Wittmann Battenfeld UK’s One-Stop-Shop Proves its Efficiency
It may sound a little obvious but the best kind of injection moulding ancillary equipment today is most likely designed, manufactured and supplied by a company that also designs and makes injection moulding machines.
From the time of its April 2008 acquisition of Battenfeld, Wittmann has been such a company; designing and delivering a constant flow of moulding innovations in machines and ancillaries alike – all based on a detailed scrutiny of actual customer needs and best moulding practices.
Last year’s October 2023 Fakuma exhibition in Southern Germany saw a record-breaking number of Wittmann equipment innovations based on these criteria. New materials handling technology and temperature control units provided some of the company highlights.
In mould temperature control, for example, Wittmann’s Tempro Plus D200 EcoDrive has been designed to provide power, range and economy, all in the same package. The maximum operating temperature for this new water-based temperature controller is 200°C. These high temperatures require that any components that come into contact with the medium are made of stainless steel in order to counteract possible corrosion. Thanks to the sophisticated design, the water quality is kept constant through the use of special fine filters in the mould circuit.
The operation of the Tempro plus D200 EcoDrive has also been kept as simple as possible: This includes fully automatic cooling and mould emptying, as well as the option of recording the process data and of downloading these data via a USB interface. Last but not least, the Tempro plus D generation of temperature controllers now offers the option of integrating the device control into the control of the injection moulding machine via Wittmann 4.0.
In materials handling a number of Wittmann software and hardware innovations are now on the market: These include the E-Max 2, a next-generation compact conveying control system that can be used to implement material conveying with up to 24 conveying points and up to two vacuum circuits.
Via this new software, the central material loaders used can be connected to the central conveying control in a very simple manner, enabling a material conveying system to be set up quickly and easily. If the requirements increase, the system can be expanded just as easily to include additional material loaders.
The E-Max 2 is operated and visualized via a high-resolution 5.7″ touch display. Simple settings can be made conveniently via the display and Wittmann has designed it as the optimal solution for small to medium-sized material conveying applications.
Wittmann’s new Drymax plus series of mobile dryers have also been launched with dry air volumes of 30 and 60 m³/h, and are therefore an optimal solution for small to medium-sized material throughputs. A dew point of up to -60 °C ensures the ideal degree of drying for further processing. Depending on the types of plastic to be dried, the Drymax plus mobile dryer series can be equipped with drying hoppers with a volume of 30 to 300 litres.
In addition, Wittmann’s new EcoDrive vacuum pump has also been designed to optimise the energy consumption of all these and other central material conveying systems automatically, reliably carrying all materials to their usage point.
By using appropriate monitoring mechanisms and the associated technology of automatic EcoDrive load control, energy savings of up to 75% can be achieved, depending on the system configuration. And the flexible design of the EcoDrive vacuum pump makes it possible to use this new technology in both new and existing systems.
The one-stop-equipment-shop from Wittmann UK not only satisfies several practical and logistical criteria in the UK but also promises class-leading performance in areas such as energy saving/product payback, compact and efficient design, and user-friendly operations
In today’s business climate, energy issues are certainly key: Wittmann UK Joint MD Dan Williams says that “for decades now Wittmann has been the most energy efficient supplier for today’s injection moulders. We are happy to prove this is so – in the form of a free energy audit for potential customers. This compares the performance of any machines and equipment with our own – including materials handling and temperature control units.”
Tracy Cadman, Wittmann Battenfeld UK Joint Managing Director says that “Wittmann UK’s one-stop-shop provides convenience and value to moulding customers from one single source. It really is the only number you need to know! Going forward we are truly fortunate to be able to offer such class-leading Wittmann excellence to today’s injection moulding industry.”
Read more on Wittmann Battenfeld here.
Wittmann Battenfeld UK
01933 275777
Website
Email
