Wilmington Machinery has completed a series of improvements to its processing products for injection molders, blow molders, thermoformers
Founded in 1972, the company specializes in very large and complex machines at a modern 65,000 square foot plant in the port city of Wilmington, N.C.
The company is putting a spotlight on advances made since NPE2018.
For injection molders, Wilmington has a new model press to produce low-cost pallets. The recently introduced PM-1C is a 350-ton, low-pressure machine capable of molding plastic pallets up to 48 inches by 52 inches in size with weights up to 40 pounds.
Demand for plastic pallets is increasing worldwide, according to Wilmington President Russ LaBelle.
"The price of wood has increased more than the price of plastic and that's driving demand," LaBelle said in an email.
Lumber prices skyrocketed last year when many mills closed because of the pandemic and then demand picked up from home remodelers and builders.
Even though wood production has reached a 13-year high, the cost of lumber remains at record levels. At the end of March, the price of lumber per thousand board feet was $1,032, which is up 171 percent from the prior year's $381, according to Random Lengths.
Another factor also is creating new demand for plastic pallets.
"Wood import is being banned in many countries for use such as pallets," LaBelle said.
He expects plastic pallet demand to continue to increase and Wilmington's 350-ton PM-1C to meet it.
With a melting capacity of 1,200 pounds per hour, the press can produce 30 pallets per hour. It's available for hot runner molds or the classic external and configurable multi-nozzle injection methods.
The machine is believed to be the lowest cost U.S.-made machine of its type and competes with Asian built machines of similar capacity.
"Compared to domestic machines, it's 30-40 percent lower and compared to Asian machines it's 5-15 percent lower," Jim Boos, Wilmington sales and marketing manager, said in an email.
Wilmington also is out with a dual mold pallet system. The new PM-3S is a 500-ton, low-pressure press capable of molding two plastic pallets of the same or different sizes. The pallet sizes go up to 48 inches by 52 inches and weigh up to 38 pounds each.
The PM-3S has a melting capacity up to 2,400 pounds per hour and can produce 60 pallets per hour. The machine comes standard with the classic configurable external multi-nozzle injection.
Like all Wilmington low- and medium-pressure machines, the PM-3S processes 100 percent recycled plastic — even in flake form — and is suitable for structural foam, gas assist, core back and other injection molding techniques.
"Flake form is the lowest-cost recycled plastic but it can be more challenging than others especially when you don't have an extrusion system designed for it," LaBelle said.
Also, for injection molders, Wilmington has a new medium-pressure general purpose press called MP500. The 500-ton press is suitable for molding high surface quality plastic products for automotive, electrical, packaging, recreational and construction applications.
The MP500 has a proprietary in-line reciprocating screw/accumulator injection system that the company describes as an inline first-in, first-out accumulator.
It offers a maximum shot size for foam of 480 cubic inches, which would be about 15 pounds for high density polyethylene, and programable injection velocity and pressure to 10,000 pounds per square inch. The shot size for solid molding is 240 cubic inches, or about 7.5 pounds.
This single injection point machine is designed for hot runner molds of structural foam, gas assist, core back and
The machine is also available in an 800-ton model with the same capabilities.
For blow molders, Wilmington has three developments. First, the company is out with a dual wheel rotary blow molding machine dubbed MSBW60-DC. The machine can produce two different size bottles with a significant reduction in setup time and labor cost. It comes with two 60 station "wheels" capable of single and dual parison molding with common extrusion, die-head and trimming components.
The major advantage with this machine is that as volumes increase, one or the other wheel can be retrofitted with its own extrusion and trimming equipment, which minimizes the investment for a second production line.
Wilmington also has a next-generation line of rotary molders — Series III B — that the company says is faster and more versatile. The series comes in four different clamp sizes with nine to 36 molding stations and extrusion systems for up to seven-layer bottle production using both single and dual parison techniques.
The new wheel features Wilmington's "radial positioning," also known as variable pitch, as well pre-plumbed air and water services directly to the clamps.
The new series also has dual-cam, servo-driven actuation of the clamps for faster opening and closing time, smoother operation and less maintenance.
In another development for blow molders, Wilmington has a new rotary model machine capable of producing one-gallon bleach bottles with handles at rates to 144 bottles per minute in single or multiple layer configurations.
The Model 7.5 W24 is a Series III B 7.5 ton, 24-station, 170mm extruder blow molding machine that uses less floor space, labor, maintenance and utilities compared to other platforms requiring multiple machines to produce at comparable production rates.
For thermoformers, Wilmington came up with a new concept for a rotary melt-to-mold extrusion/thermoforming machine. The concept lets processors do "deep draw" plug assist thermoforming at high production rates. The company says this reduces container costs.
The machine is a melt-phase type thermoformer with integrated single or multilayer sheet extrusion directly to the continuous rotary thermoformer with secondary trimming.
Machine operators have simultaneous control of both extrusion and thermoforming for tighter quality control and a large energy savings because the sheet is not heated twice as in most other platforms.
In addition, Wilmington Machinery has increased its service activity to include custom machinery design of plastic and other types of processing machinery; retrofits of processing machinery built by Wilmington and others; product design of large structural products for all industries; training customers' production and maintenance personnel; and lab services for material trials, mold trials and prototyping.
"Service needs are increasing as companies continue to downsize or are unable to attract qualified service or production people," Labelle said, noting that retraining customers and taking on machines built by others are two new services.
