Production of injection moulding plastic boxes, crates and bins

Vanessa Malena: We definitely have a lot of requests in that area. There is a higher demand for these products with increased online orders and shipments from all sorts of businesses.

Franco Pettine: And very similar items are used for organising your home. During the pandemic, people are working from home and in many cases must rearrange living space, closets and even garages to accommodate for an office area. Also, with people in quarantine, many are organising and decluttering areas like kitchens, playrooms, and basements which is driving up the demand for these types of product.

Vanessa Malena: The manufacturers of storage containers, storage totes, shipping crates and stackable bins need a stable performing machine. That is independent of the size or design of the product.

Franco Pettine: All industries have different requirements regarding materials, sizes, part performance, etc. We have a large portfolio of injection moulding machinery and automation to find the perfect solution for each individual end product. With our large hydraulic duo machines, we have a great product offering that includes a wide range of injection and clamping unit combinations. The machine design has been proven and enhanced over decades. This guarantees stable and reliable operation with the latest controller technology and a variety of smart manufacturing solutions. Not only that, but robots, automation, hot runners, and other auxiliaries can be integrated through the machine controller.

Clean oil with constant quality and viscosity is critical for injection moulding plastic boxes, crates and bins. Incorporating our Oil Maintenance unit reduces your maintenance costs and unplanned machine downtime. Less downtime, less maintenance leads to increased productivity in your plant.

There have been new developments to not only make our large hydraulic duo machines faster, but we also added a lot of features to accommodate for the requirements of this market segment (e.g. re-enforced platens, increased clamp speeds). We also offer specific screw designs to produce shipping and household storage containers, storage totes, shipping crates and stackable bins like the ones we are talking about in this interview. These screw designs are for high plasticising performance and fast recovery rates. Even though there is a high demand, there is still pressure on the costs of the final product. We know that you need high cycle times, and consistent high-quality output.

Vanessa Malena: Whether you are thinking about linear or articulated robots for part removal, you do not have to deal with separate automation companies. ENGEL offers a turn-key solution with our large, in-house automation team based in York, PA. We work with you from concept to production and after-sales support.

Franco Pettine: At ENGEL we are dedicated to supporting the sustainable use of plastics material and we promote Circular Economy projects of all kinds. The use of recycled content, PPR, and PCR material, has become very important to both the end-user and the manufacturers of storage and shipping containers, storage totes, shipping crates and stackable bins. As part of this initiative, our R&D department puts a lot of effort into championing the use of recycled material and developing methods designed for processing all types of recycled materials - either for the entire product or for parts (e.g. core of the part). In addition, machine software like iQ weight control improves the part quality significantly by automatically adjusting process parameters to variations in the material or environmental conditions. In day-to-day production, our customers can rely on the experienced North American after-sales support team. We do not work with third-party service people or companies. All after-sales support personnel are highly trained employees of ENGEL. Most of the spare parts are shipped the same day with fulfillment happening in our spare parts hub in York, PA.

Vanessa Malena: Trust in the partnership is very important. ENGEL is always thinking long-term. As a 100% family-owned business, our focus is on a long-term partnership with our customers - offering products that last with a concentration on developing new technology consistently to meet the demands of our clients.

Vanessa Malena: I would say, contact us. We are happy to discuss options that specifically fit the requirements of the project.