The prime aim of the automation of injection moulding systems is not to save high labour costs but to ensure high process and product quality, says Engel.

Nowadays, handling devices and robots are "run-of-the-mill" equipment in the manufacturing industry.

In an injection moulding shop, for example, the manual placing and removal of inserts is the exception rather than the rule, and the same goes for the feeding of moulded parts to downstream finishing stations.

The prime aim of automation is not, however, to save "high labour costs" but, rather, to ensure high process and product quality, this being an absolute prerequisite in a modern production facility.

Handling devices and robots operate in an exactly reproducible rhythm, and at extremely high speeds and round the clock.

 Besides injection moulding machines, Engel also offers matching automation systems - from the simple handling device to the complex production cell incorporating product-specific downstream finishing stations.

Since all system units are produced by Engel, the responsibility for everything, including CE conformity, rests entirely with Engel.

Engel automation, whether standard or special, partial or complete, permits reproducibility to the highest standard.

Continuous growth from the very beginning Engel has been involved in automation technology since the 70s (at that time it was still the parent company Engel Maschinenbau), beginning with simple pneumatic devices for assisting the demoulding operation.

By the middle of the 80s, Engel was already developing servo-actuated handling devices and was soon to lead the way in this particular field.

By channelling its automation activities into Engel Automatisierungstechnik GmbH, which was founded in Steyr in 1985, Engel simply surged forward technologically.

The Steyr production facility commenced operations at the beginning of 1986, with only 20 employees, and grew continuously over the following ten years.

With a production volume of barely 500 units per year, the company was soon "bursting at the seams" and the building of a new production facility at nearby Dietach began in 1996.

This new facility, with 7,500 mý production space combined with the very latest in process-oriented logistics, as well as 2,500 mý office space, commenced production at the end of 1997.

After the first year, its 120 employees had already built as many as 650 robots and handling devices.

Only two years later, in the business year 2000/2001, the company's work force of 210 employees realized a total production volume of 1000 robots and handling devices.

 This "magic" number was achieved two years sooner than originally planned, for Engel had set itself a period of five years for this growth target.

Indeed, annual growth rates averaging 25 percent testify to the widespread preference for Engel robotic systems.

For Engel, automation is an essential element of modern injection moulding machine production.

Indeed, it is becoming an increasingly indispensable means of meeting customer requirements.

The robot production facility at Dietach has all the necessary means for experimental set-ups and feasibility tests, robot acceptance tests, with or without machines and/or moulds, acceptance tests for complex automation systems with injection moulding machines (up to 3,000kN clamping force) and moulds under actual production conditions, and prototype production.

However, in consequence of such rapid and extremely positive development, the originally planned reserves of production and office space are now virtually exhausted, meaning that extensions to this relatively young production facility are already in the decision pipeline.

Fortunately, there is still ample room for expansion at the Dietach site.

In parallel with the company's developments and activities in Austria, robot production for the North American market was already transferred in 1995 to a newly acquired production facility located in immediate proximity to Engel's injection moulding machine factory at Guelph, Ontario/Canada.

Last year, with a work force of 55 employees working on a floor area of 4000m2, this new facility manufactured as many as 250 handling devices and robots.

 While the basic design work for all robotic systems is handled by the Austrian company, all customer-specific adaptations and options are realized on the spot by the Canadian facility.

Together, the production facilities in Canada and Austria plan to manufacture a total of 1,500 handling devices and robots in the present business year.

Engel robots - the ultimate in modularity Today, every handling system, whether it is a single-axis sprue removal device or a complex ERC (Engel Robot Controlled) parts removal system, is modularized down to the smallest detail, permitting rapid and flexible adaptation to individual automation requirements.

Theoretically, the available modules can be combined to produce as many as ten million individual system variants.

The modular system on which Engel robots are based has been developed consistently and is now in its fifth generation, the so-called E Series.

 The smallest E Series robot - designed for machines with clamping forces ranging from 400 to 6,000kN - made its d?but at K 98.

 The medium-sized version (2,500 to 18,000kN) has meanwhile gone into production as well.The news come http://www.bossgoo.com/