Gather, secure and pass on experience

Whether it's tool setting, process optimisation or troubleshooting – today, there is often one thing missing at crucial interfaces in injection moulding production: experience. This is because the shortage of skilled workers hits precisely where know-how is indispensable.

ENGEL is responding to this change with two digital assistance systems in production that come into play when it counts:

• The Process checklist – for systematic and traceable optimisation

• The SolutionGuide – for confident action in the event of alarms and component errors

Both tools bring expert knowledge directly to the machine – for smooth processes, even when an expert is not always on hand. This means that even with less experience, plastic parts can be injection moulded without errors.

Production halls are running, tools are changing, new components are arriving. And this is exactly where success is decided:

• Was the tool set up correctly?

• Were all optimisation steps followed?

• Was the correct response made in the event of a malfunction – or was the system simply restarted?

In the past, experts routinely caught such errors. Today, there are less skilled workers available – and with them, often the knowledge of what is "right" and "wrong". The consequences: scrap, tool damage, production delays.

The digitalisation of knowledge is becoming the key to closing this gap.

The Process checklist is your intelligent roadmap through every optimisation. Directly in the machine control system, it guides you through all the relevant steps – from initial setup to final fine-tuning:

• Which iQ products are active?

• What has already been optimised – what is still missing?

• Which measures lead to stable series production the fastest?

Flexibly adaptable to company standards, transparently documented and ideal for shift changes or series starts under time pressure.

The result: less production time lost, more repeatability, greater reliability in the injection moulding of flawless plastic parts – even without experienced personnel.

Example: A sampling technician starts the optimisation – and his colleague can pick up exactly where he left off a few days later. No paperwork. No lost production time.

The SolutionGuide is the smart answer to typical problems that occur every day:

• The alarm sounds.

• The experienced setter is not there at the precise moment.

• The machine is simply restarted – and the error repeats itself.

That's now a thing of the past. The SolutionGuide links alarms to specific instructions: What needs to be done? Who needs to be informed? What steps are absolutely necessary?

The machine only restarts once the defined work instruction has been confirmed.

Component errors from quality control can also be integrated. If, for example, an inspector detects a moulding error, they can trigger a specific solution to the problem on the control display at the touch of a button.

The result: standardised troubleshooting, informed action – and error-free injection moulding even without years of experience. User knowledge is secured, and ENGEL now offers this option.

What used to be based on experience is now backed up by software. What used to be individual knowledge is now made available to the whole team. ENGEL brings knowledge to where it is needed: to the machine. In production. At night. At the start of series production. In the event of a breakdown. During setup.

Digitalisation creates a new level of security – so that plastic parts can be injection moulded without errors, even when there is a shortage of skilled workers.

iQ weight control plus significantly reduces the complexity of settings. The new pressure-controlled injection with iQ weight control plus reduces over 40 process parameters to two simple values: pressure and time. Less experienced employees in particular benefit from this, as the control system automatically takes over complex control tasks and stable processes become repeatable. This makes it possible to start producing precise, error-free plastic parts even without specialist knowledge.

iQ process observer shows deviations before they become a problem. iQ process observer analyses up to 500 process variables simultaneously and detects deviations at an early stage – before rejects occur. For companies with limited staffing levels, this is a real game changer: the digital assistance system thinks for itself, suggests improvements and provides a continuous overview without the need for a permanent expert to be on hand.

Parameter-Limits ensures that processes remain stable – even without constant monitoring. With Parameter-Limits, permissible tolerance ranges for process parameters can be precisely defined and stored directly in the control system. The function prevents unwanted changes by inexperienced operators and ensures that critical settings are not accidentally overwritten. This is a real safety anchor, especially in times of skilled labour shortages in production. Parameter knowledge is protected, process stability is guaranteed and plastic parts are injection moulded without errors, even with changing personnel.