Not known for its injection moulding
machines in Europe, Sodick is
addressing this now, having shown
the technology at last September’s
EMO and this year doing so at MACH
Inset: high precision moulded parts
on show at the new European HQ
before in Europe, the MS100 electric
injection moulding machine, this similarly
operates at the premier level. Key features
are the patented plasticising and injection
unit, V-Line. With its separate screw and
plunger design, precise volume, high speed
lling means that small, highly accurate
components can be produced reliably.
Parts demonstrated at the new Warwick
HQ were tiny connector parts (above). And
the company has already received mould
tools from companies that are interested to
see the bene ts. The medical sector is one
target for this machine. The MS100 has a
980 kN clamping force, 640 by 610 mm
platen, 800 mm daylight and min/max
mould thickness of 200/450 mm. Sodick
Europe will also bring in the GL30 model, a
294 or 393 kN, 440 by 440 mm platen
machine. The company has been making
such machines for many years, it should be
said, but has not promoted
them in Europe, because
they were not previously CE
mark compliant.
So, with an expanded
machine and service offering
via the new headquarters
facility allied to its increased
market share ambition, the company will
have to boost its machine building capacity,
then? Yes, says Capp, adding that the new
facility in the UK will become an assembly
plant. With the skills already honed via a
machine refurbishment offer of some years’
standing, the assembly of new machinery is
no large step. Part of that, he explains, is
related to CE marking. “It’s much easier if
we produce a machine in Europe. Now, we
can’t produce all the machines here, but we
could pick a model that is popular and
produce, let’s say, 20 a month. And the new
facility in Chicago, built almost identical to
this one, could do the same.
“You can’t just build a factory and get
500 employees. But what we can do is
machine all the parts and then send them
around the world to build machines, if we
need extra capacity.” The likelihood is that
Industrie-Partner’s Robo Operator,
moveable between machines and,
unusually, offered on a rental basis
the extra 10,000 ft2 will be required to
support machine building in the UK. Capp
says that future machines will increasingly
incorporate arti cial intelligence, making
them easier to operate by lower skilled
workers yet still with them able to obtain
highest accuracy and part quality.
“Sodick’s knowledge will be put into a
chip. The machine is going to recognise
material conditions, good or bad, with a
minimal amount of operator intervention.
And you’re going to be able to, regardless of
the level of your ability, get the same quality
part out of the machine as the guy that’s got
20 years’ knowledge. That is the theory,
because everywhere in the world, nobody
can get to toolmakers.”
Developments such as this will likely
start appearing at Japan’s JIMTOF show, an
edition of which is to be held later this year,
but for this year, at MACH 2020 you can
expect a to see a broader machine offering
from the company, taking in EDM – including
an eight-axis drilling machine for turbine
blade cooling holes – milling and moulding,
and hear a more powerful message from
Sodick. The company is very much making a
statement.
SUPPLY SIDE SODICK EUROPE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
20 January 2020 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets
/www.machinery.co.uk