2000 PMMA/SME Tech Trend Report Evaluation For the topics listed, how useful was the information provided? Very Useful 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Useful 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Not Useful 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 For the topics listed, how useful was the information provided? Very Satisfied 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Satisfied 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Not Satisfied 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Market Forces Consolidation Full-Service Molder Globalization Electronic Business Evolving Quality Technology Electric & Hybrid Machines Micro Injection Molding Multi-Material Molding Gas-Assist Injection Molding Compounding/Molding Manufacturing Cells Tolling Process Control Materials Conclusion 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2000 PMMA/SME Tech Trend Report Evaluation Page 2 To what degree would you like to see each topic covered? Great Increase Information 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 Increase Information 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 Do Not Increase 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 For the topics listed, how would you like to see information presented? Charts Graphs Diagram Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Specification Case Equations Studies Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Reference /List Bibliography Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Market Forces Consolidation Full-Service Molder Globalization Electronic Business Evolving Quality Technology Electric & Hybrid Machines Micro Injection Molding Multi-Material Molding Gas-Assist Injection Molding Compounding/Molding Manufacturing Cells Tolling Process Control Materials Conclusion Dialogue Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 2000 PMMA/SME Tech Trend Report Evaluation Page 3 What topics would you like to see covered in the future? _____________________ Environmental Compliance _____________________ Material Selection _____________________ Mold Building _____________________ Outsourcing _____________________ Other, please specify ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ What other types of products and services can SME provide to assist you? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The healthy growth of the plastics industry has fueled optimism. In the United States alone, growth in industry revenues outpaced that in the gross domestic product. Moreover, this growth does not reflect the business sent overseas by U.S. original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Though toolmakers in the United States have experienced a downturn in the last few years as orders have moved overseas, the trend appears to be abating and with a full recovery perhaps a year or two away. There are a number of major trends affecting molders, toolmakers, equipment manufacturers, and material suppliers. These trends include: · · · · · · · · · Pooling of financial and technological resources through company consolidations and mergers Demands by OEM's for services from suppliers that were formerly provided internally Globalization of the market for both OEM's and suppliers Electronic file sharing, communications, and commerce Increasingly complex specifications and specific demands for quality Continuously evolving technology, including development of all-electric machines, micro-injection molding, multi-material molding, multi-nozzle molding, gas-assisted injection molding, and integrated compounding and molding Increasing sophistication and precision of the process control Expanding roles in the material supply chain for compounders and distributors of resins Availability of new resins having highly desirable and controllable properties, i.e. foamed materials for bottles, liquid silicone rubber, bioplastics, and microcellular foamed resins. MARKET FORCES The major force driving the plastic molding industry is the ever-decreasing life cycle of products, from concept to market. While a typical cycle use to be measured in years, it is now measured in months. This trend affects molders, toolmakers, machine manufacturers, and material suppliers in virtually every one of their activities; most important, it means that they can no longer operate as independent entities. They must cooperate, collaborate, even merge with other companies if they are to survive in today's intensely time-conscious, competitive environment. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), to meet their foreshortened product development timetables with leaner staffs than in the old days, are delegating much of the molded component design, development, and even assembly to their suppliers. In the automotive industry, for example, supplier's design, engineer, test, and deliver complete units such as instrument panels, doors, and interiors to the manufacturing plant in time for them to be assembled into the automobile. 1 For such practices to succeed, it is imperative that all members of the supply chain become involved at the earliest stages of new product development. Successful companies will be fully integrated into the OEM's product development cycle and part of its infrastructure. Suppliers will need to have expertise not only in plastics, but also in the handling metal and electronic components, and in packaging. As product development cycles are driven down by market forces, the product designer, manufacturing engineer, toolmaker, machine manufacturer, molder, and material supplier must make themselves active participants to contain costs and provide value from the concept stage. Those that do not respond will become marginal suppliers and will occupy a precarious position. Suppliers will need more complex manufacturing capabilities and a more sophisticated workforce. They will need to install more highly automated equipment