“inject – the injection moulding forum” will take place on March 8th and 9th, 2016 at ENGEL’s technology centre in Schwertberg, Austria. Unlike the forum events focusing on applications and technologies that ENGEL regularly holds in Austria and at its subsidiaries around the world, the new injection moulding forum will connect the basic development of injection moulding technology with the practical challenges faced on a daily basis.
“Progress is continuously being made even in standard thermoplastic injection moulding, but it is often a very long time before plastics processors learn about the latest findings and are able to use them to optimise their processes,” as Robert Brandstetter, the manager of ENGEL AUSTRIA’s training department in Schwertberg, Austria, points out. “In ‘inject – the injection moulding forum’, we are creating a platform that will enable us to present new developments much earlier and in a way that allows them to be used every day.”
The forum, which will take place regularly starting in 2016, is conceived for injection moulders, plastics technicians, process optimisers, quality managers, production managers and managing directors in the automotive, technical moulding, teletronics, packaging and medical industries.
Among other things, the following topics will be covered at the premiere event in March:
Plastification – what really matters
Material decomposition and its consequences
Switching over correctly
Monitoring and adjusting process parameters
Interpreting injection pressure curves
Cooling water quality and temperature control technology
Industry 4.0 – challenges and opportunities
The topics will be discussed in presentations and short talks with the objective being to provide attendees with food for thought and encourage them to exchange experiences and information. “We will be able to say the event has been a success if every attendee can take new ideas and tips for overcoming their specific challenges back to their respective company,” says Brandstetter. Both experts from partner companies and ENGEL development and product managers will be giving talks and will be on hand for individual attendees to speak to.
ENGEL invests EUR 80 million in research and development every year, keeping an eye on challenges that are of fundamental nature as well that focus on applications. Many research projects involve partners such as raw material producers and injection moulders, and the Group also works very closely with Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz, Austria, regarding all areas of the injection moulding technology spectrum. Prof. Dr. Georg Steinbichler, the Senior Vice President of Research and Development Technologies at ENGEL AUSTRIA, is also the head of the Institute of Polymer Injection Moulding and Process Automation at JKU. “Even in standard injection moulding processes, there is still plenty of potential for improvement, and with our developments, we are continuously trying to leverage this and make it accessible to injection moulders. Access to this knowledge is crucial to injection moulders if they are to remain competitive in the long term,” as Prof. Dr. Georg Steinbichler emphasises. “That will be confirmed again by ‘inject – the injection moulding forum’. Our networks also have the important effect of helping to make our industrial locations more competitive.”
