Textron Automotive takes closed loop control

The company generally regarded as the largest injection molder in North America, the Automotive Trim Div. of the $2.9 billion multinational Textron Automotive Co., or TAC, has gone out and bought its own process control company, M&C Advanced Processes Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI), developers of the closed loop process control system known as GCP process control.

"The acquisition of M&C is another indicator of our commitment to leading-edge technologies within the automotive supply industry," says Sam Licavoli, chairman, president, and ceo of TAC. "This process is a dramatic example of the tremendous impact closed loop technology can have on traditional manufacturing processes."

Formally introduced in 1997, GCP ensures that molds fill and materials solidify with uniform pressure, balanced flow, and reduced stress by controlling the internal melt pressure of a shot in real time. GCP dramatically reduces or totally eliminates warpage, sink, shrink, knitlines, and surface stresses while improving dimensional accuracy, structural integrity, and mechanical strength. It closes the loop between the melt, the mold, and the machine. (See June 1997 IMM, p. 81.) It is presently licensed to machine builders Engel, Ferromatik Milacron, Van Dorn Demag, HPM, Toshiba, and Husky, with retrofit services available from Epco and AMR.

M&C is now a division of Textron Automotive Trim. Milko Guergov, inventor of GCP and founder of M&C, is vp; Ed Rutkowske joins M&C from Textron Automotive Trim as vp of manufacturing operations. Both report directly to Jerry Mosingo, executive vp of operations at Textron Automotive Trim, who says, "We have barely scratched the surface on how far this technology can go."

Mosingo says his company is presently putting a business plan together, and is evaluating whether or not to continue licensing the technology to other molders. However, he says Textron definitely will retain exclusive rights to the process when it comes to automotive molding, and plans to license only molders that do not directly compete with Textron’s other business ventures.