Plastics News 2017 Show Daily - October 19, 2017 - 14

14 * Plastics News, October 19, 2017

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Plastics News photos by Caroline Seidel

Arburg
Continued from Page 1
sales. He said the move to electric
cars gives the machinery maker
an opportunity, since "our job is
to provide our customers with
comprehensive support during
changes."
Injection molding also will play
a key role in the development of
lightweight engines and other
car parts, he said. Arburg's customer center at its headquarters
in Lossburg, Germany, has seven
injection presses dedicated to
lightweight construction processes, including technologies such as
fiber direct compounding as well
as the foaming processes such of
ProFoam and MuCell.
Böhm said the United States
remains Arburg's largest export
market.

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The new Allrounder 920 H from Arburg with the Gestica control panel.

The Allrounder 1120 H producing a folding stool at Fakuma.
keys with ergonomic click function and multicolored illuminated
strips.
Compared with Selogica, Arburg also said Gestica's user interface features a similar setup
and sequence programming with

Wittmann
Continued from Page 1
SmartPower press molding a
three-component part: a Playmobil
chimpanzee.
On robot news, Wittmann Battenfeld is introducing another
model in its Primus series of beam
robots: the Primus 14, with a 2-kilogram payload. The cable management system permits a compart geometry without excessive
lengths due to the power chain.
Wittmann Battenfeld is introducing the SpeedDrive option on
its Tempro plus D temperature
controller. It consists of a motor
speed-controlled pump.
Company officials also said the
Aton plus H dryer also supports

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Reprint account executive Lauren Melesio

'Gamification' comes
to press controls
Arburg said it will continue to
use and develop its Selogica control system on its injection molding machines, but its newer Gestica system is "the control system
of the future."
The Gestica control system -
shown on both the Allrounder
1120 H and 920 H - has a graphical user interface, offering a look
and feel similar to smart mobile
devices, where operators can
use "gestures" such as swiping
or zooming to manipulate the
screen. The system debuted last
year at the K show in Düsseldorf,
Germany.
"One day, there will only be
Gestica, surely, and not Selogica
anymore," Heinz Gaub, Arburg's
managing director of technology
and engineering, said Oct. 17 at
the company's news conference.
"For customers, it's important
to have the choice," he added.
Gaub said Gestica showcases
one of the company's examples
of "gamification," where the injection molding machines of the
future are operated similar to
a video game you'd play on the
Xbox: intuitively, responsively
and easily.
Gestica
features
industrial-grade multitouch technology,
a high-contrast, full HD screen,
dustproof and waterproof housing as well as integrated hardware

Vice President/Group publisher
Brennan Lafferty

interchangeable data records.
Gestica is compatible with Selogica control systems.

Small batches
As part of Arburg's practical

Georg
Tinschert
from
Wittmann
Battenfeld
standing
next to the
Eco Power
Xpress.
Plastics News
photo by
Caroline Seidel

the Wittmann 4.0 concept. The
new generation of segmented
wheel dryers are being showcased
at Fakuma.

In other Fakuma news, Wittmann
Battenfeld is introducing the G-Max
23 granulator, the latest model in
the series.

applications for Industry 4.0,
Gaub said the company is showing demonstrations of how customers' wants and needs can be
implemented in the "added value
chain," including how batch parts
can be individualized cost-effectively.
Previous examples include rocker-type light switches, office scissors and luggage tags, but Gaub
also hinted toward an example of
a customer linking the advantages
of injection molding to additive
manufacturing. Gaub declined to
name the customer and provided
few details on the project.
Gaub said the customer is an
injection molder that is providing
a consumer product using an Arburg injection molding machine
and its Freeformer machine to produce small batch sizes of one-off
parts. The process also involves
3D molding.
"Directly at the point of sale,
they have been able to integrate
their requirements into the product chain and buy their customized end product in a single-unit
batch," Gaub said.

Wittmann sales up
8 percent in 2017
Sales increased by 8 percent this
year for Austria's Wittmann Group.
The injection molding, automation and auxiliary equipment maker
with headquarters in Vienna reported total sales of more than 405 million euros this year, compared with
377 million euros in 2016.
Michael Wittmann said the company had a "very high order income"
in 2017 from nearly all of the markets it serves, including automotive,
packaging and medical technology.
The company said it also saw high
demand for all of the products in its
PowerSeries, particularly its all-electric EcoPower injection molding machines.

Sales director, Plastics News
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248-770-8315 bconnolly@crain.com
Benelux, France & Scandinavia
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Secretary Lexie Crain Armstrong
Chief Financial Officer Robert Recchia
Founder (1885-1973) G.D. Crain Jr.
Chairman (1911-1996) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr.

"We see a lot of growth on the
automation side and the peripheral
equipment side," Wittmann said.
In addition, Wittmann said the
company is experiencing a lot of
growth in Poland, Mexico, India,
Spain, France, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic.
"What is weaker is the U.K., and
I have to say countries like Brazil.
They're still not recovering for us,"
Wittmann said.
For 2018, Wittmann Group has set
a target of 440 million to 450 million
euros, a growth rate between 8 and
11 percent.
Wittmann said next year's sales
depend on low interest rates and
the currency exchange between the
euro and the U.S. dollar as well as
the Japanese yen.

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