Energy-The elephant in the room

Energy-The elephant in the room

The energy elephant in the room (A piece written by Carl Reeve MD)

 

Is it just me or is anyone else concerned about the elephant in the room?

 

Having spent a hectic week with fellow members of the Plastics community, I feel I’m operating in a parallel universe. During two days at the Haitian open house in Germany, a day at Plastics Live in Coventry and then the BPF Council Meeting with the Bank of England I’m unsure why the there are so many relaxed faces.

 

The U.K. is in an energy crisis that is about to hit every home and every business. We all know that households have seen prices double and that they will increase again in October, don’t we? I’m sure I saw something about Europe being at war with its biggest energy supplier, or was that just pre Wimbledon? Why then, are so few manufacturers up in arms about their future?

 

In moments when my faith in humanity is challenged, I obviously reach for the good book. Yours may be different, but mine is by Dr Robin Kent, “Sustainability Management in Plastics Processing”. It reminds me that (chapter 6.1, page 195) “If your energy-saving actions to date have been confined to replacing fluorescent or high bay lighting with LEDs, then you haven’t understood where the costs really are.”

 

Hallelujah; I thought I’d missed the day in processing school, when they explained the lightbulbs use more power than the 500 ton lump, leaking oil in the mould shop.

 

According to the PMMDA figures it will take the U.K. 24 years to upgrade its current fleet of 17,000 moulding machines. One of the oldest equipment portfolios of any developed nation. 24 years, to modernise our single most important piece of equipment. If this was true of other equipment in our industry, we would mostly be driving Ford Sierra’s, chatting on a Nokia 3310, while waiting for our IBM computer screens to warm up.

 

So why don’t we upgrade machines inline with our global competitors? Well the most often used line is “these machines don’t owe us anything, they’re all paid for”.

 

The truth is we are still working on the theory that moulding technology hadn’t changed greatly in 30 years, so we could pay for the machine over 10 years, keep it for 20 years, and therefore the last 10 years are “free”.

 

Times have change. 24 years ago, the same year Google was launched, we didn’t have servo hydraulic and electric machines available at affordable prices. We didn’t have capital equipment that could provide a return on investment in under 5 years. But today we do.

 

When you next walk around a mould shop, remember the words of the good Dr Kent, 66% of the energy is going on Plastics Processing, and just 5% on lighting.

 

Now back to that elephant.

 

Energy is typically 7% of a moulder’s turnover. Industrial Electricity costs today stand, on average, at £0.14 kWh. Renewal costs on average stand at £0.42 kWh. A 300% increase.

 

Have a chat with your Financial Director, accountant, invoice clerk and see what difference that makes to your company’s profitability.

 

If only there were some way to negate these increases. Well, what do you know? There is technology out there that can cut your energy use by 60-80%.

 

Now obviously I believe that Haitian machines offer the “best bang for your bucks”, but as we hurtle towards a winter where energy security will define the economic climate, we all need to do our bit. We must reduce our energy consumption or the lights will go out. All the major machinery suppliers, have the technology to transform your energy usage and can demonstrate your return on investment.

 

We, literally, cannot afford to ignore this.

Energy-saving drives – injection molding machines with a double saving effect

Energy-saving drives – injection molding machines with a double saving effect

Energy prices are currently rising dramatically, which is putting a heavy strain on the manufacturing economy in particular. Our contribution to relieving the cost pressure: energy-efficient drives and low acquisition costs.

 

By the time the war began in Ukraine, it should have been clear everywhere: the issues of energy costs, energy saving and energy efficiency are becoming more and more important. “Supply uncertainties and high energy prices directly burden the production options and the competitiveness of companies that have to use a comparatively large amount of energy,” emphasizes Professor Bardt, Managing Director at the German Economic Institute (IW).

With energy-saving drive concepts, attractive acquisition costs and support in exhausting subsidy programs, Haitian International offers an effective way of relieving the cost pressure combined with the current adjustment of our machine inventory, especially at short notice!

Energy-saving drives as standard equipment

Proprietary motors and drives – servo-hydraulic or electric – have been among the core developments at Haitian International and its sister company Haitian Drive Systems from the very beginning. Energy efficiency has always been a key strength of Haitian’s technology solutions. Consequently, servo motors are also part of the standard scope of our machines.

Constant improvements in terms of efficiency

For example, in 2006 the energy-efficient and patented Mars technology went into production and is constantly being optimized. The pioneering, servo-electric drives are also custom-developed in cooperation with Haitian Drive Systems and installed in our electric Zhafir series. Our teams of experts work together on further improvements to the drives in order to constantly achieve new, significant optimisations in terms of efficiency.

In-house production creates double cost advantages

“Thanks to the in-house production of cost-intensive core components such as the drives and the production in large quantities, we can manufacture very cost-effectively – and pass this price advantage on to our customers,” says Niels Herz, Sales Manager Germany at HTIG. The result: injection molding machines with an unbeatable price-performance ratio. So there are two factors – the low investment level of our machines and the high energy savings that give you more room for maneuver right from the start.

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 Frequency converters manufactured in-house by the Haitian Group

 

Energy-efficient Haitian servomotors for all machine sizes from 40 to 6,600 t clamping force.

Haitian International plans production in Serbia

Haitian International plans production in Serbia

Haitian International is expanding its production and logistics network in Europe and is investing around EUR 100 million in the construction of a modern plant in Ruma, Serbia. Up to 2,500 injection molding machines are to be produced and customised each year in highly efficient production facilities.

 

With the investment in the center of the Balkan Peninsula, Haitian International is setting another milestone in its growth strategy. The group recently announced that it would build new infrastructure and locations in order to sustainably strengthen its international competitiveness. By expanding its overseas portfolio, Haitian International also wants to position itself more crisis-proof – armed against rising transport costs and logistic congestion. The Serbian city of Ruma is a central transport hub for the main axes of important logistics connections in Europe.

Construction in Ruma will start in winter 2022 and should be completed in early 2025. The production facility will cover the entire range of Haitian’s servo-hydraulic injection molding machines: Mars and Jupiter series with clamping forces from 600 to 33,000 kN.

 

Expansion of global manufacturing

“Ruma is ideally located for us to serve each market in Europe directly and provide local customer services,” said Zhang Bin, Deputy CEO of Haitian Group and Executive Director of Haitian International.

The area of ​​the new location covers a total of 365,000 m². Around 250,000 m² of this is intended for the production and assembly, sales and logistics of the injection molding machines. The remaining area is reserved for strategic developments such as cooperation within the Haitian Group. “Ruma is also interesting for other divisions because we are gaining good experience with our emerging technology cluster in Shunde (southern China). With highly efficient synergies within the Haitian Group across the entire production depth, we can make advantages directly usable for our customers, for example for automation solutions, MES systems or individual production systems for lean production,” says Zhang Bin.

Haitian’s new technology cluster and headquarters for southern China in Shunde will serve as a model for the site in Ruma, Serbia.

3 machine install

3 machine install

Our engineering team are installing these three machines, a Mars 470t, 250t and 90t, for our customer in the south. These servo driven hydraulic machines are very energy efficient and give savings of up to 80% compared to fixed pump machines.

With increasing energy prices, now is the time to invest in the latest energy saving moulding machines.

 

Mars 200t install

Mars 200t install

Delivery on Saturday morning of this Haitian Mars 200t moulding machine to our good customer in the south.

The machine is business critical and is replacing an old inefficient machine, saving the customer over 70% in energy. Thanks to #fleggprojects and the PMM team it will be in production Monday morning.