Smart Molding International 1-2020

12 newsfeed smart_molding interna ti onal 1/2020 The best products and parts are those created with holis ti cally designed devel- opment and produc ti on pro- cesses. In the best of cases, all the data on the material proper ti es and material be- havior will be available for the en ti re work fl ow. So far, however, a large number of di ff erent interfaces has hampered the fl ow of data between all those involved. Different file formats fre- quently require extensive (and hence costly) manual adjustments for data trans- fer and are thus slowing down the current progress towards industry 4.0. Sim- con – a leading supplier of simula ti on so ft ware for the injec ti on molding of plas ti c parts – has now teamed up with some 30 interna ti onal partners in the VMAP proj- ect – Virtual Material Mod- elling inManufacturing. The partners aim to draw up a uniform, manufacturer- independent standard for the op ti mal exchange of in- forma ti on in development and produc ti on employing Computer Aided Engineer- ing, or CAE for short. Sim- con’s Cadmould simula ti on so ft ware cons ti tutes a key development tool for man- ufacturing industry in the plas ti cs sector. Under the project man- agement of the Fraunhofer Ins ti tute for Algorithms and Scientific Comput- ing SCAI, the par- ti cipants are se tti ng out to improve the en ti re value chain in indus- trial production with their new standard. Smooth, au- tomated communication will signi fi cantly simplify the design process and shorten cycle ti mes in design op ti mi- za ti on. Apart from Simcon, further eminent industrial companies are par ti cipa ti ng in this ambitious project, including Audi, Bosch and Philips, so ft ware manufac- turers from various indus- tries and a number of uni- versi ti es. The VMAP project part- ners will be jointly compiling the standard in the period up to 2020. A ft erwards, the open and manufacturer-in- dependent community “Ma- terial Data Exchange Inter- face Standard” will monitor compliance with the stan- dard and proceed with its further development Fund- ing for the project is coming from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), together with other na ti onal ins ti tu- ti ons in Austria, the Nether- lands and Canada. SIMCON www.simcon.com Milacron Injec ti on Mold- ing & Extrusion, a leading in- dustrial technology company serving the plas ti cs process- ing industry, exhibited an all- electric ROBOSHOTmachine at MD&MWest. Continuing the 1999 MD&M West introduction of ROBOSHOT LSR molding and growing LSR presence, Milacron exhibited the latest genera ti on of ALL-ELECTRIC Alpha 110iA ROBOSHOT LSR molding cell. Milacron was pleased to be able to show this combination of a large platen using a small 14mm, 9cc LSR injec ti on unit integrated with an X20 SER- VOMIX dosing pump, a cold runner systemu ti lizing Flow- set cavity balancing with a 2-cavity mold, and a Nex- mover robotic demolding system by NEXUS Elastomer Systems GmbH. The 3.0 cc shot size demonstrated the capability of tackling near micro-molding LSR applica- ti ons. Drawing on 60-years of continuous development, the centerpiece of the RO- BOSHOT Alpha Series is its industry-leading reliable control. User-friendly, high- ly flexible sequencing and featuring all the standard interfaces, it delivers fast processing times and con- sistent parts quality. This ensures ultimate accuracy and exceptional reliability across all processes as well as highly precise mo- ti on, posi ti on and pressure control. Milacron is delighted to show the ROBOSHOT supe- rior accuracy and technol- ogy in associa ti on with the NEXUS’s dosing systems. Milacron will continue to leverage the shared pres- ence in Cincinna ti through their newly established subsidiary, NEXUS Elasto- mer Systems Ltd. Following the MD&M show, Milacron will o ff er turnkey solu ti ons including machines, molds, automation, dispensing units, as well as systems for thermoplas ti c technology. Milacron www.milacron.com VMAP project: Software standard to boost efficiency in product development Milacron collaborates with Nexus to demonstrate precise LSR capabilities for Roboshot