MSV, which will take place in Brno from 4 to 7 October 2022, is the most important mechanical engineering trade fair of the year for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Arburg stand (Hall G1, no. 029) reflects that market is traditionally very important for the company. Two exhibits will demonstrate production-efficient series manufacturing on an electric Allrounder as well as the possibilities that adapted automation solutions can open up in day-to-day operation. The stand will also feature a demo station of the portal "arburgXworld" and its apps, as well as for the ALS Arburg host computer system as an overarching manufacturing execution system (MES).
Daniel Orel, Managing Director of the Czech Arburg subsidiary in Brno, explains the significance of MSV for the region and for Arburg: "This trade fair is extremely important for our customers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With its 50-year history and around 70,000 visitors attending every event, MSV enables us to present our technology portfolio to attendees and also gives us plenty of time to discuss the latest developments in the plastics industry with them."
Digitalisation and production efficiency
For Daniel Orel, two key topics are digitalisation and production efficiency with a focus on energy requirements. The topic of digitalisation will be represented by an info station showcasing all the apps of the "arburgXworld" customer portal and explaining their functions and how they are combined in the different equipment packages. This station will clearly demonstrate how customers can boost flexibility in their day-to-day work and save time and money through intensive use of the apps.
The topic of energy requirements is also closely linked to the arburgGREENworld programme and its focus on circular economy and saving resources. For Czech and Slovak processors, the main priority is to make savings in this area in order to make production more efficient and avoid high energy costs. The hybrid and electric Allrounders are particularly helpful thanks to their highly energy-efficient operation.
At the MSV, an electric Allrounder 520 A with 1500 kN clamping force and 400 injection unit is presented. This machine is equipped with a single-cavity mould from a Czech company to make a lunch box out of PP as an example of a classic packaging item. The cycle time is 20 seconds. The free gift - one for every visitor - clearly demonstrates a production-efficient and energy-efficient series manufacturing process can be used to produce plastic parts.
High-performance automation solutions
MSV also gives the Czech subsidiary an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the Arburg Technology Factory (ATF) which houses a showroom, consulting service, spare parts facility and training opportunities alongside a machine warehouse, customer-specific machine modifications and the implementation of turnkey systems with local partners.
The second exhibit is a Kuka six-axis robot, whichs showcasse the possibilities offered by robot systems in automation solutions and turnkey systems from Arburg. The robot will build a model of the hybrid Allrounder 1120 H out of Lego bricks and take it apart again, demonstrating its accuracy and precision every time. The building kit consists of four different components and there will be a separate gripper, which can be changed automatically, for each of these component assemblies. The robot features a QR code scanner which can be used to read the codes of each subcomponent. This allows an image of the relevant component to be displayed on a screen along with an accompanying description.
Daniel Orel describes the aim of this demo setup: "As well as showing our customers the model of the Allrounder 1120 H with its parameters on the screen, we also want to demonstrate the potential robot, the gripper change and the scanner and how external products and peripheral equipment can be fully integrated." This application is of particular interest for the companies from the extensive Czech and Slovak automotive production industry, who will need to keep automating and digitalising their processes in order to remain competitive both now and in the future.
MSV will showcase economic development
Daniel Orel also sees MSV as an opportunity to take stock of the situation in the plastics industry over the next few months up to the end of the year: "We should be able to identify the trends that are set to shape short-term developments in these uncertain times. By speaking to our customers, we get an idea of their situation and find out what is important to them at the moment and we have a good mix of information that will help us to give our customers appropriate advice and support them with their work."
