Injection Moulding Machine Upgrades

B&R SmartMould

Complicated electrical control systems, although ruggedized to varying extents, are usually based on similar technology to PC's and expecting them to perform day after day in the often harsh production environment for years on end is of course, unrealistic.

It is normal for the downtime on machines with electronic control systems to increase exponentially as a function of time due to the decreasing availability of components, greater difficulty in troubleshooting as problems become more stochastic, complex and interlinked and the increased chance of failure of these components due to years of daily wear and tear. These challenges are compounded by the fact that older components generally become more expensive as the volumes of their global use decrease. Constantly repairing these systems is akin to trying to repair a 10 year old computer at an ever increasing price with ever worse reliability and functionality as the end result. As with the computer it makes much more sense to simply replace the control system with a new one.

Succesful local installations include machines for AstraPak, Venture and Boxmore.

Upgrading a machine's control system comes with its very own set of problems however. Many factories have had a failed upgrade attempt or two which has probably led to the machine being scrapped or cannibalised for spare parts or often having 'buggy', niche software leaving the machine owner forever tied to the company or person that did the upgrade for support. This kind of solution also can leave machines with decreased functionality and worse production quality than the original.

The solution is simple, upgrade using a system which is in serial production with thousands of successful implementations world wide. A system which is supported by one of the top automation companies in Europe. A system which guarantees availability of spares and support for 10 years and have it installed by a company with a track record of success with installation of the system in your market.

B&R offers the Smart Mould  system as a retrofit kit. This system ticks all the boxes and can be used on almost any injection moulding machine no matter the size or complexity. Several thousand are already running in the field globally and the lessons learned over years of implementation, operation and support are available to the purchaser right out of the box. So complete is this system that it is being used by many OEM's as a complete solution for their machines right from the start. Support of the system is easy even for basically trained technicians due to a onboard diagnostic platform available right on the HMI. All components of the system are plug and play once installation and commissioning are complete.

KlareTech has successfully installed the Smart Mould from B&R automation on many machines in South Africa and we will happily provide you a quote to do so on any of your machines.