Fakuma 2024 once again attracted many trade visitors to Friedrichshafen despite a difficult economic environment across the industry. Arburg put on an impressive display with a total of 18 exhibits at its own stand and those of its partners. Highlights included the German premiere of the Allrounder 720 E Golden Electric, innovative paper injection moulding and other fascinating injection moulding applications on the topics of sustainability, digitalisation, automation and 3D printing. The ArburgSolutionWorld area centred around an imposing LED column proved to be a crowd-puller, offering trade visitors the chance to benefit from personalised advice on current topics. Arburg experts also showcased practical digital products and services. The careers campaign, which saw around 30 trainees actively supporting the trade fair team, was also extremely well received.
"Our trade fair appearance was extremely well received and was a complete success. We showed:"Wir sind da!" Fakuma is and remains an important working trade fair where we present our technologies and complete range of products and services, and showcase ourselves as a competent solution provider," summarised Juliane Hehl, Managing Partner Global Marketing and Business Development at Arburg. "It is absolutely essential for us to invest in customer care and face-to-face contact. We have very close relationships with many companies that have grown over decades. Just like us, many of them continue to pursue their long-term strategies despite difficult economic conditions. We can and will build on this and are well prepared for when the industry picks up speed again."
ArburgSolutionWorld offers advice and solutions
One visual and thematic crowd-puller was the special "ArburgSolutionWorld" area, where Arburg demonstrated that the company's portfolio and expertise cover all the key issues facing its customers today and in the future. Trade visitors received individual answers from Arburg experts to all currently relevant questions on topics of the future such as productivity increases, efficiency, sustainability, shortage of skilled labour, and subsidies. There was particular demand for advice on increasing energy efficiency and solutions in connection with digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI), such as the "Ask Arburg" customer portal app. In addition, a new exhibition wall with a "transparent" machine brought pioneering digital products and services to life.
German premiere: New electric injection moulding machine
The highlight of the exhibits was the large Allrounder 720 E Golden Electric with a clamping force of 2,800 kN, which celebrated its German premiere at Fakuma. The new electric machine combines a particularly slim design with a high level of precision - and at a particularly attractive price! It is characterised by its space-saving installation area and high energy efficiency. The new Multilift Select 16 linear robotic system with a load capacity of 16 kilograms and the fully automated production cells with multi-axis robots were also very well received by visitors, as was the industrial additive manufacturing exhibit.
Diverse and innovative injection moulding applications
There was something for everyone among the diverse applications - from the sustainable injection moulding of small dolphins made out of recycled material from old fishing nets using a hydraulic Allrounder 420 C Golden Edition to the mass production of 64 medical syringe barrels each in only around six seconds using a hybrid high-performance Allrounder 570 H in clean room design.
In addition to classic recyclate processing, innovative paper injection moulding, which Arburg demonstrated with an electric Allrounder 370 A and "paper pearls" from its partner Model, attracted a great deal of interest. The "RecyclatePilot" assistance function in the Gestica control system ensured process stability. A 2-cavity mould from Lercher was used to injection mould positioning tools that have a fibre content of over 50 percent and are sustainable, stable and easily compostable after use.
Using vacuum housings as an example, a turnkey system showed how digitalisation and automation can be used to produce plastic parts that are 100 per cent traceable and recyclable. The Arburg Turnkey Control Module (ATCM) Scada system linked the material and process data. The fully automated application was also an application example as part of the R-Cycle initiative. The moulded parts could be seamlessly traced via two laser-etched QR codes, which were also used to store information relevant to processing and recycling for the digital product passport.
Much sought-after: 2C spatulas and reusable drinking cups
In high demand among trade fair visitors and challenging to produce in terms of application technology were food-safe spatulas made of LSR and PBT, which were produced by an Allrounder More 2000 two-component machine. Handling was carried out by a Yaskawa six-axis robot. There were also long queues at a production cell built around an electric Allrounder 630 A, which turned copolyester into transparent reusable drinking cups capable of replacing glass and disposable products.
Careers campaign: Great programme at the Arburg stand
On Friday, lots of young visitors also came to the exhibition centre to find out about training and career opportunities as part of the "mold your dreams, mold your future" careers campaign. "We expressly support this campaign and even extended it to Saturday at our stand," said Dr Christoph Schumacher, Vice President Global Marketing at Arburg. "The response was excellent, thanks in part to our fantastic programme and the 30 trainees and students who actively supported the campaign."
At the Arburg stand, the young guests were treated to videos on training, award-winning projects and sustainable injection moulding applications. Andreas Fath, the "swimming professor", was also there in person, speaking about his efforts to combat microplastics and promote clean water. The enthusiastic school students and young people were also able to make their own shopping tokens from recycled material and take part in a competition.