and facilities such as manufacturing cells. They will also need to hire (or train) industrial designers, product designers, and engineers' proficient with computeraided design and engineering (CAD/CAE) programs. This demands larger up-front investments and will involve risk. Molders must be prepared to accept more responsibility and to respond to the additional complexity of the operation. For example, many OEMs, instead of supplying tooling with an order, now ask molders to obtain its tooling directly from a toolmaker. This practice puts added pressure on both the molder and the tooling source. To be competitive, the molder may be forced to look worldwide for a tooling source, which could then add to the project management expense. Moreover, the molder may be at a disadvantage in negotiating the best price, lacking the size and purchasing power of an OEM. Often, suppliers, in their own self-interest, will have to insist on early involvement in the product design phase to avoid difficult and, perhaps, costly situations. Without input from a molder, for example, an OEM may make design decisions that will limit the molder's ability to obtain tooling or maintain quality. More than ever, understanding what the customer, the OEM, needs is of paramount importance for the molding industry. Suppliers that satisfy those needs will be larger, more sophisticated, and definitely well capitalized. Consolidation For all the reasons above, a "bigger-is-better" mindset prevails in the industry. The number of molding companies in 1999--approximately 6000 in the United States alone--is significantly less than it was 10 years ago, and it will be still less 10 years from now. Companies are buying or merging with other companies to strengthen their resources in an age of global competition and heightened demands from customers. Still another motive for consolidation is that many customers favor large, full-service molders for the simple reason that, in their present lean state, they do not have the staff to handle many small suppliers. 2 Equipment makers, too, have consolidated for many of the same reasons. Of the twenty some major molding machine manufacturers that dominated the industry in 1989, only about half that number remain independent today as a result of mergers and acquisitions (Figure 1). Only Japanese firms have resisted the trend to consolidate, and it seems likely that even these powerful enterprises will have to accept mergers in order to survive. Equipment Supplier Consolidation 1989 1999 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Berstorff Billion Demag Ergotech Krauss Maffei Netstal Newbury Van Dorn Autojectors Cincinnati Milacron DME Johnson Controls Klockner Ferromatik Uniloy Wear Technologies Sandretto Cannon Battenfeld Engel Husky Mitsubishi Nissei Sumitomo Toshiba Ube Industries Mannesmann Milacron Cannon Group Battenfeld Engel Husky Mitsubishi Nissei Sumitomo Toshiba Ube Industries FIGURE 1. Equipment supplier consolidation. 3 Increasingly, molding companies and equipment manufacturers have come to rely on investment firms for the capital they need to grow and make acquisitions. Investment firms have ample cash to fund $250­$500 million conglomerates. But such firms are choosy about who they dispense their funds to; they primarily seek small to medium-size companies with these characteristics: · · · · · · Undervalued and underutilized assets Potential to grow through expansion of products or services Strong niche positions A history of stable earnings in a variety of economic environments Potential for profit margin improvement Low risk of technological obsolescence Investment firms generally expect to recover their investment in 3 to 7 years, depending on market conditions and the rate of return. The Full-Service Molder Today, customers expect molders to be intimately involved with a molded part's life cycle, from design through distribution. Gone are the days of "shoot and ship" molding, when a molder simply received a mold from a customer and produced parts. Instead, molders are required to invest both time and capital in projects that may or may not succeed in the marketplace. In 1999, and in the foreseeable future, the typical customer is a "lean" company that demands skills, as well as production capability when it outsources parts. To compete today and in the new millenium, molders must excel in the following areas: Technical Sales Sales people must be well versed in all aspects of manufacturing--resins, tool design, process capabilities and costs. They must be able to offer competitive advantages and cost savings just to be eligible to bid. A potential customer will first judge a molder by its salesperson's technical expertise. A knowledgeable salesperson can lock in as a supplier by showing a potential customer how to his company will provide advantages. Engineering and Tool Building Engineering staffs have been downsized and molders have to fill the void. Therefore, the molders' engineers must be expert in both part and tool design. The molder must be able to select the best molding method, select the lowest-cost tooling and resins, and assume responsibility for part handling, assembly, and packaging. 