Smart Molding International 2-2021

17 newsfeed www.smart-molding.com As part of its continuous development, HRSflow recently launched FLEXflow Evo, a new generation technology that features reduced space requirements (cutouts) in the mold thanks to opti - mized geometry. In addition, melt pres - sure and flow rate can be adjusted even more easily thanks to the flexible control system. What has remained unchanged is the perfect part surfaces that can be achieved, even in sensitive applications such as film back-molding. The use of FLEXflow Evo in cost- reducing family molds provides par - ticular advantages. These are currently attracting great interest because they can be used to produce different parts in a single shot. To outline the potential of the system in live demonstrations, HRSflow has produced what is now the third family mold for the simultaneous production of elements of the interior door trim of motor vehicles. It shows how the filling process can be perfectly balanced and warpage largely con - trolled despite very different molded part sizes, something that has often been problematic with family molds. At the same time, it demonstrates that the flow rate, which can be set inde - pendently and precisely for each cav - ity, reliably prevents overfeeding and flash formation. HRSflow makes the three demonstrator molds available to customers for trials, material tests and training at the company's headquarters in San Polo di Piave/Italy, at the plant in Hangzhou/China or at the plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan/USA. MaurizioBazzo, President of HRSflow, comments: "Today’s automotive manufacturing environment is expe - riencing a transition phase towards a new direction: design complexity, e-car development, lightweighting and digitized driving. At the same time Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs are looking for overall cost saving processes. To obtain the next-generation high qual - ity parts and to reduce scrap rate the market will need increasingly flexible flow control for part molding optimi - zation. HRSflow is ready to face this new challenge." HRSflow www.hrsflow.com Member companies of the VDMA Plastics and Rub - ber Machinery Association expect good developments in their order intake and sales this year, according to a recent survey. "The demand for plastics and rubber machinery has changed significantly in all regions in the second half of 2020. The situation in China and Germany is assessed as particularly positive in this regard," explains Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the Plastics and Rubber Ma - chinery Association within the VDMA. "And the expectations for the development of order intake for the currently run - ning first half of 2021 are also consistently optimistic for all regions," he adds. This is also reflected in the expected sales devel - opment. Almost half of the survey participants expect an increasing sales trend for the first half of 2021; for the second half of the year, even more than half of the companies surveyed expect a better sales trend once again. "No wonder, then, that al - most half of the companies surveyed are planning to recruit again in the first half of 2021," explains Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Direc - tor of the Plastics and Rub - ber Machinery Association. "It seems as if the plas - tics and rubber machinery industry is at the start of a successful business year. We are looking forward to the next few months with anticipation in the hope that the estimates will also come true," he adds. Already at the end of 2020, the figures showed a clear turnaround in the plastics and rubber machin - ery industry. The industry had recovered quickly after the initial challenges posed by the Corona crisis, which was reflected in a significant increase in incoming orders from Oc - tober onwards. The year closed with a 7 percent in - crease in orders compared to 2019. With around 3,300 mem - bers, the VDMA is the larg - est network organisation and an important voice for the mechanical engineer - ing industry in Germany and Europe. VDMA www.vdma.org Optimism in plastics and rubber machinery industry continues in 2021