Wilmington Machinery has completed a series of improvements to its processing products for injection molders, blow molders and thermoformers.
Founded in 1972, the company specializes in very large and complex machines at a modern 65,000-square-foot plant in the port city of Wilmington, N.C.
The company is putting a spotlight on advances made since NPE2018.
For injection molders, Wilmington has a new model press to produce low-cost pallets. The recently introduced PM-1C is a 350-ton, low-pressure machine capable of molding plastic pallets up to 48 inches by 52 inches in size with weights up to 40 pounds.
Demand for plastic pallets is increasing worldwide, according to Wilmington President Russ LaBelle.
"The price of wood has increased more than the price of plastic and that's driving demand," LaBelle said in an email.
Lumber prices skyrocketed last year when many mills closed because of the pandemic and then demand picked up from home remodelers and builders.
Even though wood production has reached a 13-year high, the cost of lumber remains at record levels. At the end of March, the price of lumber per thousand board feet was $1,032, which is up 171 percent from the prior year's $381, according to Random Lengths.
Another factor is also creating new demand for plastic pallets.
"Wood import is being banned in many countries for use such as pallets," LaBelle said.
He expects plastic pallet demand to continue to increase and Wilmington's 350-ton PM-1C to meet it.
With a melting capacity of 1,200 pounds per hour, the press can produce 30 pallets per hour. It's available for hot runner molds or the classic external and configurable multinozzle injection methods.
The machine is believed to be the lowest-cost U.S.-made machine of its type and competes with Asian-built machines of similar capacity.
"Compared to domestic machines, it's 30-40 percent lower, and compared to Asian machines it's 5-15 percent lower," Jim Boos, Wilmington sales and marketing manager, said in an email.
Wilmington also is out with a dual mold pallet system. The new PM-3S is a 500-ton, low-pressure press capable of molding two plastic pallets of the same or different sizes. The pallet sizes go up to 48 inches by 52 inches and weigh up to 38 pounds each.
The PM-3S has a melting capacity up to 2,400 pounds per hour and can produce 60 pallets per hour. The machine comes standard with the classic configurable external multinozzle injection.
Like all Wilmington low- and medium-pressure machines, the PM-3S processes 100 percent recycled plastic — even in flake form — and is suitable for structural foam, gas assist, core back and other injection molding techniques.
"Flake form is the lowest-cost recycled plastic, but it can be more challenging than others especially when you don't have an extrusion system designed for it," LaBelle said.
Also, for injection molders, Wilmington has a new medium-pressure general purpose press called MP500. The 500-ton press is suitable for molding high surface quality plastic products for automotive, electrical, packaging, recreational and construction applications.
The MP500 has a proprietary in-line reciprocating screw/accumulator injection system that the company describes as an in-line first-in, first-out accumulator.
It offers a maximum shot size for foam of 480 cubic inches, which would be about 15 pounds for high density polyethylene, and programmable injection velocity and pressure to 10,000 pounds per square inch. The shot size for solid molding is 240 cubic inches, or about 7.5 pounds.
The machine is also available in an 800-ton model with the same capabilities.
For blow molders, Wilmington has three developments. First, the company is out with a dual wheel rotary blow molding machine dubbed MSBW60-DC. The machine can produce two different size bottles with a significant reduction in setup time and labor cost. It comes with two 60 station "wheels" capable of single and dual parison molding with common extrusion, die-head and trimming components.
The major advantage with this machine is that as volumes increase, one or the other wheel can be retrofitted with its own extrusion and trimming equipment, which minimizes the investment for a second production line.
Wilmington also has a next-generation line of rotary molders — Series III B — that the company says is faster and more versatile. The series comes in four different clamp sizes with nine to 36 molding stations and extrusion systems for up to seven-layer bottle production using both single and dual parison techniques.
The new wheel features Wilmington's "radial positioning," also known as variable pitch, as well pre-plumbed air and water services directly to the clamps.
The new series also has dual-cam, servo-driven actuation of the clamps for faster opening and closing time, smoother operation and less maintenance.
In another development for blow molders, Wilmington has a new rotary model machine capable of producing 1-gallon bleach bottles with handles at rates to 144 bottles per minute in single or multiple layer configurations.
The Model 7.5 W24 is a Series III B 7.5-ton, 24-station, 170-millimeter extruder blow molding machine that uses less floor space, labor, maintenance and utilities compared with other platforms requiring multiple machines to produce at comparable production rates.
For thermoformers, Wilmington came up with a new concept for a rotary melt-to-mold extrusion/thermoforming machine. The concept lets processors do "deep draw" plug-assist thermoforming at high production rates. The company says this reduces container costs.
The machine is a melt-phase-type thermoformer with integrated single or multilayer sheet extrusion directly to the continuous rotary thermoformer with secondary trimming.
Machine operators have simultaneous control of both extrusion and thermoforming for tighter quality control and a large energy savings because the sheet is not heated twice as in most other platforms.
In addition, Wilmington Machinery has increased its service activity to include custom machinery design of plastic and other types of processing machinery; retrofits of processing machinery built by Wilmington and others; product design of large structural products for all industries; training customers' production and maintenance personnel; and lab services for material trials, mold trials and prototyping.
"Service needs are increasing as companies continue to downsize or are unable to attract qualified service or production people," LaBelle said, noting that retraining customers and taking on machines built by others are two new services.
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