4 Equipment A molder must own a wide range of molding equipment to offer complete capability; niche molders are becoming increasingly rare. A range of machines from 50 to 750 tons with robotic removal at the press is a necessity. A molder is expected to choose and handle advanced resins with customengineered properties as a matter of course. Cash Flow OEMs have less capital today to spend on tooling, auxiliary equipment, and inventory. Therefore, they give preference to molders who have the resources to fund these costs on their own. Purchasing and Scheduling OEMs are replacing their standard purchase order policies with kanban, just in time, and pull programs, or similar systems. Molders are, therefore, forced either to stock larger inventories of products, or to offer small runs with short lead times. In either case, a molder must control inventories of both raw materials and finished products carefully and appropriately. Obviously, OEMs benefit by these practices, but molders are challenged by higher carrying costs and less efficient production runs. Warehousing To accommodate the larger inventories that have to be maintained, molders may have to add additional warehousing space. Process and Material Control Production facilities must be climate-controlled and equipped with instrumentation for statistical process control. Raw materials and parts have to be tracked and their quality documented. Quality In addition to operating standard quality assurance programs, molders must assume responsibility for first article inspection, process control studies, and material certification--activities formerly carried out by OEMs. Distribution OEMs save money by having molders deliver products directly to its customers. This means that molders have to store and ship in quantity, and manage shipping programs. 5 Assembly OEMs attempt to subcontract as much assembly work as possible. Molders therefore have to maintain plant, equipment, and personnel for assembly, separate from their molding operations. Finding enough workers presents a major challenge in today's labor market with only 4% unemployment. Contract Packaging Responsibility for packaging products now is being increasingly transferred to the molder. Packaging is a unique process, with which molders are not always familiar. It requires automated equipment that can handle a large variety of different parts, and sophisticated visual and weight-measuring systems for counting product. Case Studies Engineered Plastics Inc., a molder based in Lake City, Pennsylvania, offers two examples of full-service relationships with customers. The first is exemplified by its relationship with the Little Tikes Toy Co. Little Tikes planned to introduce more customer assembly into its products to decrease package size and its own assembly costs. The company asked Engineered Plastics, Inc. to help make the transition. The goal was to put the many parts for a toy vehicle--axles, literature, decals, hardware, and plastic components--into an inexpensive, compact, rugged, yet attractive package. Engineered Plastics' engineers first suggested a rectangular cardboard box, but found that this packaging made it difficult to distinguish products and inspect for quality. Then, the engineers hit on the idea of simply cutting off a side of the box and sealing the box with shrink-wrap plastic film--a technology with which Engineered Plastics was familiar. They experimented with different cardboard trays and plastic films to find the combination that could pass transportation and handling tests. Together they defined and documented the part-stacking method and process variables. They examined how buyers of Little Tikes' products would assemble the toys and what problems they could have, knowing that not everyone follows directions and uses the proper tools. On the basis of their findings, duplicate components were added and parts were labeled for ease of assembly. The final package met Little Tikes' cost-effectiveness requirement and found ready consumer acceptance. Today, Engineered Plastics Inc. is the sole supplier of the plastic packs to Little Tikes, producing millions of packs per year. Another customer, Royal Appliance, sought Engineered Plastics' help in fabricating the "hide-a-hose" assembly for its Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner. Royal Appliance provided tooling, not yet approved for production, from another supplier. Engineered Plastics' Engineering, Tooling, and 6 Maintenance departments worked with Royal Appliance's Quality and Engineering departments to streamline the assembly of the product, which required fairly complex operations with gluing and snap fits; one snap fit was particularly sensitive and could cause excessive stress and failure. Engineered Plastics suggested an alternative assembly method, sonic welding, and during a visit by the customer, modified one of its sonic welders, built some temporary fixtures, and welded the parts together. The first welded part demonstrated dramatically decreased stress and increased strength. With the customers' approval, Engineered Plastics modified the customersupplied molds for better weldability, modified some of the Engineered Plastics' 75­550-ton presses to accommodate the reworked molds, and built high-production fixtures and equipment. Engineered Plastics is now a leading supplier of hose products. Globalization North American customers increasingly call on offshore tooling manufacturers to fill their orders, and mold shops in the United States and Canada are feeling the sting of global competition. Offshore suppliers enjoy costs 15 to 20% less, and offer shorter lead times as well. Many mold shops in Asia have up-to-date CAD/CAM capabilities, and they run advanced machine tools (often purchased with their government's financing). The quantity and quality of their labor pool is unmatched in the industry. U.S. toolmakers can expect a surge in new orders in 2000. The National Tool Makers Association forecasts mold orders will be down 8% in 1999, but less than the 11% decline in 1998 from the previous year. While many North American and European molders and toolmakers view offshore competition as a threat, many others look on overseas markets as a golden opportunity. Such companies seek to exploit their particular strengths. For molding machine manufacturers, competing on a global basis is essential; they must not only supply equipment globally, but must also support it locally. They must maintain a local presence for troubleshooting and technical advice in major molding regions. Machine manufacturers are also using joint ventures to penetrate major markets. Demag Ergotech of Germany, for example, has formed a joint venture with Ningbo Haitian of China. The joint venture gives Demag, a manufacturer of specialty equipment such as multi-component machines, an opportunity to develop business in the vast Chinese market. Global involvement is not without its costs, of course. Travel expenses and time, specialized staff, legal expertise, overseas offices, international trade shows all add to a company's costs, but are necessary for growth. 