Two technology meetings hosting by Panasonic Electric Appliances (Hangzhou) and Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai were held today during the 6th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Home Appliance Conference & Showcase.

Panasonic: Functional materials can meet different requirements

The sharing of Ye Ze, material assessment expert at Panasonic Electric Appliances (Hangzhou), focused on Panasonic’s demand for and application of functional materials in home appliances, and how to achieve cost reduction, efficiency enhancement and quality control of materials.

Technology Exchange Meeting of Panasonic Electric Appliances (Hangzhou) 

Ye Ze, material assessment expert at Panasonic Electric Appliances (Hangzhou)

Ye Ze firstly introduced the material application for Panasonic washing machine. “Panasonic generally uses sprayed steel plates that for the outer covering, which provide sufficient rigidity and support,” he stated.

Ye Ze continued, “And for the transparent windows of the washing machines, materials such as ABS and PMA are commonly used in the industry. Panasonic keeps evaluating the chemical resistance of these materials to avoid material cracking.”

Talking about other trending material applications, Ye Ze further named some examples. Panasonic's electronic toilet cover has been certified by SIAA Japan Antimicrobial Association. The company uses engineering materials, such as high-gloss ABS or PP, on the toilet ring cover,” he elaborated. “And because these materials are similar to ceramic texture, customer experience can be enhanced.”

Moreover, the garbage collector of the vacuum cleaner is mainly made of transparent ABS, additives for anti-static have to be added for reducing dust accumulation and remaining good appearance, according to Ye Ze.

Participants exchanged information and interacted during the meeting.

On the other hand, Ye Ze noted that developing lightweight small household appliances is currently a major trend, For instance, hand-held vacuum cleaners are heavy, so the solutions will be aimed at reducing the weight of batteries and materials (such as nozzle materials). In addition, the material of the battery box casing can be changed to low-density PP or glass beads.”

Panasonic predicts that dishwashers will become more popular among young generation where sales will increase substantially in the foreseeable future. Additionally, for the selection of materials, high toughness and high temperature resistance are required, and the metal bracket can be sprayed with nylon.

“At present, applying plastics to replace steel is becoming more popular in home appliance companies,” said Ye Ze. “Plastic materials perform good heat resistance, aging resistance and chemical resistance while reducing costs.”

He added that Panasonic has a complete and well developed digital inspection system of resins that helps control the consistency of materials, including substrates and additives, as to achieve full material quality control. The company has a global technology headquarters and also set up a dedicated department in Hangzhou to propose corresponding testing and solutions.

Gree: Working to reduce costs and increase efficiency

The presentation of Gong Yan, who is in charge of the  material development at process department of Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai, highlighted the ways to achieve cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, as well as the technical requirements for handling new materials, loss of injection molding machine tools, liquid conveying equipment, automated screen printing and acrylic materials.

Gong Yan specified that, in terms of machine tool loss and measurement statistics, most of the injection molding machines are currently still lacking informational ways to analyze and process the statistics. “Taking two production workshops of Gree as an example, there are a total of 170 injection molding machines where optimization can be processed if the daily loss is accurately measured and counted,” Gong Yan explained.

In terms of liquid delivery equipment, Gree currently makes use of liquid color masterbatch to manufacture translucent parts in order to reduce costs, as per Gong Yan. Nonetheless, the existing liquid color masterbatch delivery equipment is in need of being improved in terms of efficiency and accuracy.

Participants asked questions during Gree's presentation.