Tinius Olsen will be an exclusive distributor of Axxicon's quick change molds in Americas

To complement its extensive materials testing products for the plastics industry, Tinius Olsen has signed an agreement giving the company exclusive distribution rights to Axxicon's quick-change mold products in the Americas. The AIM™ Quick Change Mold System is a multi-functional injection mold with interchangeable inserts, used on conventional injection molding machines and capable of producing plastic samples for quality specimen tests to international standards.

The AIM™ Quick Change Mold System fully complies with all the requirements for an ASTM or ISO approved injection mold, with strong emphasis being placed on greater standardization and uniformity of specimen tests. Tinius Olsen and Axxicon enable manufacturers operating in a global arena to ensure that a product's performance is consistent wherever it is made or sold. Today the competitive edge in the global plastics industry is becoming harder to achieve, so good and recognizable quality is more important than ever before.

Plastic properties not only depend on the size and geometry of the sample, but also on the specimen history. Processors can change test results by simply changing injection-molding parameters. Plastic properties also change, influenced by the design of the injection mold (runner length, end- or side-gated, gate size, temperature, surface etc.). However, test standards normally do not mention anything about the production of test specimens.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) solved this problem. In addition to existing test standards, others were developed for: injection molding parameters, mold design, and acquisition and presentation of data. Further ISO also reduced the amount of different samples. With only six samples, including the so-called "multi-purpose" specimen, processors can do most ISO and ASTM, tests. The new molds from Tinius Olsen/Axxicon are ideal for quickly producing these test specimens (also known in the industry as "dog bones").

Such developments are very important for all players in the plastics industry. Raw material suppliers, compounders etc., but also research and development centers, educational institutes, OEM's and molders can profit from these quality tests. Using the new ISO standards will lead to rationalization of procedures, cost reduction, and better and more consistent product quality. Moreover, processors will get worldwide comparable test results and therefore better access to expanding markets.