At the co-located MD&M West and Plastec West events in Anaheim, CA, earlier this month, a panel discussion on plastics injection molding focused in part on the ways in which elements of Industry 4.0 and technology as a whole have helped to improve operational efficiency and product quality. In a session titled "Solving Today's Challenges in Injection Molding for the Medical Device Industry," the three panelists, all of whom have extensive molding and manufacturing experience, shared their perspectives on Center Stage. One of the primary challenges, according to the first speaker, Alan Sundheimer, Vice President of Development and Technology at PMC Smart Solutions, is figuring out how to deal with an endless stream of data.

Data, data, and more data everywhere. What are we going to do with it?
Injection molders are bombarded with information. According to Sondheimer, the challenge is in identifying the data that matters without bias and then putting it to use in an effective manner.

According to Sondheimer, “we must challenge all of the data — both the data we prefer and the data we don’t prefer — and correlate that with output.”In the case of PMC Smart Solutions, a full-service contract molder, plastic injection molding parts, and manufacturer that serves the medical device and automotive industries, advanced mold simulation software and materials databases are used to evaluate components and assemblies before they are manufactured. He explained that this information is fed into the molding process, which is used to develop parts and tooling.

FLASH IN INJECTION MOLDING

“We begin 3D printing the components and conducting measurement system analyses the day after we are awarded a contract.”As a result, there is increased confidence in the measurement system,” Sundheimer explained. It also generates information. Then there's the instrumentation, which includes pressure sensors, temperature sensors, and so on. Secondary operations, such as ultrasonic welding, plastic injection molding pad printing, and packaging, are also incorporated into the process. In order to achieve the goal of data collection and correlation, Sondheimer and his team are working on data storage and retrieval. The amount of information available is enormous, and it is necessary for us to standardize the way in which we score and evaluate it. He explained that this necessitates the use of experimental techniques, in which PMC Smart Solutions has gained expertise.

“We collect information on a cycle-by-cycle basis,” says the researcher. In order to ensure that we can monitor the process involved in every injection molding shot, every process, and every cycle,” Sundheimer explained, “we're collecting inputs and outputs from every injection molding shot, every process, and every cycle.”

He went on to say that automation can aid in increasing confidence in both the data and the output. In Sundheimer's opinion, "all the data in the world will be of no use if we don't know that the output is satisfactory."

Improvements in process efficiency are achieved through system integration.
Every manufacturer's goal is to maximize efficiency and quality while minimizing downtime. But how does one go about achieving this goal? Ethan Bruyn, Manufacturing and Technology Leader at Medbio, believes that integration is the key to success. From temperature control units and hot runners to robots and peripheral equipment, he told MD&M West attendees, "we strive to simplify everything through integration and make it as simple as possible for a technician to start the job."