Delphi equips new molding plant with 124 all-electric IMMs

Tier 1 automotive supplier Delphi Corp. and Milacron (Batavia, OH) are singing each other’s praises regarding the installation of 124 Milacron all-electric injection molding machines at a state-of-the-art molding facility for Delphi Connection Systems in Vienna, Ohio. The machines are Milacron/Fanuc Roboshot Si-B models, ranging from 55 to 165 tons. Four are used in the process engineering laboratory, and 120 are on the production floor.
Since the start-up in mid-2003, the machines have delivered fast fill times and overall shorter part processing times, says Charles Mansfield, Delphi’s supervisor, injection molding technology. “On some of our hard-to-fill products, the acceleration characteristics of the Roboshot machine have yielded a clear processing advantage.”
The 124-machine order is Milacron’s largest quantity order ever, and Milacron’s vice-president, machinery technology, Karlheinz Bourdon, speculates that the Vienna facility may also be the world’s largest all-electric molding plant.
Delphi says the Vienna plant is its most agile, flexible and responsive molding operation. The plant molds interconnect products for both automotive and non-automotive markets. It incorporates real-time monitoring of order entries, material needs, tooling changeovers, production runs and direct-ship labelling.
More details on the Vienna plant are forthcoming in the August issue of Canadian Plastics.