Production line sustainability

Interview with Dr. Karlheinz Bourdon, Senior Vice President Technologies in the injection moulding technology segment of the KraussMaffei Group, responsible for the KraussMaffei and Netstal brands. The Munich-based group manufactures machinery and systems for the production and processing of plastics and rubber.

Dr. Bourdon, there is much talk of functional integration in injection moulding technology these days. But it is nothing new, is it?
Dr. Karlheinz Bourdon: People have been aware of the functional integration process for a very long time. That is precisely what multi-component technology is, and it is a long-established feature of injection moulding. I am convinced that new materials and new processes will now enable us to make major advances in functional integration too. We can combine other materials with the most varied manufacturing processes. That is what is genuinely new, what did not exist in this form before.

What are the limits to functional integration?
Dr. Bourdon: I don’t see any limits from a technical point of view. The question is always whether it makes economic sense. In the end, we are talking about the cost of making parts. If costs can be reduced by using functionally integrated parts or processes, they will be used, but not otherwise. In the foreseeable future we will be able to combine more materials, and that will open up completely new applications.

What does KraussMaffei offer that is new in this field?
Dr. Bourdon: Our focus recently has been on what we call the ColorForm process. This allows very high-quality surfaces with very different structures to be produced directly inside the mould. First, the thermoplastic substrate is injection moulded. Then a coating system is applied consisting of a polyurea or polyurethane PUR and the desired surface structure produced on the injection-moulded part. This is a multi-component injection moulding process where one of the injection moulded components is none of the usual thermoplastics but a PUR coating system. This is virtually a twofold functional integration. On the one hand we apply a high-grade coating to a component, while on the other we also combine two different technologies, the reaction process and the injection moulding process, in one machine.

The IMKS process (integrated metal/plastic injection moulding) is another excellent example of functional integration. At Fakuma, KraussMaffei will be using a CX 80 Hybrid to demonstrate how strip conductors with press and hold functions can be directly integrated into a thermoplastic component. We are not only combining two different materials but at the same time integrating their functions efficiently.

How many applications are you already using the ColorForm process for?
Dr. Bourdon: We are only just beginning to introduce this technology on to the market. But the motor industry is showing a great deal of interest in this process for both outside and interior applications. The next two to three years will show how many production-line applications there are. I am very confident that the ColorForm process will take hold quite quickly. But the applications are not limited to the motor industry.

Does the ColorForm process also contribute to sustainability?
Dr. Bourdon: Definitely. This process does away completely with the coating process that conventionally follows injection moulding. The main advantage, both economically and ecologically, is the massive reduction in rejects and hence greater efficiency in the use of materials. The normal coating process often produces a large number of rejects owing to impurities, for example. If you want to prevent that, you have to invest in very expensive equipment. Coating is also very expensive in terms of energy. You have to make the plastic part in any case, then you have to dry it with warm air in the paint shop. Using the ColorForm process avoids that.

Do not highly integrated processes carry the risk that any faults that occur are harder to put right?
Dr. Bourdon: We have basically the same problem with interlinked processes. If one unit fails, the whole plant ceases to operate. But if complex systems are to operate reliably it is important to have very good controls. That would include having the automation components already integrated into the machine. But we are also working on some very interesting process controls where certain disruptive factors, such as variations in the viscosity of the material, can be compensated by modifying the parameters.

What part do composites play in functional integration?
Dr. Bourdon: Fibre-reinforced plastics, whether using glass fibres or carbon fibres, have very good mechanical properties while at the same time being very light. This makes them suitable for a range of applications that cannot be covered to the same extent using plastics without composites. Functional integration comes into play when you combine this material-based lightweighting with design-based lightweighting. If a clever design is combined with the right material, I would call that successful functional integration.

KraussMaffei also produces its high-tech machinery in China. How great is the demand for these highly integrated, complex systems in that country?
Dr. Bourdon: We are seeing quite generally a trend towards ever more complex production cells. The level of automation is steadily increasing. In China, automation is already increasing today and it is only a question of time before highly complex automation is in demand there too.

But the Chinese themselves are going all out to develop high-tech machinery. Will foreign manufacturers have any opportunities there at all in the future?
Dr. Bourdon: There is something special about Central European suppliers. They understand customizing far better than anyone else. That is also one reason why a lot of Chinese customers like to buy European products. This special ability of tailoring products and processes precisely to customers’ requirements, and to do so efficiently and cost-effectively, is a characteristic of European suppliers that is not found in China. KraussMaffei has always been very process-driven. That is one reason why we are very well positioned in some fields there in China. We need to develop that. Then I am sure that we will be able to maintain our leading position.