7 Electronic Business The Internet is rapidly changing the way plastics suppliers, molders, toolmakers, and equipment manufacturers do business. Electronic communication of mail, digital drawings, CAD/CAM files, quotes, and technical marketing information is having a profound effect on the industry. Electronic fund transfer and video teleconferencing are becoming commonplace. Companies that do not learn to use computer software to conduct business will surely be left behind. Toolmakers are being asked to use customer-specific software that may not be compatible with that of its other customers. This complicates life for toolmakers, adding to their expenses and fragmenting their operations. Nevertheless, they must adapt to this practice in order to survive. Evolving Quality Concepts A few years ago, the conventional wisdom in the plastics industry was that manufacturers could achieve any two of the attributes of short lead time, low cost, and high quality--but not all three simultaneously. Today, most companies acknowledge that they must satisfy all three to remain competitive. It takes skills, knowledge, and equipment to do so. Customers expect molders to accommodate a variety of quality concepts. Quality assurance systems are no longer limited to the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 standard. Promulgated in 1987, the ISO series of standards (ISO 9001, 9002, and 9003) specify the elements a quality system should contain, although they do not specify how a company should implement the elements--that is up to the company itself. The newer ISO 14000 addresses environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental labeling, environmental performance evaluation, and life-cycle assessment. Of special interest to a large segment of the plastics industry is the growing acceptance of QS9000 as the criterion by which suppliers to the automotive industry are measured. Beyond the ISO standards, as globalization of the plastics industry proceeds, other European standards are being adopted worldwide, such as AVSQ from Italy, VAQF from France, and VDA 6 from Germany--all based on QS9000. Furthermore, many companies are pushing their quality levels higher by adopting various quality indexes such as six sigma, parts per million, and defects per million, designed to measure the degree to which a process is in control. In addition, real-time inspection and feedback and feedback to the production floor help molders achieve high quality goals by preventing defects before they occur. Material suppliers, too, are benefiting from new quality approaches. OEMs' shrinking product development timetable demands that new materials be defined, qualified, and brought to market in weeks, not months. The design for six-sigma concept can play a critical role in the process. Development of new materials is 8 becoming a predictive process based on "critical-to-quality" (CTQs) customer requirements. Material suppliers work closely with their customers and with their own suppliers in an infrastructure relationship to ensure that new materials meet their CTQs. Six sigma resin manufacturing processes are likely to be standard in the near future. This means that a resin manufacturer must be 99.9997% perfect. Stated another way, the manufacturer is allowed only 3.4 defects in 1 million opportunities. Instead of striving to make better products, six sigma manufacturers test and analyze thousands of variables to find out why some lots of material are good and others are bad. Instead of relying on the traditional guesstimates and gut instincts, they seek data based solutions. TECHNOLOGY Electric and Hybrid Machines Electric machines--presses that are operated by electric motors and servo drives, without hydraulic oil--are rapidly gaining acceptance among molders, especially for making small, high-volume parts. Lower operating costs, better efficiency, high precision, reduced maintenance, less noise, and environmental friendliness are among their important advantages. Several molders have found it practical to run electric machines around the clock, with many hours per day of unmanned operation, so great is their accuracy and repeatability. A key force in the increased use of electric machines is the falling cost of electricity. Future electricity costs are likely to be significantly lower than the rates charged in 1998, which were already less than one-third those of 1981. A major reason for the drop is the spread of deregulation in the electric energy industry. Further deregulation will improve plastic molders' efficiency, save them money, and help them stay competitive. Experts estimate that, in the state of Connecticut alone, industry will save 10% on electricity costs in 2000. At K '98 (Internationale Messe Kunstoff and Kautschuk), a major exhibition of new equipment, all electric and hybrid machines were a focus of attention. (Hybrid machines are basically hydraulic, but utilize electric servos, which help to reduce energy and noise.) Most all-electric equipment suppliers promoted their capabilities in such applications as connectors, medical components (including microparts from surgically implanted hearing aids), digital video disks (DVDs), and smart cards. Machines are readily available with clamping forces up to 250 MT, and 1000-MT. All-electric machines are in development. The number of electric machine suppliers has burgeoned in the last 10 years. From only a few, such as Fanuc (Cincinnati Milacron) and Nissei, in 1989, the number grew to well over a dozen in 1999. Companies such as Arburg, Battenfeld, Boy, Demag Ergotech, Engel, HPM Hemscheidt, JSW, Krauss Maffei, Milacron, Mitsubishi, Netstal, Nigata, Toshiba, Toyo, Ube Industries, and Van Dorn Demag joined the ranks. 