by Lara Copeland, contributing editor Plastics Business Frandsen Corporation, North Branch, Minnesota, has a family of businesses in the manufacturing and banking sectors. Each year and for each of its businesses, Frandsen creates a one-page business plan to help the companies continue to succeed. The executive leadership team spends several days together assessing what … [Read more...] about Reducing Scrap at Plastech Corporation
Process Improvement
Increase Profits and Opportunities for Growth with Data-Driven Process Cooling
by Al Fosco, Marketing Manager Frigel North America Business-savvy plastics processors have long leveraged process cooling to gain a competitive advantage. And now, with readily available machine-side cooling data, processors can take it to the next level to further increase productivity and profitability – all while ensuring the ongoing delivery of quality … [Read more...] about Increase Profits and Opportunities for Growth with Data-Driven Process Cooling
How to Become a Plastics Guru: What You Need to Know
by Jeremy Williams, Trainer/Consultant RJG, Inc. There are those who are good at what they do, and then there are those who are the absolute best. The gurus. How are they so good? What do you need to know to be on that higher level? In this article, we’re going to review several of the often-overlooked technical arenas that are vital to understand in order to become a … [Read more...] about How to Become a Plastics Guru: What You Need to Know
How Second Stage Speed Influences the Process
by Shane Vandekerkhof, Global Training & Education Integrator at RJG Hold speed or hold velocity? How many machines today have it, and how does it affect the process? The machine controller input of hold velocity started to become more and more prevalent with the onset of electrically driven molding machines. The setting tells the machine how fast to move the screw during … [Read more...] about How Second Stage Speed Influences the Process
Foaming Agents: Impact on Production Efficiency of Custom Closures
by Mike Uhrain, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, and Nick Sotos iD Additives Part lightweighting has become a major trend in plastics. Brand owners are embracing sustainability and eco-friendly initiatives and want to reduce the carbon footprint of their end products. Molders are striving to achieve these goals for their customers by producing lower-weight parts using less plastic, … [Read more...] about Foaming Agents: Impact on Production Efficiency of Custom Closures