Tests show that when compared with other major brands, the Abrasive Revolution disc ranges give the best performance in their price-bands, and the Hallmarc outlasts the competition by up to five times
Marcrist International is releasing the results of a testing programme that has been independently verified by Sheffield Testing Laboratories Ltd. The tests show that when compared with other major brands, the Abrasive Revolution disc ranges give the best performance in their price-bands, and the premium range Hallmarc outlasts the competition by up to five times. Over a 22 week period, more than 1000 discs from major manufacturers were tested to destruction for performance (life and cutting speed) and safety.

The results have been verified by Sheffield Testing Laboratories, and have been published in a booklet, which is available free by contacting Marcrist International.

These test results were used to develop three Abrasive Revolution price performance bands of Hallmarc, Powermarc, and Trademarc, which are guaranteed to offer (respectively) the ultimate performance, the best value for money, or the cheapest product that is still safe to use.

The performance data gives a clear statement of what can be expected from each disc.

Users can be confident of exactly what they are paying for, the performance to expect and how it compares with competitors' products.

'We are releasing the test booklets to create transparency within the marketplace,' says Tim Hearn, product manager for Powermarc.

'This performance data is independently verified so we have no hesitation in backing this up with the performance guarantees.' Abrasive Revolution products are designed to comply with all known worldwide safety standards, including VBG49 the most stringent to date.

VBG49 compliance includes tests for bursting speed, side loading, impact resistance, balance and dimensional compliance.

Since its set up in Sligo in 1988, Avenue Mould has become an established supplier of high precision, high cavitation injection volume moulds, competing with leading European suppliers.
Since its set up in Sligo in 1988, Avenue Mould has become an established supplier of high precision, high cavitation injection volume moulds, competing for business with leading Swiss, French, Italian and US mouldmakers. A programme of hi-tech investment has seen this progressive company receive the BASF-sponsored toolmaker of the Year award at the The Plastic Industry Awards, with quality of product, complete project support and investment in design and manufacturing all receiving top marks. Around 90% of output from the 1700m2 architect-designed plant consists of hot runner moulds for sectors which demand injection moulds to run at the lowest possible cycle times and with minimum downtime.

Employing 40 people, the company supplies major health care, packaging, consumer and personal care product companies, based in Ireland.

Its customer list includes Abbott Laboratories, Bausch and Lomb, Becton Dickenson, Tyco Medical, Nypro and Tech Group.

While Irish-based multinationals remain Avenue's principle customers, the company has established a growing list of UK clients and an increasingly international clientele as-far-a-field as Brazil and China.

Felim McNeela, Avenue Mould's Managing Director, believes the manufacture of high volume moulds places particular demands on the toolmaker.

'A high volume production mould represents a considerable investment on the part of the customer, both in terms of mould cost and on going running cost,' says McNeela.

According to the Avenue MD, fast cycle times, interchangeability and ease of maintenance are the order of the day for this moulding sector.

Avenue's plant houses a Roders High-Speed machining centre with integrated Fanuc robot, CNC machining centres, CNC turning, surface and cylindrical grinding, two Charmilles Roboform 20 CNC spark eroders, fitted with Erowa tooling, and an automated Roboform 35 fitted with Erowa's PX robot.

'The Charmilles Roboform 35 with its compact design has proved to be easily programmed and is highly effective when running both graphite and copper electrodes.

Wear rates are minimal while key machine functions such as corner locking and orbiting are easily incorporated at the programme creation stage.

Fed by Erowa's Robot PX, the large magazine has sufficient room for workpieces and electrodes to keep a machine working autonomously.

The modular magazine can be adapted to the user's precise needs.

The Roboform 35, equipped with the Erowa Robot PX, will achieve 6000 or more productive machining hours per year, with only one manned shift.' added McNeela.

Every job is set off-line; the company having purchased an Erowa PreSet Comfort 3D set-up and presetting station at MACH 1998.

Avenue Mould managers also emphasise the role of the firm's design team and design systems, which feature SolidWorks 2001 and AutoCAD 2000.

Avenue is also perhaps unique among Irish and UK toolmaker's to have a Moldflow flow and cooling analysis system.

A IP40,000 investment in 1992, this was brought in to support the company's component design, mould try out and debugging services, enabling customers to get a better return on their investments through establishing moulding conditions for stress-free parts and reduced cycle times.

The system also helps minimise runner dimensions for part-hot and cold runner moulds.

The company has further enhanced its Moldflow technology with the recent purchase of Moldflow's MPX product in its Mould Test and Validation Department, which comprises Nestal 2400kN and 1000kN Synergy machines, a Demag 500kN Ergotech and a full range of ancillary equipment.

Mouldflow MPX enables consistent, systematic mould set up, identifying a robust moulding window, monitors process quality and automatically corrects for process variations.

On Avenue's shopfloor orderly equipment layout and meticulous housekeeping are a feature.

