(Munich, June 21, 2022) The world of plastics is changing. In view of dynamic, fast-growing markets, it is important to be more agile and cost-efficient—whether you are a small startup, medium-sized company or an established corporation. KraussMaffei is responding to this trend and now offers its European and North American customers two additional injection molding machine series: the precisionMolding and powerMolding. At the KraussMaffei booth at K 2022, being held in Düsseldorf from October 19 – 26 (Hall 15, booth C15/C24-D24), they will demonstrate sustainable solutions for the toy and automotive industry.

The new precisionMolding is the basic, all-electric PX series machine with a reduced number of options, while powerMolding is the counterpart of KraussMaffei's proven hydraulic GX series. "In the basic machine concept, we offer our customers outstanding fast reaction times and thus short delivery times to enhance their efficiency and competitiveness even more. This opens up entirely new potential markets and applications for our customers. At the same time, of course, this opens up entirely new applications and groups of customers for us we have not been able to serve before," says Xiaojun Cui, Executive Vice-President New Machines Business at KraussMaffei.

Both precisionMolding and powerMolding are ideal for standard applications, for example for technical parts, electric and electronic devices, and the automotive, packaging or medical industry. The precisionMolding was introduced in Asia in 2019, the powerMolding 2021. Both series have established themselves very successfully in that region. Customers in these markets particularly appreciate the high level of precision and high performance level as well as the rapid availability and ease of operation. And this is available at an outstanding price/performance ratio. With the K 2022 launch, the precisionMolding and powerMolding are now also gaining entry into markets in Europe and North America.

Both the precisionMolding and powerMolding stand for high efficiency and profitability that meet the familiar KraussMaffei quality standards. For example, a selected range of options, including a wide variety of mold installation heights or the easy integration of automation solutions, let you configure customized system solutions quickly.

Depending on the application of the powerMolding, the boost in throughput can amount to as much as 15 percent over comparable standard injection molding machines on the market. This is ensured by the short dry cycle times, the high shot weight consistency and the associated low scrap rates. "The bottom line is that the investment pays off very quickly for our customers, precisely when compared to other standard machines on the market," explains Xiaojun Cui.

Soaring energy prices are making energy-efficient manufacturing more important all the time. Thanks to the all-electric machine design, the precisionMolding machine inherently has good energy efficiency. The powerMolding offers the proven KraussMaffei BluePower servo drive in standard models. This controls the pumps according to the optimal requirement/energy consumption. Only as much energy as necessary at the given moment is consumed. The bottom line: Depending on the application, the powerMolding offers up to as much as 40 percent higher energy efficiency over comparable standard injection molding machines on the market.

Sustainability and efficiency for the toy industry are the focus of the application of the precisionMolding 160-750 with a clamping force of 1600 kN at K 2022. The application is production of a soft tennis ball racket from 100 percent sustainable raw materials. Based on cane sugar, the biopolyethylene from FKUR not only binds CO₂ during production, but is particularly robust and durable and can be recycled up to 100 percent after use. Thus the material makes a valuable contribution to conserving fossil fuel resources.

The APC plus function from KraussMaffei assumes an important task when processing the biomaterial on the precisionMolding at the K-show 2022. Similar to the method employed for fossil fuels, the machine function reliably compensates for the usual process fluctuations, even for biomaterials. Thus it ensures consistently high component quality. The cost-effective system solution is being supplemented by an LRX EasyControl. The linear robot is ideal for pick-and-place applications, is easy and intuitive to operate and, in combination with the precisionMolding, offers a fast introduction to all-electric injection molding and handling.

The powerMolding 1300-11900 with a clamping force of 13,000 kN is part of the complete circular economy at the KraussMaffei trade show booth. It produces door modules for the automotive industry made of 100 percent recycled PP. The recycled material, in turn, comes from caps for insulin pens produced on a PX 200-1400. The material is shredded and then, in an upcycling process, prepared on a ZE 28 BluePower twin-screw extruder with different additives such as bonding agents and liquid dye.

For this application on the powerMolding, too, the APC plus machine function assumes an important function. It reliably compensates for the batch fluctuations commonly encountered in recyclate processing and thus ensures consistently high component quality here as well. An integrated linear robot of the LRX series takes over safe and reliable handling of the components.

Whether we look at applications for technical parts for the toy industry or the automotive industry as at K 2022, whether bioplastic, recycled material or new products—the spectrum of the precisionMolding and powerMolding is wide and opens up entirely new options for the market for standard injection molding applications.

KraussMaffei at K 2022

Hall 15, Booth C15/C24-D24