Large moulds changed in 15 min

A quick mould change system from Krauss-Maffei is helping automotive components moulder R-TEK to keep ahead of the demanding requirements of its major OEM customers.

A quick mould change system from Krauss-Maffei is helping automotive components moulder R-TEK to keep ahead of the demanding requirements of its major OEM customers.

R-TEK has around 90 moulds in active use and mould changes are frequent.

The quick-change mould system achieves a complete changeover in less than 15 min.

It was developed by Krauss-Maffei in cooperation with robotic engineering company Staubli.

"We change moulds ten to 15 times a day," said R-TEK's plant manager Peter Watson, "so a highly effective, tried and tested mould changing system like this one is very important for us." R-TEK is a subsidiary of Kasai Kogyo, Japan, and is based in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

The company produces a range of injection mouldings, with different surface finishes, for automotive interiors.

Examples are pillar and door trim.

"We are strongly concentrated on certain products and supply these in high volumes," added Peter Watson.

R-TEK supplies Nissan and Honda and operates injection moulders from 1500 to 20,000kN.

Last year the company added a third Krauss-Maffei KM 1600-1800 MC machine fitted with a Sepro robot system.

Fast cycle times and high plastification performance and high uptime availability encouraged R-TEK to choose the machine.

It features a two-platen design, which makes the Krauss-Maffei high tonnage machine design a very compact one.

Back to top