Netstal USA

As we have reported in our last entry, Netstal is debuting the all new ELION Hybrid range of machines at the upcoming K-Show.  In addition to a closure system, we will also showcase a thin wall packaging system running under 2 seconds!  This will be featured on our our 280 metric ton (308 US tons) machine.  Prior to this machine being released, packaging molders have not been able to take advantage of energy saving electric machines due to the limited performance offered.  Now, this all changes!  It is our hope that you take the time to check out this new technology from Netstal!

Netstal will be debuting the all new larger ELION machines at this year's K-Show and one of the featured displays will be a water closure system running at 2.1 seconds!  This will be not only the fastest closure production system in the world for water closures, but also the most energy efficient.  By running this system on the ELION 2200-2000 hybrid machine (220 metric/242 US tons), the parts are produced with the lowest energy consumption and no loss of cycle time.  The ELION 2200 has tie bar spacing of 670mm x 620mm (26.37 inches x 24.41 inches) to accommodate larger molds.  This new range of machines will feature an electrically driven toggle clamping system, electric ejector system (with optional hydraulic if required), electric screw rotation and accumulator driven injection.  The small hydraulic pump for charging the accumulator is driven by a servo drive to provide added efficiency.   With the lowest energy consumption per part, the Netstal ELION will continue to set the bar for the latest technology for years to come.

Its hard to believe that the K-Show is only 3 months away!  We at Netstal are looking forward to this year's show and are in the final stages of preparation.  This show will feature the debut of two new machines and reinforces Netstal's position as a leader in injection molding technology.  The ELION hybrid range will be featured by showing a 220 and a 280 metric ton machine.  Both will be running fast, high speed applications not normally associated with all-electric machines.  In addition to the speed and repeatability expected from Netstal, these machines will also showcase a new technology to recycle the hydraulic energy used by the injection axis of the machine.  As this is the only axis powered by hydraulics, the machines will use a fraction of the energy of a fully hydraulic machine, and yield even faster cycle times! 

Check back regularly for more details on the exhibits being shown!

In the busy world we are all working in, we often fail to stop and take a look at our equipment to see if it needs to be repaired or optimized.  Uptime is critical and taking a system down for maintenance and inspection is often overlooked.  However, failure to do this on a regular basis will lead to an ongoing downward spiral of lower and lower productivity as you are facing unexpected downtime and repairs.  This downtime can lead you to spend less time on maintenance as you attempt to catch up from the downtime.  And this goes on and on.  Its like the old story of the woodcutter who was too busy to sharpen his ax.  Each day the ax got duller and duller and pretty soon he was working twice as hard and only getting half the wood cut.  If he had only stopped for a short time to sharpen his ax, his production would have been higher with less work.

The Netstal inspection and maintenance contracts are two tools our customers can use to sharpen their axes.  For a fixed price, Netstal can come in and inspect your Netstal machines and let you know exactly what is wrong with the machine or where something may be wearing out and so it can be replaced before it causes undo down time.  After the inspection is complete, Netstal offers attractive pricing on parts needed to repair or optimize the machine.  In addition, Netstal can be contracted to do all of the regular maintenance on the machines, freeing up a customer to do what they do best and that is provide solutions for their customers.  

Netstal has a dedicated person focusing on this aspect of the market and he can be contacted for help with setting up the right program for you by tailoring it to your individual needs.  Contact us at info@netstal-usa.com for more information.  We look forward to sharpening your ax and keeping it sharp for years to come!

I am not sure if many people outside of New England have seen the story about Concord,MA attempting to ban the sale of bottled water within the town. Things like this really get to me. Among the claims made by those pushing for the ban is that water bottles contaminate streams and rivers and that these same bottles end up in the ocean where they cause damage to wildlife. While I can agree that when handled irresponsibly, bottles, be they plastic or glass, can be a problem in our environment. For that matter so can paper and metal. By focusing on the water bottle as the culprit in this problem, people are missing the point. The bottles are not the problem...it is littering that is the problem!

In our rush to condemn the plastic water bottle, we are overlooking the good they provide. Simply put, bottled water provides a great value to our society. Just ask the people devastated by floods in Tennessee and Kentucky or those hit by the terrible earthquake in Haiti. The news cameras constantly showed relief workers handing out bottled water to needy people. A few weeks ago, people living in and around Boston (not to far from Concord, MA) were faced with the their water being undrinkable due to the failure of a ten foot water main that supplies these areas with water. For 5 days it was bottled water that people reached out to in order to get their drinking water. I'm sure those people are glad that bottled water was allowed to be sold in their town!

Its time we stop blaming the bottles for the litter problem and work to stop littering. The plastics industry needs to take the lead in educating our society on the tremendous value offered by plastic. When I see those floating islands of plastic in the ocean, I don't think its time to ban plastic. No, its time to ban littering and focus on recycling our plastic containers. Its only when this happens will we get at the root of the issue of plastic bottles in rivers, streams, and oceans. Banning the sale of bottled water is clearly not the answer.

I am not sure if many people outside of New England have seen the story about Concord,MA attempting to ban the sale of bottled water within the town. Things like this really get to me. Among the claims made by those pushing for the ban is that water bottles contaminate streams and rivers and that these same bottles end up in the ocean where they cause damage to wildlife. While I can agree that when handled irresponsibly, bottles, be they plastic or glass, can be a problem in our environment. For that matter so can paper and metal. By focusing on the water bottle as the culprit in this problem, people are missing the point. The bottles are not the problem...it is littering that is the problem!