9 Micro-Injection Molding A direct beneficiary of the high precision afforded by electric machines is microinjection molding, a process in which miniature plastic parts, weighing usually only tenths of a gram, are injection molded. Among the many applications of this new technology are sensors for automotive systems, read-write sensors for computers and telecommunications equipment, and medical components such as microsurgery instruments and implantable pumps. The growth potential for such molded products is enormous; the market is currently $21 billion worldwide, and is predicted to grow to $45 billion by 2002. The technology poses difficult challenges to molders, however. Among them: · · · · · · Special equipment is needed for inspection, since defects cannot be seen by the naked eye. Process control, particularly maintaining mold temperature, is critical. Part handling, including part separation and part packing; require special measures because of the parts' small size and fragility. Clean room environments may be necessary for some parts, such as those for medical applications. Again because of the parts' small size, tool design--particularly the design of sprues, gates, and runners--demands special attention. Long residence times are required to mold materials into extremely small parts. Within the last year, several injection molding equipment manufacturers have begun to address these issues, among them Battenfeld, Boy, Demag Ergotech, Ferromatic Milacron, Murray, and Nissei. Battenfeld's Microsystem 50/2, for example, is a 5-ton electric molding machine that combines molding, automated part removal, inspection, and packaging, all under clean room conditions. The shot size ranges from 0.45 to 1.25 grams. Part weight can be less than 0.1 gram. To reduce cycle time, the machine uses a fixed mold platen and eliminates a sprue and feed system entirely. The servo-driven rotary mold further reduces cycle time by 50%, since one set of parts can be molded while another set is ejected. Murray's micro-injection molding machine, Sesame, molds parts as small as 1 mm3 with a wall thickness of only 0.025 mm. It is used primarily for medical products. Boy's model 12A features a needle in the screw to eliminate the problems of bypasses and dead corners in screw preplastication units. Ferromatik Milacron's micro-injection machine, developed in a joint venture with a German company, develops clamp forces up to 140 tons. It can mold parts weighing from 0.001 to 3 grams. The length-to-diameter ratio of the screw was modified to reduce residence time for material in the barrel. 10 Nissei's 7-ton machine is portable; it can be moved around the shop on a cart. Demag Ergotech plans to introduce its first micro-injection molding machine this year. Multi-Material Molding Multi-material technologies, whose variations include in-mold decoration, in-mold lamination, co-injection, over-molding, and two-component molding, offer the key advantages of reduced manufacturing steps and unique combinations of properties. They can provide heat-resistant, chemical-resistant, soft-touch, and aesthetic surfaces directly from the mold. They eliminate many handling and secondary operations that add cost and introduce defects. In-mold decorating, for example, spurred by the automotive industry's unwillingness and inability to expand costly paint lines, will be widely practiced within 10 years as a means of providing finished products. Multi-material technologies give molders an opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors and to add value to products. However, they must take into account differences from conventional molding in product development criteria, material requirements, and process capability. The most significant differences are in equipment requirements for two-component molding, over-molding, and coinjection molding. The most obvious is the need to deliver two materials to the mold. A variety of techniques are available to do this. For co-injection molding there are the traditional multi-channel nozzle that sequences injection of the two materials in the required manner and newer techniques such as using manifolds in the mold to split the materials before they go into the cavity or using the "monosandwich" technology commercialized by Engel. Over-molding and two-component molding require specific tooling. For these last two processes, the two (or more) materials are injected into different cavities that must be opened and closed between each injection. All of this comes at extra cost, of course. Multi-component machines cost from 40 to 100% more than traditional machines. Multi-component molds cost from 25 to 100% more than traditional molds and they usually take longer to design, develop, and make. Many companies are collaborating to develop commercially viable multi-component systems. Engel, for example, working with BASF, Senoplast, and Röhm, demonstrated a paint-free auto body panel at K '98. A three-layer co-extruded film is thermoformed and trimmed, placed robotically into the mold, and back-molded with a PC/PBT material. The result is an out-of-the-mold "paintless" part, ready for assembly without further finishing. Multi-component molding offers almost unlimited possibilities for making decorated products of high quality in a single operation in large quantities. Battenfeld and Hettinga have been leaders in developing and promoting this technology. Injection 11 molding can be combined with recycled materials in the core, internal gas injection, and low-pressure foam processes. Textile or carpet backing can readily be included. Playmobil, the German toy manufacturer is another innovator in multi-component molding, particularly in multicolor and foamed parts. In 