11.1 Special Features of the Plastics Industry

The plastics industry, especially its discrete forms of manufacturing, has for historical reasons been a pioneer in the fields of production data acquisition, detailed planning and quality assurance. The networked philosophy of an MES system gives considerable advantages. In this important branch of industry machines and tools are at a high technological level and the factories are fitted out with modern equipment.

Processes used in this industry include injection molding, blow-molding, extrusion and also special types of processes derived from these. The plastics production department is usually connected to other automated production areas. In many cases the final products consist of a combination of the components plastic, metal and rubber. Here the advantages of an MES system can also be leveraged in other branches. Punching and compression molding and also all cycle-controlled automatic machines can be integrated into the system without any problems and this in turn delivers further advantages for the entire production segment.

As to the question of increasing economic efficiency, in many cases the main focus of discussion is investment in the machine park and in tooling. A closer examination will however reveal that it is considerably more economically efficient to improve the planning and to precisely record and evaluate all reasons for malfunctions and scrap than to attempt to achieve a higher return on investment by technological means. The objective is to achieve better utilization of the existing machine park and improve quality, and by taking this road reach...