Blow Molding & SMC

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Blow Moulding & SMC

Extrusion blow moulding is a process by which the plastic material is extruded and melted through rotating screw and barrel; pushed and fed into the extrusion head where the by-product called “parison” comes out and met by the closing moulds; and after being blown is formed as a hollow plastic container in a desired shape.

Extrusion blow moulding is not a new plastics process technology but its research and development is way far behind than the Injection moulding processes.  Although many technical improvements have been developed in the blow moulding technology in the past years, like strengthening carriage and clamping systems from 2-tie bars to 3-tie bars to 4-tie bars; increasing clamping force and reducing deflection of carriage movement from inclined carriage movement to horizontal carriage movement; from single-cavity production to multiple-cavity production; from single-layer to multi-layer production for special product applications; other development includes In-Mould labeling system and the View Stripe applications incorporated as built-in accessories within the machine.  All these technical growths in extrusion blow moulding are still considered sluggish compared to other plastic materials processes.

Despite the slower phase of development for extrusion blow moulding technology however, many manufacturers have emerged from the Far East, perhaps due to the growing demand on this process, and most likely because people are looking for alternative choices and cheaper machineries.  Earlier, the extrusion blow moulding business was monopolized by European machine makers like Kautex, Bekum, Uniloy and other German and Italian manufacturers.  But recently, the Chinese and Taiwanese machine makers have been very lucrative showcasing their cheap machineries in global market.  Despite the emergence of many Asian blow moulding machine manufacturers in this industry, the European manufacturers have strongly held their grounds due to their well established names that brings along machines’ quality.  Nowadays, the greatest challenge however is sourcing out the cheaper machines but not compromising its quality that is comparable to that of European’s.

With all the arguments in choosing cheaper or expensive price but quality machines, there is a secret that people in the plastics industry have not really given emphasis to.  This is the importance of having a good, expert and trusted blow moulding machine “Operator”.  The logic is simple, even if one has European brand machine, but if the Operator does not know the “TLC” (tender, loving, care) of the equipment, does not know trouble shooting and proper maintenance, the machine deteriorates easily and it will break down sooner.  If one has an Asian made machine, but the Operator is taking good extra care of the machine, it may not last longer than European made machine, but it will certainly last to give “Return of Investment” for the machine owner.  Perhaps, finding the “expert” Operator is also not an easy task and it is not a cheap option.  But one has to consider the “Operator” as part of the total machine investment.  This way, the Machine Owner will also take care of the Operator, salary-wise and incentives-wise.  If we combine the two important issues mentioned in this article, quality machine and expert machine operator, one maybe looking at an expensive production line operation.  Now, the question that lingers for blow moulders will be: Is there another choice between the high-tech, expensive machines and the low quality, cheap machines?

Looking at the brighter prospective, there is another secret that most of SMC customers have found out, which is, they buy and use SMC blow moulding machines while at the same time send its machine operator to SMC Thailand for in-depth blow moulding machine training. SMC Corporation Ltd., has been in the blow moulding industry for more than 25 years.  It has worked with some German companies in developing and improving their machines technology, thereby making their machineries comparable with European standard.  SMC has sold more than 4,000 units in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is using original European made screw & barrel, as well as original European made hydraulic and pneumatic parts.  SMC build machines based on the utmost principle of quality, reliability and maximum production efficiency.  SMC has become the total solution for customers looking for quality but cheaper machineries.  SMC machines are of course more expensive than Chinese or Taiwanese’s but far cheaper than European made machines.  SMC therefore plays in the middle market between European and Asian made machines.  SMC also provides lengthy training to Customers’ operators, on the premise that SMC machine operators with “TLC” make the whole package more productive, minimal down time in production operation, and achieve optimum machine efficiency.

The various market segment applications according to SMC blow moulding machines manufacturing capabilities are summarized as follows:

• Plastic Bottles (300 ml to 5 liters, 10 liters to 50 liters, 60 liters to 100 liters plastic drums)
• Plastic bottles and jerry cans for lubricant oil packaging (with View Stripe)
• Multi-layer plastic bottles for chemical, agro-chemical packaging, and other special applications (up to six-layers)
• Plastic bottles for liquid detergents, cosmetic, beauty products and consumer products packaging
• Multi-layer plastic bottles for milk, yogurt, juice, ketchup & other food products packaging (up to six-layers)
• Car parts such as: Air Ducts, Sun Visor, Water Tanks, Bumpers, etc.., and other products for Industrial applications.
• Small plastic bottles for tablets and medicine packaging; using Injection Blow Moulding process.
• Plastic bottles for IV fluid packaging
• In-Mould Labeling (IML) – incorporated in SMC blow moulding machines
• Multi-layer (Co-Extrusion) Machines – 2 layers up to 6 layers application
• View Stripe (VS) – incorporated application in SMC blow moulding machines

SMC customers who had used other Asian made blow moulding machines before have realized that SMC machine is now the better option in terms of quality.  SMC customers who had used European made blow moulding machines before had also realized that SMC machine is now the best option in terms of price and profitability.  Absolutely, these are the bottom lines of SMC’s success in the Plastics Industry.  Hence, SMC has lived to its motto for quite some time now, “European Standard with Asian Price Tag”.  SMC machines are indeed “Moulding The Future”.