close to the customer. open to innovation.

How can you achieve maximum economy in injection moulding, while at the same time minimising energy consumption? Which mega trends will the future bring to the plastics industry? Answers to these and other questions are the focus of the ENGEL Symposium 09 – on 27th and 28th May 2009 in St. Valentin and Linz. In keeping with the catch phrase "close to the customer. open to innovation" ENGEL will be presenting 17 innovative exhibits that focus on high productivity and low energy consumption..

New applications, increasingly exacting requirements placed on the machines, and shorter lifecycles change the injection moulders production conditions and test the machine manufacturer's innovative ability. The change in the economic landscape over the past few months is a major new factor. The use of energy-saving machines and energy saving systems is increasingly in the injection moulder's focus. And this makes it all the more important for the machine manufacturer to face these challenges and offer correspondingly innovative solutions for injection moulders.

close to the customer. open to innovation. Customer proximity and openness to innovations. This is what the ENGEL Symposium 09 stands for. Being close to the customer and knowing the customer's specific market requirements are the basis for innovation. Innovations that improve economy and efficiency are at the heart of the matter. At the Symposium, ENGEL will be exhibiting a cross-section of our product portfolio. Jam packed with innovations that give you economic injection moulding to the max: from the fully-electric compact machine through to large-scale machines with sophisticated multiple component injection moulding - a total of 17 solutions from our five main industries: automotive, packaging, teletronics, medical and technical moulding.

For even more efficiency: ENGEL duo pico with ecodrive
One of the absolute highlights is the new ENGEL duo pico – equipped with the energy-saving ecodrive system including speed controlled pumps. The variable drive motor speed helps to achieve the perfect operating point for each movement. The machine is additionally equipped with a plasticising drive. The hydraulic drive is disabled during plasticising. Compared with our main competitors, an ENGEL duo pico uses 25 percent less energy. And the ecodrive option means considerable, additional energy savings. From an energy-technology and economical point of view, this design is easily in the same range as a fully electric machine. At the Symposium, ENGEL will be demonstrating the production of a 20" TV monitor on an ENGEL duo 3550/500 pico with ecodrive as produced by Hungarian teletronics supplier, Jasz Plasztik, for a major electronics group.

Another exhibit in the teletronics field: an ENGEL e-max 310/100 producing terminal blocks.

High-Speed Injection Moulding for Packaging
The new ENGEL duo pico is also an excellent choice in injection moulding for packaging. To demonstrate this, we will be showing the manufacturing of an 8.5 litre bucket with handle on the same machine, an ENGEL duo 3550/500 pico. Also in the packaging field, an ENGEL speed 180 with a 6x mould for manufacturing egg boxes will be on display. And to prove that the ENGEL e-motion machines are not just extremely economical when you need to manufacture standard components, but also perform well at low noise levels, and achieve best-of-class efficiency in fast-running applications, an ENGEL e-motion 380 T will be on show, producing fasteners for KTW (96x mould). Extremely precise parallel action, thanks to the independent electric motors, in particular makes the machines perfect for high-speed applications.

Future Market Medical Technology
Manufacturing of COC vaccine vials using a mould by Köbelin/Eichstetten (D) on an ENGEL e-motion 200/55 demonstrates a further field of application for fully electric machines. Optimised for clean room applications, the machine has an encapsulated barrel that helps optimise particle and heat emissions, along with encapsulated injection unit drives and clean room capable, corrosion resistant mould mounting platens with clean room plating. On top of this, an oil return system at the toggle lever ensures a perfectly clean appearance while additionally helping to minimise particle emissions. The e-motion 200/55 is equipped with a KR5 articulated arm robot by Kuka.

ENGEL will be showing an absolutely new product on an ENGEL e-motion 180 T geared for high performance. Using a 32x mould by Schöttli the machine produces 2 ml thin-wall syringe cylinders in a cycle time of 6 seconds. The special thing is that, due to the part's far thinner wall-thickness, the injection moulder can realise considerable material and cycle time savings compared to legacy syringes (up to 30 percent). The machine is equipped with a laminar flow box by Petek.

ENGEL is also presenting its best-of-class system integration competence in the form of a fully integrated application for the manufacturing of PP pipette tips on an ENGEL e-max 310/75. In a cycle time of just 6 seconds, the parts are injected, monitored by cameras, and deposited on racks sorted by cavity. The benefits the ENGEL e-max offers in this application are the high-performance injection unit, as long thin cores make fast injection essential. And with all the usual e-max benefits into the bargain: fully-electric and compact, extremely economical, but still equipped with a full set of critical options.

Concentrated competence for the automotive industry
ENGEL is a long-standing technology partner to the automotive industry, and a supplier wherever manufacturers seek to produce plastic components by injection moulding. Process development, machine construction and automation are all part of ENGEL's holistic approach.

ENGEL is showing no less than six exhibits for automotive applications. Heading the field an ENGEL duo 11050H/4450M/1500 combi M demonstrating the production of an instrument panel top using the Dolphin approach. Further examples of interior applications include: a dashboard holder for VW with long fibre additive on an ENGEL duo compounder (clamping force 2300 tonnes). And: a door trim overlaid with transparent PU – produced on an ENGEL e-motion 1340/280 T with clearmelt technology.

On top of this: An LSR valve will be produced on an ENGEL e-max 200/100 LIM using a 16x mould by Elmet. To demonstrate the pressure casting of thick-walled parts, an ENGEL e-motion 200/100 (optical parts - a cooperation project of Bayer Material Science, Siegfried Hofmann Werkzeugbau and the Chair of Polymer Technology Erlangen ) will be exhibited. And: a vertical ENGEL elast 2700/400 compact-Maschine will be demonstrating the flash-free production of a bellows by ATG.

20 years of tie bar-less machines – a success story
20 years ago, a new, revolutionary design took its first steps from the drawing board to the machine shop: the first tie bar-less injection moulding machine. ENGEL set completely new standards for efficient injection moulding. At the same time, it was the start of a long success story that has continued up to the present day. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ENGEL victory range, and some 50,000 machines later, the new ENGEL victory spex is set to carry on the success story of the tie bar-less principle. This special series is on the market now, and offers convincing, tried-and-trusted tie bar-less benefits such as:

• free access to the clamping unit and thus more space
• free access to the clamping unit and thus more space

At the ENGEL Symposium, an ENGEL victory 1050/220 spex with a 4x fitting mould by Poloplast will be on show. Further exhibits from the field of technical moulding include: an ENGEL e-motion 500 T manufacturing a Kärcher housing component, and an ENGEL e-victory 310/120, demonstrating variothermal mould temperature control without time loss (cooperation project with PCCL, Camo, Borealis and Johnson Controls).

The fringe programme includes talks that reflect future-orientated trends, system integration and energy efficiency. Against the backdrop of the evening event on 27th May 2009 at the Design Centre Linz, the spotlight will be on the HL Awards Ceremony (in recognition of excellent designs using ENGEL tie bar-less machines).

This attractive programme will be accompanied by the ENGEL Partner Fair. Major players from the fields of raw materials, moulds, engineering, financing and peripherals will be presenting their products.