The DESMA injection moulding systems are designed to work optimally and guarantee the sustainable production success of customers from a whole range of industries.
The high quality team of process engineers in the process engineering center therefore work on the optimization of installations, machines, moulds and production methods. With the latest production systems the technicians and engineers work on the perfect implementation of innovations such as FlowControl and complex customer projects.
In addition to tests and pilot series, it also carries out training for employees and clients as well as preparations for trade fairs. Customers can also enjoy direct production assistance in the process engineering center if required.
Other DESMA engineering centers are situated at our locations in the USA, India and China.
The process engineering center has been located in a 500 square meter building at DESMA headquarters in Fridingen since 2001. It is equipped with the latest generation of vertical and horizontal machines, as well as temperation units, post-curing ovens, a range of vacuum devices, LSR mixing units and a big spectrum of silicone stuffing devices for paste silicone (HTV).
Tests are carried out in the process engineering center on applications from a whole range of sectors. The test engineers sometimes also use original moulds supplied by the customers to create realistic conditions. They also use the test center’s own test moulds and the appropriate measuring equipment.
The technicians use a Brabender measuring mixer in a small laboratory to test the processability of rubber compounds, as well as a vulcameter to provide data for process optimization.
The team in the process engineering center consists of process engineers with many years of experience, headed up by Joachim Liebermann and his deputy Thomas Kernler. The team can call on more support from the Customer Care Center when required, not to mention staff from other DESMA locations.
The team tests machines, materials, moulds, brush systems, demoulding and feeding systems for rubber-metal parts and other peripheral equipment.
“Not everything that looks good in a drawing necessarily works perfectly straight away. We therefore optimize what our project department develops,” says process engineering center manager Joachim Liebermann. They therefore carry out preliminary tests to see if an idea is technically feasible. The design engineers then build a prototype on which the team carries out refinements until it matches customer specifications and DESMA quality standards.
Tests start with the question: “How can customers inexpensively manufacture X million pieces of a new article?” The solution is usually one of DESMA’s standard machines. When this is not the case, the process engineering center tests solutions proposed by the project department to check their industrial viability. The team presents customers the results when all of the test series have been evaluated. The decision on whether and how to realise the project is then reached jointly with the project engineers.
The life cycles of many products are becoming shorter and shorter. Today’s automotive market demands innovations almost every year. This also changes the specifications for specific elastomer components. The process engineering center carries out pre-series production runs on new customer products such as seals for fuel cells or complete insulators. The parts manufactured in these tests provide customers with a basis for test series or to verify improvements carried out on an article.
DESMA sells turnkey systems, in other words complete installations consisting of an injection moulding machine, injection moulds, and peripheral equipment. The process engineering center tests and adjusts DESMA’s system solutions to get them ready for production. This is then followed by test runs under production conditions lasting several hours. The remaining faults are then documented and rectified.
As soon as a mould has been finished by the DESMA mould shop it is optimized on an appropriate machine in the process engineering center. This can involve the team converting or upgrading a machine in line with customer specifications. When the optimization process has been completed, customers usually come along personally to conduct the run-off tests of the mould. The final refinements can then be discussed with the client and carried out immediately.
The process engineering center can also carry out tests to optimize customer moulds which are already in use. The process engineers assist the customers’ staff with DESMA’s comprehensive expertise to improve existing production processes.
The center is also involved in optimizing purchased parts such as temperation units, brush systems, vacuum pumps, safety components and hydraulic and electronic components, to ensure that they satisfy the customers’ requirements.
The technical preparations for DESMA’s global exhibition presence takes place in the process engineering center. Machines and moulds are selected, rubber compounds are tested, spare parts are prepared, and the machines are adjusted to the conditions at each show.
When customers encounter production bottlenecks, the process engineering center can provide temporary support with the production of components in response to short-term demand peaks. This often involves the customer sending its own staff to produce the components on one of the machines in the process engineering center, sometimes with the assistance of DESMA application engineers.
The process engineering center provides training courses for service technicians, trainees and staff from DESMA’s locations around the world. Staff can intensify their technical expertise on specially prepared machines away from the normal production line. The in-house training center for customers also uses the machines, moulds and expertise of the process engineering center. Training and optimization are being closely integrated with one another in the test center to provide customers with real added value.
