Wittmann Group celebrated its 40th anniversary
Wittmann invited its customers and business partners to the company's birthday party in Vienna on 8 and 9 June.
In 1976, the design and production of Wittmann flow controllers was the starting point from which today's Wittmann Group has developed. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Wittmann invited its customers and business partners to the company's birthday party in Vienna on 8 and 9 June.
The history of the Wittmann Group is characterized by continuous growth in terms of both its corporate product portfolio and the group's geographic presence. In 1976, Dr. Werner Wittmann founded today's Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte GmbH based in Vienna to produce the flow controller developed by Werner Wittmann. Only three years later, the product range was extended by introducing Wittmann temperature controllers. In 1983, robots were added, followed by the production of dryers, material loading systems, granulators and metering devices. The takeover of Battenfeld Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH in Kottingbrunn, Lower Austria in 2008 was a milestone in the history of the Wittmann Group. By this move, the company's previous product range, consisting of robots and peripheral appliances for the plastics industry, was further extended to include injection molding machines. Major investments in product development and expansion of production facilities in the areas of injection molding machines as well as automation and peripherals, plus a global distribution network developed over many years, have made the Wittmann Group what it is today: an innovative, competent and reliable partner for its customers around the world.
At its 40th anniversary celebration, following a keynote presentation by Dr. Rüdiger Baunemann, Managing Director of PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V., on "Key Driver for Sustainability" and an impressive show act, the Wittmann Group presented to its guests its innovative products on 8 and 9 June at the Viennese exhibition center Messe Wien. The exhibits included several absolute novelties.
Unilog B8 - the new generation of control systems
10 exhibits were on display in the area of injection molding machines. An absolute highlight was the introduction of the new control system generation for injection molding machines from Wittmann Battenfeld. The new Unilog B8 sets itself apart from its predecessor generation not only by its new, attractive design and its 21.5” monitor screen, but above all by simplified intuitive operation with a multi-touch screen. In addition to the soft touch function, however, Wittmann Battenfeld has also kept some hardware keys in its control system, to provide easy access to frequently used functions. The new control system was in operation on a machine from the all-electric EcoPower series, an EcoPower 110/350, on which a fuel cap was produced from PA in a 2-cavity mold supplied by Reutter, Austria. A Wittmann W818 robot handled parts removal and depositing. Two more exhibits were also equipped with the new B8 control system, a SmartPower 120/350 Medical and a MacroPower 1100/8800, which were demonstrated on a company tour in Kottingbrunn.
The EcoPower - ideal for medical technology applications and multi-component technology
With another EcoPower 110/350, Wittmann Battenfeld highlighted its expertise in the field of medical technology. On this complete clean-room production cell, equipped with a laminar flow box from Max Petek, Germany, the central pump component of the Respimat inhaler from Boehringer Ingelheim microParts GmbH, Germany was manufactured in PEEK. The parts and the sub-runners of the hot-runner were removed by a Wittmann W837 side-entry robot. After the disposing of the runners, the components were separated by cavities.
The EcoPower on display in the Viennese trade fair hall was a multi-component EcoPower model with an insider cell. On an EcoPower 180/350H/350V, a flange was produced from HDPE and PA using a 1+1-cavity mold supplied by Polar-Form Werkzeugbau GmbH, Germany. With the insider cell, the W821 Wittmann robot for parts removal and depositing, as well as the Wittmann temperature control system and a conveyor belt, were all integrated in the machine.
MicroPower - NEW: now also in a multi-component version
Another absolute highlight of the event was the MicroPower 15/10H/10H, the first multi-component model of the MicroPower series from Wittmann Battenfeld designed for injection molding of small and micro parts. On this machine, equipped with two parallel injection units and a rotary disk, a 2-component micro part made of POM was manufactured with a single-cavity mold supplied by Ortofon, Denmark. The machine was also equipped with a fully automatic camera system and a W8VS4 Scara robot from Wittmann for fully automatic parts removal.
The second MicroPower showcased at the event also came with a novelty. This machine, a MicroPower 15/10, on which an electronic plug was made of PBT was produced using an 8-cavity mold from Küng, Switzerland, was equipped with the very first hot runner ever installed in a MicroPower.
MacroPower E Hybrid with an IML application
Furthermore, a hybrid machine model, a MacroPower E 500/2100, was exhibited in the Viennese trade fair hall. The MacroPower E Hybrid consists of a modern, servo-hydraulic 2-platen clamping unit combined with an all-electric, high-speed injection unit. This has made it possible to build an extremely compact large machine with a minimal footprint, which simultaneously offers maximum precision and energy efficiency with injection speeds of up to 450 mm/sec. On this machine, the IML process was demonstrated by manufacturing a 10-liter bucket from PP with a single-cavity mold. A high-performance IML system with a W842 pro top-entry robot from Wittmann was used for insertion and removal of the labels and stacking the buckets.
SmartPower - with Cellmould technology for the first time
Wittmann Battenfeld continued its presentation of innovative products to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a machine from its new servo-hydraulic SmartPower range, a SmartPower 240/1330. For the first time an application using both the Cellmould structured foam process and BFMOLD mold technology was demonstrated on a servo-hydraulic SmartPower by producing a panel for the automotive industry with a high-gloss surface. The parts were removed and deposited on a conveyor belt by a Wittmann robot from the new pro series, a W833 pro.
Wittmann 4.0 - demonstrated on a SmartPower 25
On all exhibits shown at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Wittmann Group, networking of machines and peripherals was also implemented. A complete installation was performed on a SmartPower 25/130, the smallest model of the servo-hydraulic series. In this model, the new Wittmann Flowcon plus flow controller was also integrated in the machine. On this machine a ball filter was manufactured from PA using a 4-cavity mold supplied by Zimmermanntechnik (HK) Ltd. Hong Kong, which operates a production plant in Shenzen, China and maintains service subsidiaries in Germany, Austria and Mexico. The Flowcon takes care of closed-loop flow control as well as mold temperature control, which contributes substantially to improved product quality and production stability.
Further interesting applications
In addition to the smallest machine from the SmartPower series, the largest machine of this series was also shown in operation at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Wittmann Group. On a SmartPower 350/2250 an "organic sheet" component was produced with a single-cavity mold from Georg Kaufmann, CH. The mold was equipped with a hot runner with needle shut-off, an edge folding slider for in-mold forming of the organic sheet and a punching die to punch out an aperture in it. The automation system developed by Wittmann Robot Systeme in Nuremberg was custom-made for this application and came with a station to feed the organic sheets cut to size, a heating station to heat the organic sheets with heating elements supplied by Krelus, CH, and a multi-functional gripper with a needle gripper to pick up the heated organic sheet, and a suction unit for finished parts removal.
Finally, the Combimould process was demonstrated as well by making a drinking water closure from thermoplastic and silicone on a hydraulic HM 240/350H/350L with an 8-cavity mold supplied by ACH Werkzeugbau, using transfer molding technology. A W832 pro robot from Wittmann took care of parts removal and depositing.
During the company tour in Kottingbrunn, additional interesting machines and applications were presented to the participants. Moreover, the visitors were given an opportunity in Vienna to expand their knowledge about machinery and processes by a series of technical expert presentations.
