Below we are announcing the initial lineup of education sessions at Rotoplas, our 2021 Annual Meeting. The theme of the meeting is A Rotomolding Revolution.
Tuesday Education (Seminars)
Introduction to Rotomolding (Full-Day Seminar)
ARM Past President Dru Laws, Tango Manufacturing, will cover the key elements of the rotomolding process. This includes available materials, the main types of equipment used, processing parameters, process control methods to optimize part properties and key design guidelines. Attendees will have plenty of opportunities to ask questions and explore areas of particular interest.
Design and. Processing – Yin and Yang (Half-Day Afternoon Seminar)
In this half-day seminar Michael Paloian (Industrial Design Systems) and ARM Technical Director Nick Henwood will spar over the challenges of what happens when part design theory meets the practicalities of rotational molding. The seminar will be based on a series of design case studies. Attendees will interact with each other and ask questions of the presenters.
Value-Added Selling in Volatile Markets (Half-Day Seminar)
Paul Reilly, Reilly Sales Training, will lead a seminar on value-added sales. The presentation will be tailored to fit our audience and will also address current hot button issues including how sales teams can address supply chain disruptions.
Wednesday Education
Automation in Manufacturing: How AI and Robotics are Changing the Way We Manufacture
John McElligott will kick off our Annual Meeting at Rotoplas. John was employed as a combat engineer during 9/11. Specializing in demolitions, explosives, construction and engineering, he also served as a SAW (squad automatic weapon) gunner and ultimately Squad leader. John was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant. As Co-Founder of Royal Square Development and CEO of the Squared Collective, John spearheaded technology, marketing, community engagement and investor relations as well as being a driving force in Business and Economic Development. A sought after national speaker on the impact exponential technology, robotics and artificial intelligence will have on rural and 3rd tier cities, John left Royal Square 3 years ago and is currently the CEO of “York Exponential” a collaborative robotics company.
The Future of Automation in Rotational Molding Machines
Robert Sly and Matthew Jeffries of Rotoline will speak on the future of automation in rotational molding presenting a case study of rotomolders currently using a robotic machine. The talk includes labor studies, information on safety and liability in automation, why Rotoline developed the machine, and where they see applications.
Embracing Change with Advanced Technologies
Daren Balderson, Trilogy Plastics, will compare the impact of automation with how Trilogy embraced and pioneered CNC routers in the roto workplace in the early 1990s as a paradigm shift away from hand fixture finishing and heavy intense human labor. He will discuss how it helped re-allocate human assets to other areas of production, increasing throughput and productivity with safety gains and profitability gains.
Getting Connected – What is the best track and trace method for rotational molding?
Jim Crawshaw and Toby Huff, PSI Brand, will propose the best traceability solution suited to rotomolders.
Track and traceability is very important for rotomolders and it is undeniably known as the future of all manufacturing. Considering the significant cost, resource, and productivity advantages it provides, it is not hard to see why traceability offers so many benefits to connect products with the manufacturer and the end-user.
Benefits include quick and efficient identification of affected products in recalls, a higher level of quality control, insight into operational efficiency, and improved customer satisfaction.
Control cycle parameters and reduce variables using process control and live telemetry
Adam Covington, Ferry Industries, will share how process control and live telemetry can go beyond simple reporting to allow rotomolders to take better control of their cooking and cooling processes.
An Automation Journey
Ken Bather, Seljan Company, will share automation insights from his decades in manufacturing, where he has seen companies journey from no automation to CNC routers to CNC and Robots. At Seljan Company he works with a rotomolder that uses CNC and produces Robots for other rotomolders.
Why Automate?
Rob Miller, RotoLoad, will share the concepts of common automation technologies and practices within INJECTION, EXTRUSION, and BLOW MOLDING to inspire rotomolders to think about which concepts they may be able to implement in their manufacturing process.This is a great opportunity for molders to think outside the box to improve efficiency and tackle labor shortages.
SMART: Rotomoulding solutions towards new market trends
Sergio Zilioli, PERSICO, will share video of a fully automatic production cell made of 3x Smart machines with robot and automated molds. He will also show a new market trend, related to hydrogen tanks for electric vehicles, manufactured with Smart machinery.
Rotomolders will identify new markets for rotomolding and understand the possibilities of full automatic production cells.
Thursday Education
Molding Quality Parts by Staying in Your Processing Window
Carmine D’Agostino and Hassan Riaz, NOVA Chemicals, will share the benefits of producing parts with the correct processing window and the shortcomings when a part is not molded within the optimum processing window.
Through recent observations, while optimizing processing conditions for the new NOVA TRx resins, the presenters have learned that operating outside of the optimum processing window can have more dramatic implications to the quality of a rotomolded part than previously understood. This presentation will review the effect of some standard properties as well as ESCR, creep, and tensile properties when the rotomolding cycle has fallen outside of the processing window. This will include a review of both undercured and overcured part properties.
Rotomoldable Acetal for Tank Applications
Darin Grinsteinner, Celanese, will inform our members about a single layer, low fuel permeation acetal material, developed specifically for rotational molding of tanks for a wide-variety of applications.
