An in-mold labeling (IML) system designed specifically for medical applications will be unveiled at Fakuma next month. MCC has harnessed the expertise of Arburg, Beck Automation, Intravis, and Kebo to develop the system, which, it says, seamlessly integrates advanced automation, precision, and quality control into the production process.
The system features the following elements:
- Arburg’s electric Allrounder 520 A, a high-performance injection molding machine specially designed for high speed and demanding processes such as thin-wall molding.
- Automation from Beck Automation works quasi-synchronously with the Arburg press, ensuring precise, repeatable label positioning during the injection molding process. The Beck label adjustment head measures each individual label and compensates for its manufacturing tolerances. The technology is unique in the field of IML, according to MCC, and Beck has integrated the technology into a medical system for the first time.
- Advanced vision inspection technology from Intravis works in tandem with Beck's automation system to ensure flawless IML parts by detecting and rejecting defective products in real time.
- An eight-cavity mold from Kebo will be running in the Arburg press at Fakuma to produce a medical part that achieves perfect straightness and a precise wall thickness. Productivity and surface and gate quality are additional features of the tool, according to MCC.
- MCC, of course, brings its IML and medical labeling expertise to the project. The newest generation of IML technology includes temperature indicators and sterilization coding on the label.
For a deeper dive into the technology, MCC is holding Expert Talks with representatives from each of the companies at Fakuma on Oct. 18 and 19 at 2 p.m. The 45-minute sessions will take place in the Schwarzwald meeting room in the West Conference Center next to hall 3. A brochure describing the medical IML system can be downloaded from the MCC website.
The Medical IML system will be on display at Fakuma at booth 2218 in hall B2. Fakuma returns to Friedrichshafen, Germany, from Oct. 17 to 21, 2023.
