technology centre will be introduced officially on November 21, 2014, during a conference at Università Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy.