R&D Plastics adds Toshiba press

R&D Plastics (Hillsboro, OR) just installed a Toshiba ISF720VL machine specifically designed for the molding of large parts with accuracy and close tolerances. “Consistent part quality, molding repeatability, and reduced energy usage are a few of the advantages over the machine that we replaced,” noted Rod Roth, president of R&D. “We have gained double the shot capacity and increased our tie-bar spacing by six inches,” said Roth. “This allows us to mold larger parts with larger molds.”

Currently, R&D operates 12 presses ranging from 28 to 720 tons, according to Sal Gonzales, VP of manufacturing. “One of our customers is ramping up their production of larger parts, so we needed a larger-tonnage machine to meet their demands,” said Gonzales.

The new machine allows R&D to reduce its energy consumption and improve its process control with the newer VL controller technology. The company also added a full servo robot for part removal.
 
In other news, R&D announced it is offering a half-day seminar on Plastic Part Design on January 20, 2010 at its Hillsboro, OR facility. The seminar covers the fundamentals of plastic part design, material selection criteria, common quality issues and key factors in part pricing.

R&D also sponsored the 12th Annual Western Washington University Student Tour of the Portland area. “Twenty-two students and three faculty were on the tour,” Roth noted. “We rented a bus and paid for the meals and toured six facilities including R&D.” Other companies toured included mold manufacturer RanBro Tool; OEM Micro Power Electronics; Masterpiece Models; Smak Plastics—a rotational molder; and Piller Plastics, a molder with presses up to 1000 tons. —Clare Goldsberry