(Fakuma Direct) All-electric machines shine at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag stand

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has accelerated its strategic plans to roll out its IntElect all-electric injection molding machine portfolio to every market. At Fakuma 2023, the machine manufacturer’s stand features entirely all-electric injection molding machines for the first time.

The stand of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag at the Fakuma fairgrounds.

Commenting on the market landscape, Gerd Liebig, CEO of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH, underlined that the Germany is in the midst of a structural crisis amid high inflation, high interest rates and very high energy prices.

In particular, he mentioned that German automotive withdraws from the market for small vehicles, leaving the market for Chinese suppliers.

Gerd Liebig, CEO of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH, shared market insights at the press conference at Fakuma 2023.

Talking about the trends for injection molding machines, he said: “The market for high-performance applications, such as drug delivery, consumables, caps, is significantly growing.” Besides, the company finds that market is increasingly shifting to all-electric machines, which echoes the focus of all-electric machines for its presence at Fakuma this year.

The CEO also said that the Chinese suppliers are gaining increasing market share of standard machines. “Embargo of Russia results in the impossibility to deliver injection molding machines from the EU to Russia,” he added.

IntElect S for thin-wall packaging launched

Adding additional application fields for the IntElect platform at Fakuma, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag launches the high-performance IntElect S for thin-wall packaging in the medium clamp force range.

Achieving a dry fast cycle time of less than 4 seconds, the IntElectS 220 ton clamp force machine was designed specifically to process narrow tolerance and thin-walled packaging items at injection speeds reaching 350 mm/s. Sumitomo (SHI) Demag says the machine directly addresses the energy consumption issue faced by mass-packaging molders.

The newly launched IntElectS 220 produces recyclable IML lids on site.

The live exhibit demonstrates the production of recyclable IML lids with a shot weight of 28 grams for 500ml margarine containers. Using a 4-cavity mold tool supplied by Bazigos, the lids are all made from 100% recyclable polypropylene provided by Borealis.  

Integrated into the machine is a side-entry robot from automation specialist Campetella, which efficiently removes the lids from the mold tool, stacking them onto a conveyor belt.

LSR IntElect package produces conductor seals

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag also highlights its exemplary multi-cavity LSR processing competence, including OPC-UA interface compatibility, on a fully electric IntElect 180/570-250 injection molding machine.

The IntElect LSR package produces 256 individual 15-gram conductor seals in a cycle time of just 19 seconds.

The IntElect LSR package with a fully electric IntElect 180/570-250 injection molding machine.

LSR tooling specialist RICO supplies the 256-cavity open tool system. The Elastosil material from Wacker is dispensed via a dosing system supplied by Reinhardt-Technik. After each shot, an integrated Sepro robot removes the parts and inserts them into a nest pipe system.

Characterized by low energy consumption, this full LSR package includes the injection unit, robot, vacuum and venting. To ensure full traceability of components, the OPC-UA interface connects to the IntElect processing data in real-time.