Coming to Fakuma: Milacron to show Imflux machine

Photo by Milacron Holdings Corp. Milacron will mold complex technical parts using the Imflux technology at Fakuma 2018.

Milacron Holdings Corp. will show an Imflux-enabled injection moulding machine at the Fakuma trade show in Germany next month, marking the first time an injection press manufacturer has adopted the moulding technology from Imflux, part of Procter & Gamble Co.

Milacron made the announcement as part of its 10 Sept news release in advance of Fakuma 2018, set for 16-20 Oct in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Milacron will mould a technical part on an all-electric Elektron EVO 155 press running a two-cavity Imflux mould.

Imflux uses constant, low pressure to slowly fill the mould, while simultaneously packing the melt and cooling the mould. Imflux software, linked to sensors, controls the process. Traditional injection moulding uses high pressure and high temperatures, then switches over to the pack-and-hold phase.

Imflux officials say the technology can cut cycle time, reduce moulding pressure by 50%, reduce moulded-in stress and shrink variations and allow a wider range of processing windows and shrink variations inside the mould, among other benefits.

Consumer products giant P&G set up Imflux as a technology company in Hamilton, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. Milacron's headquarters is in nearby Blue Ash, Ohio, and its main assembly plant is in Batavia, Ohio, not far away.

Imflux leaders want injection moulding press manufacturers to offer Imflux-enabled machines as a way to spread the technology through the plastics industry. As reported by Plastics News, Imflux executives have said they are talking to a number of machinery makers, and they specified three: Milacron, Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., and Wittmann Battenfeld Inc.

Gene Altonen, chief technology officer at Imflux, will give a presentation 13 Sept. at Plastics News' Caps & Closures conference in Chicago. Imflux also is sponsoring a tour at Flex Ltd. in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, as part of the conference.