In our rush to condemn the plastic water bottle, we are overlooking the good they provide. Simply put, bottled water provides a great value to our society. Just ask the people devastated by floods in Tennessee and Kentucky or those hit by the terrible earthquake in Haiti. The news cameras constantly showed relief workers handing out bottled water to needy people. A few weeks ago, people living in and around Boston (not to far from Concord, MA) were faced with the their water being undrinkable due to the failure of a ten foot water main that supplies these areas with water. For 5 days it was bottled water that people reached out to in order to get their drinking water. I'm sure those people are glad that bottled water was allowed to be sold in their town!

Its time we stop blaming the bottles for the litter problem and work to stop littering. The plastics industry needs to take the lead in educating our society on the tremendous value offered by plastic. When I see those floating islands of plastic in the ocean, I don't think its time to ban plastic. No, its time to ban littering and focus on recycling our plastic containers. Its only when this happens will we get at the root of the issue of plastic bottles in rivers, streams, and oceans. Banning the sale of bottled water is clearly not the answer.

We are very happy to announce that the long wait for larger versions of our successful ELION (http://www.netstal.com/index.php?id=44&L=0) high speed all-electric machine is nearly over. In the fall of 2010 we will introduce the ELION 2200 and ELION 2800 which are machines with 220 and 280 metric clamping tons. Both of these machines will be running at the K-Show in Düsseldorf with very fast and impressive systems.

Expanding the range of the ELION is a key objective of Netstal and we plan to offer these machines both as full electric and with hydraulic injection. Just because we will offer a hydraulic injection version, does not mean that energy efficiency will be sacrificed. These machines will include a new patented feature called ECO-DRIVE which will allow the recycling of the hydraulic energy to greatly improve the efficiency of the machine even at these very fast and aggressive cycles.

We are very excited about this new development and hope you are too. Stay tuned as we will have more to share in the coming weeks and months.

Are you ready to save some money?  Then why not try using the NSC.  Okay, so what is NSC stand for?  The Netstal Support Concept is a bundle of services that are geared to getting the most our of your Netstal machines.  This can range from machine inspection and calibration to operator and maintenance training, spare parts packages, machine move packages, and so on.  Learn more by going to www.netstal.com/service/netstal-support-concept/. 

Over the next few months, we will be featuring our Go Green with Netstal package which includes energy usage reporting, maximizing your process for the highest output with the lowest energy usage, and our energy monitoring software that can be added to your Netstal machine.  In addition to these services, we also offer special parts kits such as our 6 month maintenance kit which includes all of the parts needed for the factory recommended maintenance.  This kit is specially priced so that you can get all of the parts you need at a discount versus buying them individually.  Doing this routine maintenance will help make sure that your machine is operating as efficiently as possible, thus saving you energy in the process.

To learn more about our NSC services, please contact us at info@netstal-usa.com. 

As the growth of single serve dairy bottles continues to go up, there is a demand for new technology to feed this market.  One new technology co-developed by Netstal is called PreLactia.  Using an over molding process, two layers of PET are injected, producing a bottle with a white outside and a black inside.  The black provides a light barrier for the milk, allowing increased shelf life without using expensive additives.  After the black inner layer is molded, the white is over molded, producing a bottle that looks great.  In addition because the black layer goes all the way to the top of the bottle, the need for a foil seal is eliminated.

Netstal developed this technology with French moldmaker Molmassa and plastics material suppler Novapet.  At the present time, systems are running in Europe with more planned for right here in North America.  The 24+24 cavity system uses a Netstal SynErgy 2C machine and a "shuttle" mold to produce these preforms.  We are very excited about this new technology and are more than ready to share it with you.  You can check out more at our website.  Please contact us at networking@netstal-usa.com for more information or to set up a meeting.

We are often presented with projects that will only be successful if there is close coordination between the injection molding machine supplier, mold maker, and the downstream automation supplier.  In many of the cases, the project has moved very far along and we are called in to supply a molding machine that fits the already determined criteria.  While this may seem like a good idea since many machine suppliers are just that, machine suppliers, it does not allow you to get the most out Netstal.  With our vast applications know-how, Netstal can often save customers considerable time and money by being involved upfront.  For example, if we can have a say in how a mold is built, we can possibly choose a smaller machine that not only is less to purchase, but costs less money to run over the entire term of the project (and this is often years!).

Another thing to consider is saving time and eliminating finger pointing.  A great real-life example of this was a company that had two projects for similar parts and were being managed by different facilities.  The first division started out 2 months before their sister division, but opted to do the project themselves.  This second division decided to purchase the entire system turnkey.  Even after starting two months later, the turnkey system was in production several weeks earlier than the other system and today it runs with far greater speed and efficiency.  By placing the responsibility on one company, things get done efficiently and there is no blame game from one supplier to another.

The benefits of systems go on and on.  Check out the link to our Netstal Support Concept netstal.com/service/netstal-support-concept/ for more information. 

What types of experiences have you had?  We would like to hear from you.  Do you have a project that could benefit from this approach?  Let us know!