(Fakuma Direct) Arburg premiers new hybrid Allrounder, expects a drop in turnover

At the press conference held at Fakuma, Arburg said the company expects to achieve a consolidated turnover of 750 million euros in 2023. The company achieved a turnover of 875 million euros in 2022.

“At the moment, we are facing a challenging situation due to the significant decline in incoming orders – like all other companies in the industry,” remarked Jürgen Boll, Managing Director of Finance, Controlling and IT.

“Demand has now weakened substantially and requirements have declined accordingly. Our customers also feel this strongly – and so do we,” explained Gerhard Böhm, Managing Director of Sales and After Sales.

According to him, all industries are affected by the difficult situation. The mobility industry, including the automotive industry, is still far from its former size, at least from a European perspective.

Meanwhile, the E&E industry and packaging industry are affected by the declining demand in the consumer sector. In the medical sector, things have quietened down since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arburg held a press conference at the Fakuma 2023. 

Arburg's stand at Fakuma 2023.     

Premiere of new size machine for hybrid Hidrive series

One of the highlights at Arburg’s stand is the premiere of the Allrounder 520 H with a clamping force of 1,500 kN in the hybrid Hidrive series.

The Hidrive series combines an electric clamping unit with a hydraulic injection unit. Compared to all-electric and hydraulic machines, it is characterized by significantly reduced operating costs as well as a better energy and carbon footprint, according to Arburg.

Following the launch of the 470 H milestone machine in the spring to mark "100 years of the Hehl family company", the next step has now been taken with the size 520 and 570 machines.

The new hybrid Allrounder 520 H “Premium” produces three different molded parts at the Arburg stand.

The Allrounder 520 H "Premium" is one of the highlights of the Arburg stand.

The Allrounder 520 H “Premium” at the stand uses a 1+1+1-cavity mold to produce three different molded parts from ABS in a cycle time of around 50 seconds: a machine base, a feed hopper, and a controller.

These components are then separated from each other in a cutting station and round off a set of 15 parts for a model Allrounder on a scale of 1:18.

The Moldlife Sense computer system enables sensor-controlled mold monitoring over the complete life cycle. The recorded data is passed via an OPC-UA interface directly to the Gestica control system.

A novelty in the new hybrid Allrounder "Premium" machines is flow splitting as standard, with cutting-edge Varan valve technology used to split the main pump's available flow volume when required. This saves energy, costs and space on the machine and increases production efficiency.

As said, compared to corresponding hydraulic machines, the energy footprint of the new Allrounder H is up to 50% better. Thanks to a new oil management concept, the new Allrounder machines require up to 35% less oil. The required cooling water capacity can be reduced by up to 70%. The dry cycle time is also reduced by around 40%.

Live demo of IML system specially for medical application

Although IML is standard for packaging products, this process is still rarely used in the medical industry. To showcase the potential of IML processing in medical application, Arburg demonstrates the production of centrifuge tubes with labels on an electric Allrounder 520 A “Ultimate” in clean room design.

IML labels enable functional integration in a single step without printing associated with rejects or further downstream work steps. As a result, the production process is fast, space-saving, cost-efficient and without additional hygiene risk.

Arburg demonstrates the production of centrifuge tubes with labels on an electric Allrounder 520 A “Ultimate” in clean room design.

The labels also allow 100% traceability and smooth digital communication between patients and doctors or home care applications.

The joint IML project involves cooperation with KEBO (tooling), MCC/Verstraete (label), Beck (automation) and Intravis (camera inspection).

The machine is with 1,500 kN clamping force, allowing fast and demanding processes such as thin-wall applications. The high-performance machine in clean room design meets the requirements of class ISO 7. An 8-cavity mold from KEBO is used to produce 15ml tubes from PP.

Label applicator head from Beck is used to apply the labels, while optical control is carried out through a camera system from Intravis. The servo-electric drives of the injection molding machine ensure precise and reproducible mold positioning.

The machine is also characterized by low carbon footprint, energy efficiency and a compact production cell.