DME also offers new Polifast nozzles for parts up to 50 g. This range features a variety of tips, just like its big sister the Polimax nozzle, and like the new Policosmetic for use in specific packaging applications.

DME has improved its flexibility with valve gate systems as well as in the open nozzles range. The Polivalve valve gate system allows the operator to choose from a variety of options depending on whether an electric or a hydraulic drive is required, or a preinstalled system or complete hot half. Hot halves are also available for the open-type systems; here, the operator has only to add the cavity plate in order to start production.

Finally, DME has added an economically priced hot runner system to its product line for moulders facing cost-reduction pressures. The new Essential series is a cost-efficient system for standard materials, available in one-, two-and four-nozzle formats.

D-M-E’s off-the-shelf range of mould cavity plates in stress-relieved 1730 and Toolox 33 steels are available in sizes of 156 x 156 to 446 x 596 mm. The Quick Ship Basic standard includes not only the basic mould plates, but also alternative low-cost plates, including a broad range of P-plates.

D-M-E has been supporting mould makers, moulders and designers worldwide ever since it innovated the standard mould base in 1942. Today, through aggressive new product development, global product standardization, and a combination of in-house manufacturing centres of excellence and strategic global partnerships, the company helps customers meet industry challenges. It offers a comprehensive line of hot runner systems, control systems, mould bases and other components, and mould making and moulding equipment and supplies, all backed by expert technical service.

D-M-E has improved its flexibility not only in the open-nozzle area, but also in its valve gate systems. With the Polivalve valve gate system, the operator can choose from a preinstalled system or a complete hot half and decide whether an electric or hydraulic drive is needed, among other options. The choice of preinstalled system or hot half is available also for the open-type systems; thus the operator only needs to add the cavity plate to start production.

To help deal with today’s economy, D-M-E offers an economical hot runner system. The new Essential-Series is a cost-efficient system for standard materials in the one-, two-, or four-nozzle format.

D-M-E has supported mould makers and moulders worldwide since it pioneered the standard mould base in 1942. Today, the company supplies a broad range of products, including hot runner systems, control systems, and mould making and moulding equipment and supplies, as well as mould bases and components.

By minimizing leftover sprue and also cycle and setting times, the system offers economic advantages in the processing of elastomers. Its nozzles are adjustable by volume for optimal filling, and each nozzle has a separate piston drive, which allows for further sequential adjustment as necessary. Water-cooled nozzles are available for processing rubbers of various viscosities.

The D-M-E Cold Runner System can be supplied with a valve gate for absolute shutoff, a vacuum unit to ensure tight tolerances, and a valve gate controller, making a complete package for the elastomer moulder. Systems can be customized for multicomponent tools.

D-M-E has implemented more than 600 of these systems for customers in the medical device, plastic food container, electronics, and automotive markets.

The new Loyalty Programme is part of that D-M-E continuous-improvement effort, as well as a response to today’s difficult market conditions. D-M-E offers the programme to reward customers for their loyalty over the years and in the future. All customers are invited to join. Subscription involves simply contacting D-M-E, learning about the programme’s advantages, and signing up with the assistance of a customer service or sales representative.

Poelman’s experience prepares him well for leading D-M-E in Europe. His background in sales and market development and fluency in Dutch, French, German, and English will be instrumental in fulfilling D-M-E’s commitment to its European customers.

Dave Lawrence, president of D-M-E Global Mould Technologies, sees the company under Poelman becoming Europe’s premier distributor of mould technologies. “Denis will be able to leverage his experience to understand our customers’ business issues and challenges, and to identify ways that our people, products, and technologies can help them satisfy their moulding and mould making needs.”

Photo: Denis Poelman, D-M-E Co.’s director for Europe.

This innovative concept in part ejection technology was conceived by a German mould maker seeking competitive advantage. He found that the system he devised cut mould costs by 50%. The Quick Strip represents part of D-M-E’s new approach to product development, where the company and industry inventors join in commercializing a breakthrough product.