Hostafom® acetal copolymer possesses a linear structure with a highly crystalline quality that provides a variety of characteristics: outstanding wear, long-term fatigue, toughness and creep resistance as well as excellent resistance to moisture, solvents and strong alkalis. Its chemical structure provides a higher stability to thermal and oxidative degradation compared to acetal homopolymers. Recent developments have provided new acetal compounds that have been optimized for rotomolding applications. The new formulas provide the opportunity for a single layer solution or alternatives to secondary processes such as fluorination in applications such as fuel tanks. The newly developed formulas increase the impact resistance while still maintaining excellent resistance to fuels. These formulas have been formulated to be processed on typical rotomolding equipment and process windows.
Hydrogen cylinders – Roto’s role in hydrogen fuel revolution
Aldo Quaratino, Matrix Polymers, will inspire attendees to look at a new market segment, and understand new technology to be implemented in rotomoulding.
Billions of Dollars across the globe are being invested in developing hydrogen technology to produce clean, renewable and carbon-free energy, and rotomoulding has a huge part to play. As of early 2021, over 30 countries have released hydrogen roadmaps and governments worldwide have committed public funding in support of decarbonization strategy through hydrogen technologies. These include large-scale industrial usage, transport applications, integrated hydrogen economy and infrastructure. Matrix Polymers is working with several Rotomoulders and OEMs to produce cylinders for storing hydrogen for use in all forms of transportation and power generation. This presentation will discuss this massive opportunity, which has the potential to take rotomoulding to a new level.
RESILITY™ Innovative Rotomolding Resins
Steven Ma, Dow Inc, will share robust polyethylene (MDPE-HDPE) based solutions are needed to meet and exceed current industry demands. The process to design long-lasting performance and improved processing materials will be discussed. Included in this talk will be case studies that analyze materials to determine benefits and how these benefits can differentiate a molder. Rotational molders will learn about a new set of material options for consideration.
Automation concepts for Conventional and RoboMoulds (Workshop)
Oliver Wandres (Maus) will showcase different concepts to enable a partial or complete automation of necessary handling operations typical for rotomolding. Approaches to automate operations such as mould closing and opening, part retraction and demolding, material loading, etc. in conventional rotomolding and electrical Robomolding
CNC Router vs. Robot: How to choose? (Workshop)
Ken Bather (Seljan Company), Dru Laws (Tango Manufacturing), and Alvin Spence (Centro Inc.) will address a question that comes up time and again: how do decide whether a CNC router or robot is best for your part.
Defining Automation (Workshop)
Rob Miller (RotoLoad) will explore what automation means and how we can apply sound engineering principles to the powder side of the roto process. Using creative, fun, unique, and interesting methods and examples, we will demonstrate how clearly and easily adapting powder automation fits with the roto customer’s goal of automating their process and their facility. Based on real current case study powder automation examples from various customers, we will show the resin process and how it has directly benefited the customer, their process, their parts, their facility, their employees, and their bottom line. We will show that the benefits of automation are fast, simple, real, and cost-effective. Our goal would be to demonstrate various real examples, showing the process from idea through to implementation. We would demonstrate the ease of automating this part of the roto process and the clear and definable return on our investment. We will examine the different examples to show the aggressive payback that investing a very small amount of time and effort can make for their facility.
Setting Standard Operating Conditions for New Resins or New Parts (Workshop)
Henry Hay, NOVA Chemicals, will host a workshop focused on how to conduct and document a trial for a new resin or a new part with an existing resin. This will include how to define the processing window and how to set standard operating conditions. Considerations include using part quality requirements to set initial oven temperatures and determining the operating window at a given oven temperature. Finally, he will discuss where to set the standard operating parameters within the known processing window.
What’s Your Problem? (Workshop)
Join Ron Cooke (ExxonMobil Canada) and Sandy Scaccia (Norstar Aluminum Molds) for the beloved (too much?) workshop where members troubleshoot problems with panelists, experts, and peers. This discussion earns perfect marks from our attendees every year.
What’s New Presentations
These 15-minute presentations are held in the theater on the Exhibit Hall show floor and highlight new technology and services.
NOVA Chemicals on TRx0338 and TRx0535
Wednesday, September 22 at 3:00 PM
The new TRx resins provide a decreased cycle time, broader processing window, along with improved physical properties such as impact performance. The team at NOVA Chemicals can help rotomolders make the most of these new resins.
Celanese on Hostaform RF – Rotomoldable Acetal
Wednesday, September 22 at 3:30 PM
Hostaform RF is a single layer solution developed specifically for rotomolded low permeability fuel and oil tanks.
Diversified Mold & Castings on CNC machines & new fabrication equipment
Wednesday, September 22 at 4:00 PM
Take more in-house control of deliveries and larger production volume.
Jerico on Adhesion PE and Sustainable compounds
Wednesday, September 22 at 4:30 PM
Eliminate a step in material Adhesion and offer a green friendly product with non-traditional PE content.
Stoner Molding Solutions on RotoFlow WB400
Wednesday, September 22 at 5:00 PM
Non-Flammable and lower VOC than Solvent products.
Persico on SMART and AUTOMATISM
Thursday, September 23 at 2:00 PM
Material and energy savings.
Arkema on Polyamide 11
Thursday, September 24 at 2:30 PM
A strong material candidate for traditional and alternative fuel tanks.
Lyten on 3D Graphene’s mechanical improvement of Rotomolded polymers
Thursday, September 24 at 3:00 PM
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