Injection molder saves more than $62,000 annually by using Dyna-Purge® for preventive maintenance.


Injection molder saves more than $62,000 annually by using Dyna-Purge® for preventive maintenance.
Joe Riggs, Assistant Plant Manager at Plastic Products, prepares to pour Dyna-Purge M, packaged ready-to-use, into an injection molding machine. The company was experiencing high scrap rates when changing over from black glass-filled PET to ABS. Switching to Dyna-Purge M for routine preventive maintenance reduced its scrap rate by 82% and saved more than $62,000 annually.

Producing louvered grills, machine parts and many other products presented daily purging challenges for Plastic Products. Operators would use up to 140 lbs. of in-house resins and sometimes spend 8-to-10 hours to pull and clean the screw. With Dyna-Purge M, the company has cut downtime up to 87%.
SITUATION:
Headquartered in Lindstrom, Minnesota, Plastic Products Co., Inc. is a contract injection molder with nine plants in six states. The Lebanon, Kentucky facility operates 34 processing machines and uses a wide range of resins to produce a variety of consumer products. Injection molding machines include Nissei, Milacron, Engel, and Mitsubishi systems, with barrel capacities ranging from 1.59 to 80 ounces and temperatures from 350°F to 610°F.

As part of the daily maintenance routine at the Lebanon plant, in-house resins were used to purge colors and materials. This method often presented problems.

Downtime for changeovers was too lengthy, especially when switching from black glass-filled PET to clear ABS. Machines were often shut down to remove the screw and clean it manually, an 8-to-10-hour process. In addition, there was a significant amount of scrap and wasted material reported.

SOLUTION:
Use Dyna-Purge M, a versatile purging compound designed for purging a wide range of resins at 350°F to 600°F (177°C to 315°C).

RESULTS:
• Plastic Products lowered its annual purging costs $62,363, a 55% reduction, by using Dyna-Purge M. The average cost per purge with in-house resins was $304.00. With Dyna-Purge, it is now only $137.70.
• Regularly using 25 lbs. of Dyna-Purge M as part of its preventive maintenance program has enabled Plastic Products to save more than 42,000 lbs. of molding-grade resins a year. This represents an 82% reduction in purging waste.
• Downtime for changeovers now takes only 80 minutes, an improvement of up to 87% compared to spending from 2 to 10 hours for changeovers before using Dyna-Purge M.