The ejection tool offers cosmetic advantages for parts whose appearance is crucial. Because the Quick Strip lifts the part from the mould cavity rather than pushing it like an ejector pin, no marks are left on the part.

The Quick Strip is available in three standard sizes and can be used in many applications. Its incorporation in mould tools decreases machining and maintenance time by half. D-M-E asserts that costs for the Quick Strip are more than 20% lower than those for traditional ejector equipment.

The alternative for many mould makers would be to machine a custom lifter themselves. D-M-E’s UniLifter saves them time so they can focus on the high-value machining of core and cavity plates. With snap-fit interfaces employed usefully in many part designs, this standard solution gives mould makers an option that provides uniformity, reliability, and off-the-shelf availability.

The UniLifter is composed of three pieces: a core blade manufactured from 1.2344 steel, a U-coupling, and a T-gib. Standard metric and inch sizes are available with a flat or rounded core blade in order to satisfy a wide range of applications.

UniLifters are used most often in situations where a part’s undercut angle is between 5° and 10°. Equal success can be achieved in applications involving larger angles when the UniLifter is paired with a guide.

The new sensors enable moulders to better control process output quality. By precisely measuring the force of plastic in a mould cavity on every shot, they assure users that their parts are uniform and properly filled. If an error is detected, the part can be scrapped without the need for further testing or quality inspection.

Because each sensor is electrically identical, all have the same output, practically eliminating the need to recalibrate the readout system when sensors are exchanged. This makes errors in calibration nonexistent, and operators spend less time setting up control systems and recorders.

Nevertheless, the company is not resting on its reputation. Last year began a period of reinvention for D-M-E, which the firm publicized at the central plastics industry trade fair K in Düsseldorf in October. As described in its literature issued at K, the “highly energized” company would be responding to changing markets with a new approach to its business and improved provision of services to its customers.

In 2007, nearly a thousand D-M-E customers around the world participated in on-line surveys, telephone interviews, and face-to-face discussions conducted by a commissioned group of independent researchers. Visitors to the D-M-E stand at K were invited to sign up for a further round of surveys to take place this winter. An executive summary of the results of the first survey round is now available, and a second-round summary will be issued this spring.

New Solutions and Support

The D-M-E stand at K 2007 featured displays of hot runner systems for the packaging industry, a hot runner system for processing materials of the future such as compostable so-called “green” plastic resins, a cold runner system for moulding such elastomers as liquid silicone rubber, and more than a dozen new products and services designed to help moulders and mould makers save time and money, satisfy new demands for environmental friendliness, or enhance the security and manageability of their production operation.

In response to an often-heard customer request, D-M-E now offers full-project support. This means that a customer can place a complete mould tool order with a single supplier—D-M-E—and expect a dedicated project team of product engineers, application engineers, and technical sales advisers to find the most efficient way to combine necessary standard and technical parts from the company’s global programme with the special machining the client requires. All the elements of a special project can be delivered as a single package that the customer can assemble, leaving only the fine-tuning of the mould for effective operation.

Delivering its products and services around the world has always been a core competency of D-M-E, which now operates through offices and strategic partners at more than 50 locations in over 30 countries. That capability is being expanded on the basis of customer feedback such as is now being solicited from D-M-E product users in every major geographical region of Europe.

The staff of D-M-E’s Customer Care Department in Mechelen, Belgium, which includes technical sales representatives and application engineers, can help customers in a dozen different languages. In addition, this customer centre has the capability of delivering parts from stock to most places in Europe within 24 hours of the moment the order is placed.

The activities of D-M-E throughout China, India, and Russia are of interest not only to customers in those countries. As the company notes, these are not isolated markets: as more Western European and North American manufacturers engage in partnerships with moulding and mould making firms in Asia and Eastern Europe, their need to see how they can take full advantage of D-M-E’s global programmes and services grows greater.

