Italy-based hot runner
manufacturer HRSflow has extended its manufacturing footprint to the U.S. with
a new plant in Byron Center, Mich., south of Grand Rapids. The division of mold
manufacturer Inglass SpA chose the location to be closer to west Michigan’s
plastics industry and the state’s automakers, officials said at a grand opening
ceremony.
Michigan is the hub of the
automotive business in the U.S.A., which is a very important market for Inglass
and HRSflow. This is the reason why we chose to locate here, Inglass-HRSflow
President and CEO Maurizio Bazzo said in a presentation at the ceremony.
The Byron Center site has
3,700 square meters of floor space, with an expansion adding an additional
4,600 square meters planned for 2019.
The operation will serve
primarily the U.S. and Canadian markets, along with Central and South America.
HRSflow also produces hot-runner systems at facilities in China and at its
headquarters in San Polo di Piave, Italy, with North American sales and service
locations in Windsor, Ontario, and in South Carolina.
Representing an investment
of more than 15 million euros for Inglass, the facility is designed to be
identical in process to other plants, equipped with robotics and many highly
automated systems, officials said.
When you have an opportunity
to build a brand new plant, and you utilize state-of-the-art equipment,
particularly higher degrees of automation, you have a great opportunity to
produce a global product, Blundy said. And it was our goal to make sure that
each plant — the one in Europe, the one in China and the one in the United
States — are truly identical in every way, shape and form. Machinery is the
same, design concept is the same, and when you put automation to that, you can
ensure that you’re going to get the same consistency and quality level
throughout the world.
At the September open
house, HRSflow demonstrated its Flexflow system, a servo-driven valve gate
designed for injection molding of large-area, complex parts. A key target for
the system is the automotive industry, with potential applications for the
technology in the lawn and garden, appliance, and other industries.
The company will also
showcase Flexflow at Fakuma 2015 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and will present
for the first time publicly the integration of Flexflow with Moldflow
simulation software.
source: plasticsnews image courtesy: hrsflow