1999, the company is investing heavily in multicolor molding machines, including a four-color system. In co-extrusion molding, Cincinnati Milacron Austria is promoting a twin-parallelscrew extruder with a throughput of more than 1700 pounds per hour of PVC and foamed PVC. The screws' length-to-diameter ratios can be varied up to a value of 26 by adjusting the screw lengths. Other opportunities for multi-component molding abound. For example, thermoplastic connectors with thermoset silicone gaskets can be molded in place, reducing handling, secondary operations, rework, and costs. Glazed polycarbonate automotive side and rear windows can be made with two-component or co-injectionmolded blackout trim. But to achieve such products, manufacturers will have to work with their infrastructure suppliers to provide cost-effective equipment, materials, tooling, and manifold systems to deliver required material combinations. Another version of multi-material technology is "hybrid molding," in which metal and plastic components are integrated to make large structural parts that feature the best performance of both types of materials. An example is Bayer's hybrid system made of deep-drawn perforated sheet metal that has been inserted into an injection machine and sheathed with a suitable plastic. Auto front ends are being made by this technology. Multiple-Nozzle Molding Since its inception over 30 years ago, multi-nozzle low-pressure molding has been the dominant method of making large structural foam parts in North America. The multi-nozzle process molds over 80% of all structural foam parts. Although structural foam is a small segment of the overall thermoplastic injection molding industry, it has grown substantially in the last 10 years. In 1998, multi-nozzle production capacity grew by more than 400 million pounds per year--a 20% increase. The trend continues in 1999. In order to meet the demand, structural foam molders are buying machines with larger platens, larger shot capacity, and higher-output extruders. Many new machines use multiple extruders and can handle two colors. Among the principal features of these machines are · · · · · Large platens: 86 by 89 inches to 110 by 200 inches Large shot size: 75 to 300 pounds Low clamp force: 400 to 2500 tons Long stroke and daylight: up to 120 inches and 180 inches, respectively. Many nozzles and locations: Up to 80 nozzles on 6- by 6-inch centers, in up to 400 possible locations 12 · · Low injection pressure: 6000 psi maximum High-output extruders: 1000 to 5000 pounds per hour A good example of multi-nozzle capability is a folding container made by Ropak (Figure 2). Five containers with six sidewalls each are made simultaneously in a machine with a superwide platen (186 by 88 inches). A total shot weight of 75 pounds is injected through 24 nozzles. The machine produces 15 containers (90 parts) per hour, each measuring 45 by 48 by 34 inches when fully assembled. FIGURE 2. A worker assembles a folded container by rotating the sidewalls into position. All sidewalls are molded simultaneously, along with those for four other containers, in a multi-nozzle machine. Stacked Molds The multi-nozzle process readily lends itself to stacked molds, increasing productivity without any increase in platen size. A stack mold has two or three cavities stacked directly behind each other and nozzles of different lengths inject material into the cavities. It takes up less space on the platen and requires less clamping force than conventional molds. Brite Millwork for example, stack-molds two 48 by 96-inch lattices on a 400-ton multi-nozzle machine. The machine produces 50 lattices per hour. Snider Mold designed a three-cavity stack mold that makes three lids, 52 inches in diameter, for 500-liter water tanks in the same cycle. The stack mold and a mold for the water tank run in the same 1000-ton wide-platen machine, which produces 24 tanks and 72 lids per hour. Take-Out Automation Molders are ordering a greater number of multi-nozzle machines with automatic part take-out systems. Usually, part take-out robots are linear devices with three or four axes, moving overhead or coming in from the side. Less expensive units are available that take parts out from under the platens; however, in many cases there is not enough clearance for under-platen takeout, depending on the size of the part and the required stroke. The take-out 13 robots on multi-nozzle machines have some of the highest lifting capacities available, around 200 pounds. The end-of-arm tooling on these robots must be versatile to accommodate a variety of part sizes and shapes. Machine Improvements About half the multi-nozzle machines sold can run both low-pressure structural foam and low-pressure gas-assist mold technologies. When such machines are equipped with multiple extruders, they not only can mold parts of different color on the same press, but they also run structural foam and gas-assist parts at the same time. Moreover, quick mold change systems are now in development and should be available in 2000. These systems have been a boon to conventional injection molders, but have not been directly adaptable to multi-nozzle machinery. Now, however, machine manufacturers are designing quickchange systems to accommodate stacked molds, large hot runner manifolds, and multiple nozzles. Gas-Assist Injection Molding The value of gas-assist injection molding has been demonstrated in a wide range of plastic products (TV cabinets, auto bumpers, auto door hardware modules and mirror housings, and CD-ROM trays) including those that have been traditionally manufactured in metal. The process yields improved dimensional stability, reduced weight, and superior surfaces. A versatile and flexible technology that can produce complex components, gas-assist injection molding is fast becoming a mainstream process rather than a niche technique. Molders in North America, more than in other parts of the world, have been