Artificial intelligence assists injection moulding

Smart Mold, a company 50% owned by Sirmax Group and specialised in optimising the plastics injection moulding process, presents Aria at Plast 2026, the new artificial intelligence-based software designed to support injection moulding in the management of process adjustments, making them faster and more repeatable. The system has been developed to address a common critical issue in the sector: every change in production conditions, such as a mould change, machine stoppage, material variation or the appearance of defects, requires adjustment activities that are often entrusted to the individual experience of the operator. Any ineffective adjustment results in rejects, unproductive machine time and energy consumed unnecessarily. The new software intervenes in these critical phases, helping the operator bring the process back towards the optimum condition through guided suggestions based on defect analysis.

In practical terms, Aria measures part quality, interprets defects and suggests the most effective corrections to achieve the required quality more rapidly. Beyond simple inspection, therefore, a decision-support action is also triggered. Aria uses machine vision and artificial intelligence algorithms to measure defect severity on a continuous basis. This makes it possible to understand whether the process is improving, deteriorating or requires a targeted correction, and transforms the experience gained during mould testing and fine-tuning into a shared knowledge base that can also be used over time by less experienced operators.

“In an industrial context in which specialist skills are increasingly difficult to find”, explains Giovanni Lucchetta, founder and CEO of Smart Mold, “Aria helps companies standardise the process, reduce dependence on individual experience and make quality management more accessible. The objective is to bring process intelligence directly onto the injection moulding machine, making moulding more efficient, stable and repeatable. We are proud to have achieved this result, the outcome of years of research and experimentation, and to be able today to provide our customers with such a high level of innovation”.

The new Smart Mold solution – which at Plast 2026 is also hosted on the Wittmann Group stand, where it will be possible to see its application on an injection moulding machine – has already been tested, delivering concrete results: an average reduction from 25 to 3 in the trials needed to achieve quality, and from 128 to 8 in rejected parts. This means 88% fewer trials during the adjustment phase; 94% fewer rejects during process restart; faster return to quality; and improved production continuity.

Aria software can be integrated with any injection moulding machine, including older models or machines not connected to the network. When digital interfaces are not available, the system can acquire data directly from the machine monitor. Installation involves a vision station comprising industrial cameras, controlled lighting and a local processing unit, with no need to modify the injection moulding machine.

In addition to the new software developed by Smart Mold, Sirmax brings to Plast 2026 its portfolio of six macro-families of compounds developed in collaboration with customers through co-design processes: polypropylene (unfilled, additivated, fibre-reinforced or modified); high-performance engineering polymers (styrenic, engineering, special and blend materials), marketed under the Iso and Dafne brands; Xelter thermoplastic elastomers, alternatives to vulcanised rubber, with a soft-touch effect; biocompounds and green versions of all lines, with variable contents of post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material – the Green Iso (PP, EPC) and Green Xelter (TPE) brands for circular materials, and Biocomp for compostable and biodegradable materials. Each material is designed to ensure high performance, versatility and sustainability, with applications ranging from automotive to household appliances, from building to electronics, through to packaging, sport and leisure.