"Two machines do the work of three"
06.09.2021 | Petra Rehmet

At its Winchester location, about 70 miles from Washington, DC, ten heavyweight injection molding machines from the KraussMaffei MX series with clamping forces of 10,000 to 32,000 kN are in use already, and two new MX machines (one MX 1600 and one MX 2300) and seven GX 1100 machines are currently on order, some of them equipped for automated labeling, in mold labeling (IML) and palletizing. Monoflo is a family-owned company. It pursues a strategy of continuous expansion of its capacity and technologies to be ahead of the game in its market. Its claim is even printed right on the employees' uniforms – "Crafting Better Plastics."  

At manufacturing locations in Virginia and Kansas, two hundred and fifty employees produce reusable transport packaging products such as pallets, collapsible bulk containers, totes with and without lids – some of them stackable – as well as trays and totes for automation solutions 24/7. Most Monoflo customers are from the logistics industry, followed by the automotive sector, automation and the food industry. Most of the products are standardized for each industry. Depending on the client, they can be produced in custom colors, marked with the client’s name, and labeled to their exact specifications.   The customer list includes global players such as Amazon, General Motors, Mercedes, and Aldi.

The collaboration between Monoflo and KraussMaffei began in 2015 – and it began with a bang, that is, a five-million-dollar deal. Rajesh Shah, a KraussMaffei sales person, had been keeping in touch continually for three years and happened to catch Monoflo at the right moment when machinery was needed for a new application. Henning Rader remembers, "Of course it is quite crazy to start such a large-scale project with a new partner, but we felt that KraussMaffei would be a perfect fit – and indeed it was. Their service is simply excellent. Together, we always find a solution for our challenges." 

Other special applications from KraussMaffei are also at work in Winchester. In an MX 3200 TwinForm, two components of a collapsible bulk box are created in one shot. The components are bonded to each other afterward, and since the charged material is often abrasive and sometimes highly viscous, the screws are designed and coated accordingly.    

As the percentage of regrind varies, this is the ideal place for the APC plus machine function. Based on the viscosity of the melt and stored parameters, this function regulates the filling quantity individually from shot to shot. Avoiding overflow is a must when producing high-precision technical parts due to their narrow tolerances. However, for the robust articles from Monoflo, the bottom line above all is managing cost.

In view of the current prices, every gram of material that is not wasted in injection is a gain. The production scrap rate in the industry is two percent on average. Henning Rader says, "We are always below one percent, and our process technicians love APC plus." Other digital aids such as smartAssist and socialProduction are also going to be tested in the near future.

Currently Monoflo is building a new hall as a home for the injection molding machines that have been ordered from the MX and GX series – and this is not the end of the line. Henning Rader says, "We foresee significant growth in our segment over the next five years. This means more large machinery."