New Products and Ordering Aids

Product innovation remains a primary mission of D-M-E. Visitors to the K show saw a variety of just-launched items reflecting the company’s technology scope. Among these were microsize in-mould part-dating components 6 and 8 mm in diameter that are designed to simplify the dating of very small moulded parts. A single insert is good for providing six years of date stamps.

Also introduced at the K show last October were the newest version of the company’s Global Thinswitch limit switch for verifying full return of the ejector plate assembly following part ejection; the patented Bakra quick-change clamping system for secure mould changes; an expanded line of hoist rings; helical-gear stack-mould centring systems; an undrilled blank plate relaunched to offer users the choice of four different surface finishes; a new synthetic-diamond mould-polishing paste; clampless Jiffy-Lok connector sockets to facilitate setup of mould heating and cooling hose lines; ecologically sound silicone-based and silicone-free release agents; and the Integrity family of modular temperature controls.

User-Friendly e-Commerce Website for Purchases

Last but far from least, D-M-E has made purchasing standard mould parts easier by implementing phase 1 of its user-friendly e-commerce website. This year, phase 2 will enhance the experience by adding intuitive graphical navigation.

In addition, the latest release of D-M-E’s “Mold Configurator” search engine, which works seamlessly with the website, makes it easier for visitors to work out the configuration of the mould base.

The needle seal systems are pneumatically actuated as standard, with hydraulic actuation offered as an option. Designed as complete ready-to-install systems, the cold runners are adapted to the appropriate forming tool. Individual system nozzles can be adjusted according to volume, thus optimizing filling characteristics. Since each nozzle has a separate piston drive, further sequential adjustment setting is possible.

Water-cooled nozzles with different mass bores suitable for processing various qualities and types of rubber also are available. The Maxi nozzle can be used to process low- and medium-viscosity rubbers, while the Magnum nozzle handles high-viscosity rubbers. Changeable nozzle heads allow implementation as open or needle seal nozzles.

In addition, D-M-E offers special cold runner systems developed on a custom basis for use in multicomponent tools. Specially manufactured nozzles also can be used.

The material is hypersensitive to temperature and degrades readily into highly corrosive acids. In normal operation, PLA tends to plate out these acids onto the walls of the moulding system. D-M-E is the first hot runner manufacturer to produce a nozzle assembly optimized for processing starch-based resins like PLA. This lets moulders quit depending on special-order stainless-steel mould elements.

Eco-Smart features corrosion-resistant components and addresses PLA users’ low-pressure requirements and cooling issues. It ensures an uninterrupted material flow.

The system facilitates injection flow in simultaneous or sequential filling, supporting the creation of parts with unusual, complex, or hard-to-fill geometries. It also allows processors to mould multiple parts of different shapes and sizes in a single cycle. Polivalve features a bodiless tip that is ideal for applications requiring very good aesthetics and zero gate vestige. This attribute eliminates the need for secondary trimming operations.

Polivalve hot runner systems are available in a comprehensive range of sizes and with hydraulic or pneumatic activation. Both the standard hot half and Simplicity drop-in systems—the latter supplied ready for installation—come with a wide variety of nozzles.

D-M-E offers valve gate sequencers to complement these hot runner systems. The sequencers are available in versions with pneumatic or hydraulic control for timer-based actuation of up to eight valve gates.

Both the VCTH and the VCTB controllers use solid-state timers and relays with a life rating of 10 million cycles. At three shots a minute, operating around the clock, one of these units can be expected to function for about six years.

The timers provide resolution of 0.01 second, far exceeding the industry standard of 0.10 second. This level of precision makes them ideal for small-part production applications that require exact material flow into the mould.

Pumping only for a small fraction of the time they are operating, the VCTH units potentially save thousands of euros in energy costs over their lifetime. The accumulator-based, air-driven pumps tap into air compressors already existing in most shops; thus, installation is easy. The accumulator stores precharged oil even when the pump is not running, allowing for instantaneous operation when valve gate position changes are necessary.