Two new injection moulding machines for the leading UK moulder that keeps on growing!

Pentagon Plastics has made numerous improvements and enhancements to its Horsham based injection moulding and toolmaking facility over recent years and the latest addition is a further enhancement to their impressive plastic moulding capabilities.

At the beginning of June 2016 Pentagon took delivery of not one but two new injection moulding machines from Premier Moulding Machinery.  The first of the new machines is a MARS MAII 900/300 Universal which is a 90 tonne hybrid moulding machine that replaces an older hydraulic one of similar capacity; this will deliver a good rate of energy saving to the business over the coming years.

The second machine is a ZERES ZE1200/430 which comes as an addition to the current plant machinery and takes Pentagon’s on-site machine count from 9 up to 10.  Pentagon specialise in producing bespoke thermoplastic components to a wide range of industry sectors and are able to mould any product from 0.5g up to 550g in shot weight.  The new 120 tonne press will help cater for the increasing mid-range production demand, especially in the medical moulding sector.

Through well managed accounts and monitored cash flow Pentagon has been able to self-fund this recent £95,000 investment and this sees the final addition to the overall £425,000 re-investment programme that has been carried out over the last 4 years at their premises. 

Graham Fooks, Mould Shop Manager at Pentagon says ‘’ Investment in ancillary equipment such as driers and water heaters have made a huge difference in the day to day running of the mould shop. Improvements in housekeeping are ongoing and have helped create a nicer and safer working environment, things such as the floor being painted really help to keep the momentum going. The investment hasn’t stopped with machines as we have also looked at staffing and now employ two setters on each shift which will reduce machine downtimes significantly and make planning a lot more accurate.

The new machines should drive quality up compared to mouldings made in the older machine. The repeatability of the newer breed of hybrid and electric machines will mean parts stay correct from the beginning of the run until the end, and with close process monitoring software any discrepancies are flagged up straight away.

Going forward, having the extra machine will help in several ways. When we are experiencing a particularly heavy demand for medical flanges the new Z120 will be able to run some of the tooling that would previously only fit one of our presses. Its electric injection unit makes it ideal for these parts which have a very narrow processing window. I’m planning when the workload is at a normal level to keep a mid-sized machine available for short runs and for short lead times when the customer needs their product in a hurry. It will also help with tool trials as the new M90 will be able to process the majority of tools and shot sizes for T1 sampling.’’

Pentagon and companies like them are the reason UK manufacturing is enjoying a renaissance period and this attitude of continuous improvement is making a real difference to industry.

Pentagon is clearly setting itself up for its next 40 years of trading while being mindful of driving down its energy costs and ensuring they continue to provide LEAN manufacturing processes to all of their customers, this is putting Pentagon Plastics in a stronger position than ever.

To find out more about Pentagon Plastics Ltd visit www.pentagonplastics.co.uk or call 01403 264397.