quick to take advantage of the full capabilities of gas-assist injection molding, particularly its ability to integrate functions and make large parts. They plan to use the technology to produce automotive chassis and front ends, fan blades, water sport and recreational components, and thin-wall housing for computer and telecommunications equipment in the near future. Licensing is required for both development and manufacturing using gas-assist injection molding. When the gas-assist injection process controls are integrated into the injection molding machine when it is manufactured (now the exception rather that the rule), the technology license is included in the purchase price. In all other cases, the license must be negotiated when the independent control system is acquired from the supplier. Two-platen machines, because of their larger platens, are better suited to gas-assist injection molding than traditional three-platen machines. The low-pressure process allows larger parts to be molded for a given clamp tonnage. A potential difficulty will be providing sufficient barrel capacity to deliver the required volume of melt. 14 Compounding/Molding Manufacturers of large parts such as material-handling pallets, trash containers, or bumper beams can now employ integrated compounding/molding systems, in which a compounding extruder is coupled with a multi-station-molding unit. Such systems incorporate appropriate additives into the melt and feed it to multiple injection units. Their advantages are that the melt is heated one less time, glass-fiber breakage is reduced, and lower-cost neat resin can be purchased in bulk. However, they are difficult to change over to another material and suitable only for high-volume applications. Manufacturing Cells Complex, high-volume products such as CDs, DVD, and smart cards have demonstrated the value of manufacturing cells, in which decorated, tight-tolerance parts are insert-molded from several materials and automatically removed from the mold, tested, and prepared for handling. Micro-molding and other applicationspecific technologies in the automotive, medical, personal care, and electronic markets will further drive the development of manufacturing cells. A major opportunity for manufacturing cell development is in manufacturing automotive manifolds. Lost-core molding, the technology originally proposed for making plastic manifolds, has been impeded by high cost, a large space requirement, long development cycles, and limited flexibility. Now, however, manufacturing cells can combine injection molding with ultrasonic or vibrational bonding or over-molding to ensure complete sealing of the product. Such cells offer a flexible, low-cost way of producing these parts. Manufacturing cells are usually set up and operated by molders in OEMs' assembly plants. The OEM and the molder--and other members of the infrastructure--use their "core competencies" in a synergistic relationship to optimize the new product development/manufacturing process. Tooling To keep pace with OEMs' accelerated new product development schedules, technologies that reduce tooling lead times are highly prized and under intense development. In markets such as computers, personal electronics, and consumer products, life cycles are shrinking rapidly and approaching sox months. They will demand tooling lead times of two to four weeks instead of two to four months. Toward this end, manufacturers are attempting to capture experienced moldmakers' knowledge in a database that can be drawn on for automated manufacturing in knowledge-based machining (KBM). Such databases will go far to ease the worldwide shortage of experienced moldmakers and shorten lead times. 15 KBM is being combined with other computer-based technologies: · · · · Computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM) Manufacturing feature recognition (MFR) Automatic numerical control (ANC) Knowledge of stock remaining (KSR) Together, these technologies provide a machining strategy and a process plan that automatically adapts to any new geometry and follows safe, efficient tool paths. They enable less experienced machinists to create high-quality products quickly. Rapid prototyping technologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography, laminated object manufacturing (LOM), and fused deposition molding (FDM) are being used to produce molds that make parts in increasing volume--not just prototype quantities, but market introduction quantities and even ranging up to runs of 1 million parts. Continued advances in rapid prototyping technologies are overcoming the tolerance and size limitations of the earlier techniques. A key element in optimizing manufacturing productivity, of course, is molding cycle time, and here too tooling technology is advancing rapidly. Conformal cooling channels, higher thermal conductivity molds, and advanced finite element analysis that generates temperature distributions in molds are being combined to reduce cycle time and increase production over 50%. Process Control Automatic control of the molding process continues to advance. Under development are wireless-telemetering devices that convey process data (temperature, pressure, flow rate) at two megabits per second--69 times faster than today's devices. With such abundant and timely data, controllers will automatically correct drift in processes before the product goes out of specification. These devices will also alert maintenance people when a machine malfunctions so those machines can be restored to service with minimum downtime. The maintenance people will not have to be based in the plant; in fact, the availability of continuous remote telemetering technology is likely to encourage molders to hire centralized service contractors. Much like a security agency, service contractors would keep track of machine performance from their own offices and dispatch a service crew the moment trouble occurs. Molders could then focus their resources on developing and manufacturing products rather than on machine repair. Video-based control systems are growing more powerful and less expensive, and are likely to become standard equipment on molding machines. Video systems can detect such conditions as short shot loads and tool wear or damage. Like data monitors, they enable molders to correct molding defects before they go out of specification. 