(Interview) WM Thermoforming combines data management and analysis for maximum efficiency

In this rapidly changing world, the market requires fast decisions and practical actions, but without real data there is no true improvement in the rationalization process. However, having the data is not the same as being able to analyze and use them to improve procedures and production.

Also known as the digital transformation of production, Industry 4.0 has brought machine manufacturers and their customers to work together to create integrated systems that analyze, manage and improve operational efficiency concretely.

According to Giorgio Zucchi, Sales Area Manager of WM Thermoforming Machines, WM strives to provide the end-user with thousands of machine data, thanks to the OPC UA protocol, an international data exchange standard that connects Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), servers, customers, and other machinery to increase interconnectivity and information flow.

In addition, WM has gone one step further to realize a final analysis that enables the customer to collect concrete data to define machine efficiency, or “Overall Equipment Effectiveness” (OEE). Specifically, the data which define the OEE are Availability x Performance x Quality, and an effective factory is one with a high Overall Equipment Effectiveness.

“The WM team has defined the most significant machine data that are to be integrated with the production data and could be entered by the operators on-board the machine,” he explains. The result is a very efficient system of data collection, management and processing in real time, a feature highlighted in the thermoforming machines from WM.

Giorgio Zucchi, Sales Area Manager of WM Thermoforming Machines.

Specializing in high-speed vacuum and high-pressure technology

Based in Stabio, Switzerland, WM Thermoforming Machines has been designing and manufacturing thermoforming machines since 1981. Zucchi introduces the three lines of machinery to be presented at CHINAPLAS Virtual Show 2022: the FT Series/ TWIST Series, FC Series, and Flex 92.

Covering a variety of application areas from food, beverage, medical to industrial packaging, these machines feature the flexibility to work with a wide range of materials to meet new market demands, sustainability, recycling, and eco-compatibility.

The FT Series/ TWIST Series features air pressure forming and punching in the same mould with the machines having a 75 degrees lower tilting platen. In particular, FT series machines are available as IN-LINE version with one or more extruders.

Advantages of the FT Series/ TWIST Series are numerous, including a large forming area, more cavities, highest clamping force, no vibration steady cam system, high efficiency heaters, multiple staking solutions for different final products, and a product depth up to 220 mm.

The FT series offers the advantages of large forming area, more cavities, and high clamping force, among others.

Real-time remote control via WM Viewer

The FC Series are high speed vacuum and pressure forming machines with subsequent cutting by steel rule and stacking. Producing the perfect cut, the FC series can reduce knife wear with the highest clamping force and highest throughput for rPET trays. Its flexibility, reliability and ease of operation give in the highest product quality with 4 different forming sizes.

Meanwhile, FLEX 92 is the one machine for an extensive number of mould matching, which is also a line of high speed vacuum and pressure forming machines with subsequent cutting by steel rule and stacking. Featuring movable clamping frame, plug assist and electrical driven ejector, it utilizes “Ready-to-form” technology with breakthrough steel rule die technology to improve parallelism stability, cutting precision and steel rule die longevity.

FLEX 92 features “Ready-to-form” technology with breakthrough steel rule die technology. 

Both the FC Series and the FLEX 92 series have versions that can cut by steel rule in the same forming station (IM). Furthermore, they are equipped with Remote Machine Viewer interface, known as “WM Viewer”, allowing real-time remote monitoring of the machine’s functions via smart phone, tablet or PC.