Plastics & Rubber World - November/December 2019 - 10

The Arburg stand at K 2019

Future forward
Colin Tirel is managing director of injection moulding machine manufacturer Arburg in the UK

A review of what Arburg demonstrated at the K 2019 polymer trade
show and how this relates to future industry trends

his year's K show, held at the Messe Dusseldorf in Germamoulding process via microprocessors. I am equally
ny, was my eighth such event with Arburg since I joined
conscious that connectivity of equipment through
online support services may not have made
the company 21 years ago. It is by far the largest trade
fair which the company attends.
equivalent steps forward. This is clearly going to
As with previous shows, there were some common
change in the near future.
themes. Driven by various inﬂuences, technical or otherIn addition, we used the arburgGREENwise, these highlighted how our industry is responding
world display to demonstrate virtual and augto wider market forces.
mented reality. This will play an important role
While the K show is a superb opportunity to introin future training and machine diagnostics.
duce the latest technological innovations, I thought it
Essentially, this oﬀered a structured and prowas remarkable how the focus was placed on the 'road to
active approach to achieving the circular economy.
digitalisation' and connectivity between us and our cusIt is based on four pillars: 'Green Machine', for eftomers.
ﬁcient machine technology, 'Green Production', for
It was particularly striking that in addition to
resource-friendly production, 'Green Services', coverthe Arburg machine and automation teching the transfer of expertise, and 'Green Environnologies that you would expect to see
ment', for Arburg's internal processes.
Given the recent global media
at an exhibition of this type, we precoverage about plastics, customers
miered an extensive range of cusappreciated the focus on this toptomer-focused, 'internet of things'
ic and the opportunity to ﬁnd out
services under the banner 'arburgXmore about what Arburg - and other
world'.
companies - are doing to address relatThe display featured 11 interactive
ed issues.
stations which allowed visitors to access
It's no diﬀerent from the experience
a variety of new apps oﬀered via a cusvisitors have when they tour the Arburg
tomer portal. Included were 'Machine
The K show is a superb
facility in Lossburg, Germany, but it's great
Finder', for ﬁnding the optimum machine
to be able to oﬀer those same ideas and
for the job, 'Virtual Control', for simulating
opportunity to introduce
processes to the wider plastics industry.
machine control systems, and 'Self Serthe latest technological
Hopefully, the internal push for improved
vice', for guided error analysis and trouinnovations
sustainability will work its way out across
bleshooting.
the plastics world and ultimately help to
For me, machine technology has made
Colin Tirel, Arburg UK
mend the material's public image.
massive advances due to control of the

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Photo: Messe Dusseldorf

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Plastics & Rubber World - November/December 2019

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