A reflection of the type of customers the company serves.

'We deal with multinationals, particularly many in the health care sector and need to operate to their standards and rely on our suppliers to meet the same high standards.

A range of brass inserts intended to be placed in a plastics mould prior to plastics injection can be used in applications where torque and pull-out/through resistance are required.
Brass insert range is for inserting in moulds A range of brass inserts intended to be placed in a plastics mould prior to plastics injection can be used in applications where torque and pull-out/through resistance are required. Spirol Industries now has available a new family of brass inserts intended to be placed in a plastic mould prior to plastic injection. They can be used in applications where torque and pull-out/through resistance are required.

The new hexagonal moulded-in insert family has a hexagonal head on each end and a large centre undercut.

This design provides a high level of bi-directional torque resistance and high tensile strength.

Two moulded-in inserts are available, Spirol Series 40 is a through hole moulded-in insert and Spirol Series 44 a blind-end moulded-in insert.

They do not require any specialized insertion tools as the operator places the insert directly into the mould prior to plastic injection.

In addition, Spirol has designed this insert to simplify orientation and placement on to the mould core pin, thereby increasing productivity and reducing potential scrap rates.

* About Spirol Industries - Spirol Industries is a leading manufacturer of a diverse line of engineered fasteners, including coiled and slotted spring pins, solid pins, spacers, and other tubular products, as well as threaded inserts, milled brass nuts, shims, pin and insert installation equipment and vibratory parts feeders.

While countries such as China can offer very tempting alternatives to manufacturing in the UK, said Omega Plastics, having highly complex tools made 1000s of miles away from use is not viable.
UK manufacturing faces many challenges, not least that posed by low-cost manufacturing economies. The biggest threat in this respect comes from China, which is expanding its manufacturing capacity at an astonishing rate and is targeting the UK, and especially the UK's mould and toolmaking sectors in particular. While many UK-based manufacturing companies remain either oblivious or are simply ignoring the threat posed by China, Tyne and Wear, UK-based Omega Plastics is determined to meet it 'head on'.

Leading this fight back is Gordon Styles, Omega's newly appointed managing director.

His experience in the rapid prototyping/toolmaking sector is second to none having owned and managed businesses here in the UK and, more importantly in this case, in China itself.

This inside knowledge of the industrial behemoth that is threatening UK manufacturing will prove invaluable.

'Having lived in China and managed factories there, I am completely convinced that by 2015 China will dominate the world politically and economically,' said Styles.

'The Chinese are the fastest learners and most industrious people I have ever encountered.

Unless Western Governments react extremely fast to these developments by investing huge amounts in skill training and manufacturing, the UK and other 'ostrich like' nations will be bulldozed out of existence.

Whilst the US, UK and others are fighting costly diversionary wars, China is building the most significant Empire the Planet has ever seen.' Styles explained: 'As I walked and streets and the factory floors of China, I was overwhelmed by a sense of being right at the centre of the World'.

'Everything is possible in China and, contrary to popular belief, given the stability provided by its Government; it is poised to dwarf the USA as a World power.

In relation to my own industry of mouldmaking there are thousands of competing companies in China's Guangdong province alone, and some of them are world leaders.

If we compare the UK's largest mouldmaker with just over 100 people to its Chinese equivalent with over 2500 employees, you can see why the UK's toolmaking sector has been torn to shreds.' However, while countries such as China can offer very tempting alternatives to manufacturing in the UK, particularly while they remain relatively low-cost manufacturing economies, the reality is that having highly complex mould tools manufactured several thousand miles away from where they will be used is not a viable proposition.

With the threat of manufacturing moving offshore to China why then has Styles returned to the UK and invested his own hard-earned money in a British mouldmaking company?

Styles said: 'I am very confident that in Omega Plastics we have the necessary drive to build a very successful and profitable business, in spite of the Chinese.

Having lived and worked with these astonishingly wonderful people, I have been able to see the huge number of weaknesses and niches that are not being addressed in China.' He said: 'As product life spans become shorter, and with the need to get new products to market faster, the simple logistics of manufacturing complex components half way around the world do not make commercial sense.

Unfortunately, here in the UK we have allowed the main differentiator, namely highly skilled employees to be lost to manufacturing industry.

This is why at Omega Plastics we are laying down an open challenge to skilled toolmakers both here in the UK and from across Europe to accept our challenge of becoming a Master toolmaker in our state-of-the art manufacturing facility,' Much of Omega Plastics' current success is down to the role taken by its existing, four, Master Mouldmakers.

The company is unique in the way it manufactures its aluminium and P20 steel moulds and so requires individuals that are highly-skilled in the whole mouldmaking process, including design, manufacture and benching, and these are an extremely rare breed in Britain today.

To enable it to press home the advantages of manufacturing these highly technical products here in the UK Omega Plastics is working closely with the UK's trade body for the mouldmaking sector, The Gauge and Toolmakers Association (GTMA).