Blown film (May 01, 2004)

Partnership links front office and shop floor for film operations

Helping blown film producers maximize profit and efficiency is the goal of a new product under development by Future Design Inc. (Mississauga, ON) and PlastiSoft Corp. (Toronto). Future Design’s Saturn Genie automated air ring will provide real-time data about line conditions to an interface within PlastiSoft’s enterprise management software Tori-Flex.

The anticipated benefits of this integration are two-fold: operators can save recipes for specific product runs and thus reduce start-up scrap; and management staff will have accurate data, both current and historical, to produce quotes and schedule production for maximum efficiency.

“This real-time and historical production data is usually only available to line operators,” explains James Moore of Future Design. The concept of having real-time data linked to an enterprise management system is common in injection molding operations, but “unheard of in extrusion”, says Jacob Aharon, president of PlastiSoft.

“This technology will especially benefit companies that have older film lines,” he adds. Future Design and PlastiSoft expect the automated air ring/software combination will be most suitable for small- to medium-size operations that want to retrofit existing lines in order to improve profitability.

The Saturn Genie air ring can measure film gauge and adjust the upper lip, forming cone and the bubble cone. One benefit of the recipe format within the air ring control is that it permits a quick return to normal production following an interruption and the development of standard operating conditions for each product.

PlastiSoft Corp. 877-ASK-TORI

Future Design Inc. 905-361-9978