16 Multi-nozzle structural foam machinery has benefited from process control improvements as much as conventional injection molding machines. For example, on Uniloy Milacron's multi-nozzle machines, closed-loop control of sequential injection is now standard. Up to 12 different injection sequences are subject to closed-loop (feedback) control of shot size and injection speed. Resin can be added to or subtracted from each shot without affecting the other shot controls. Moreover, shot size is repeatable within 0.5%. The closed-loop control maintains repeatable injection times and compensates for variations in polymer viscosity due to material and temperature changes. In a technological breakthrough in multi-nozzle molding, a new independent sequential nozzle control system is being introduced on Uniloy Milacron's 1999 SF machines. Every nozzle (up to 80 nozzles on some machines) has independent hydraulic and electrical controls for sequential, synchronized opening and closing. Nozzles can now be opened and closed as a function of shot position, so that material flow distribution can be controlled not only between different mold cavities but also inside each mold. For example, nozzles can be programmed to open in a cascading pattern so that material flows in a wave across the mold, thereby eliminating weld lines and reducing cavity pressure. All nozzles can then be closed in sequence to prevent overpacking in specific areas, thereby reducing part weight, flashing, and stress. MATERIALS Consolidation is affecting material suppliers as much as it is molders and equipment manufacturers. For example, Ticona has been seeking a buyer or merger partner. Dow Plastics formed an alliance with Solutia, gaining access to nylon 66. Solutia, meanwhile, sold its ABS operation to Bayer. And BASF signed a letter of intent to acquire DSM's ABS business. Global supply capability will continue to be a basic requirement for anyone who hopes to sell to world-scale OEMs like HewlettPackard, Apple, Cannon, and Toyota. Compounders and distributors are playing more important roles in the material supply chain. While large resin suppliers focus on large-volume customers, specialty materials for high-performance applications are providing opportunities for custom compounders. Distributors who can satisfy the broad product profile of several manufacturers are claiming a larger share of the material market. The key issues for material suppliers are speed, quality, and price, with speed being critical. OEMs' shrinking product development timetables demand that new materials be defined, qualified, and brought to market in weeks, not months. The six sigma concept figures strongly in this process (see "Evolving Quality Concepts," above). More and more, material and processing consultants are being called on for support in new material development and troubleshooting. Their support continues through product development and manufacturing start-up. 17 As the six sigma concept becomes established in resin manufacturing, suppliers will have the technology to append to each shipment a disk, chip, or bar code containing information about the properties the specific batch. Users will transfer the information to "smart" controllers that will select the appropriate molding conditions for that batch, so that quality parts are produced from the start, without trial and error. Meanwhile, molders have been quick to exploit the new resins that continually appear on the market, often in collaboration with customers, mold makers, and material suppliers. Wella Germany, a shampoo company, last year introduced the first foamed HDPE bottle made by a blow-molding process. The bottle weighs 28% less and costs 20 to 24% less than its non-foamed predecessor. The bottle was developed in a joint project with molder and additive supplier Boehringer Ingelheim. The collaborators adapted the temperature profile, blowing pressure, and other process conditions to accommodate the new material. (Boehringer Ingleheim sold its additives section to Clariant at the end of 1998.) Dow Corning Germany, GE, and Bayer are supporting and guiding customers in the use, processing, and handling of liquid silicone rubber (LSR). The resin offers highly favorable heat stability, aging, electrical, chemical, and physiological properties. It is available in shore hardness from 20 to 70, and in a variety of grades including electrically conductive, flame-retardant, and oil-resistant. Machinery manufacturers in Europe, North America, and Asia have developed equipment for the resin. It has already gained wide acceptance, and even greater popularity is expected in the future. "Bioplastics"--resins that yield woodlike parts when molded--have been introduced by IFA/Cincinnati Milacron Austria under the trade names Fasal and Faslex. They combine wood fibers with thermoplastic resin, with the fibers dominating the formulation. The molded products are used in construction, furniture, and other industries as a wood replacement. Trexel U.S.A. has introduced microcellular foam under the trade name MuCell. The foam is compatible with polystyrene, polypropylene, HDPE, and other resins and with injection-, extrusion- and blow-molding technologies. Multi-nozzle, as well as conventional machines can be adapted to MuCell. The MuCell molding process uses nitrogen or carbon dioxide supercritical fluids to produce small, uniform cells in the range of five to 50 micrometers. The smaller and more uniform bubble size in the foam reduces part weight by up to 40% and i